Potato blight - is my compost ok to use again?

lbt_2

Hi All

I am sooooo upset - all my potatoes (Maris Piper) have potato blight I grew them all in sacks so the blight won't have spread (unless by air).

I asked about it today at the garden centre and the information desk told me to take everything (potatoes, compost and potato bags) to the dump because they would all be infected.

However, before I spoke to the man at the garden centre, I put some of the compost on my grass to level out a couple of dips - they aren't near where I grow my veg. The man told me to take all this up too.

I have taken up as much as I can but i wondered how important this is?

Thanks

nodwah

Don't worry, blight spores are all around anyway so you're not really storing up trouble, coz it's always lingering anyway! It would only be a problem if you wanted to repeatedly grow spuds or tomoates in the same stuff. Anyway the wetness of the season is what has the biggest effect on how bad blight is not the compost.

I always spread my left over compost on the borders - it won't do any harm to your grass.

Could it be perhaps that the garden centre people just want you to buy more compost from them???

Zazen999

I grow potatoes in the ground; if I had to dispose of all my soil after growing the potatoes I'd have no allotment left after 4 years.

You can use it for anything except growing potatoes or tomatoes in next year.

And you can happily use it for mulching.

Lotus-eater

This is an interesting discussion.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg0705595912432.html

Personally I compost all blighted plant material, have done for years and years, I still get blight when everyone else does, but no worse than anyone else.
I work on the premise that freezing kills off blight spores, if it doesn't, then a year or so in my composter, then a winter spread over the veg patch should sort it out.

This comes up every so often on here and I'm amazed people throw compost away for anything but the most serious diseases, which you rarely get in container compost anyway.

Zazen999

Someone on here was throwing away compost just because it had been stored for a season or two; I got short shrift suggesting using it........but hey - its not my cash they are chucking away. I don't think they realised that seeds need very little nutrition for the first few weeks so it could easily be used for sowing into....but hey ho.

Lotus-eater

Zazen999 wrote: »

Someone on here was throwing away compost just because it had been stored for a season or two; I got short shrift suggesting using it........but hey - its not my cash they are chucking away

You get short thrift for suggesting alot of things on here

Although I don't understand it, there is a difference in performance in using younger and older commercial compost, unfortunately when you buy it from the garden centre, you have no idea how old it is.

I can understand that in a way, no soil likes being shut up in a plastic bag for very long, but it would still be fine around the garden.

Zazen999

Lotus-eater wrote: »

unfortunately when you buy it from the garden centre, you have no idea how old it is.

That was my point - you don't know how long it had been in a warehouse anyway - so just use it.......and see if it works rather than just chucking it away.....

misskool

Lotus-eater wrote: »

This is an interesting discussion.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg0705595912432.html

Personally I compost all blighted plant material, have done for years and years, I still get blight when everyone else does, but no worse than anyone else.
I work on the premise that freezing kills off blight spores, if it doesn't, then a year or so in my composter, then a winter spread over the veg patch should sort it out.

This comes up every so often on here and I'm amazed people throw compost away for anything but the most serious diseases, which you rarely get in container compost anyway.

There are strains of blight that are resistant to freezing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytophthora_infestans

However, they have recently sequenced the genome of the mould that causes late blight and it'll be interesting to see what comes from that (well, it'll be interesting for the ones who don't mind growing the genetically modified stuff, including the Sarpo variety of potatoes).

Lotus-eater

misskool wrote: »

There are strains of blight that are resistant to freezing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytophthora_infestans

Yes

There are now two types (A1 and A2) which can mate and after that produce resistant spores, although the indications so far are that this rarely, if ever, happens in the UK.

Rarely if ever. I think I'll take my chances

lbt_2

Hi All,

So I think that answers my question. My main thought was that I shouldn't really need to take up the compost that I have used to level out the grass.

It gets pretty cold down here so hopefully any spores will be killed off - and I don't plan on planting potatoes in my grass anyway

This is my first year of really growing my own, so everything is a new experience.

I have heard a lot about improving the soil, and the link from lotus eater supports that.

I have bought chicken manure pellets (I don't have space for a composter, although I am on the waiting list for an allotment). Do I need to add anything else?

Thanks

Lotus-eater

Chicken manure pellets will add minute amounts of organic material to the soil, but lots of nutrients, especially nitrogen. I think you are supposed to add them a couple of weeks before planting in the soil.

What you need is bulky organic material, manure is my favourite, but search for soil improving material and start the trawl over the hundreds of ideas you will get.
Btw if you go for manure (just ring up any riding stables in the yellow pages) really read about manure contamination before you get it, ask the stables if they can try and ensure that their manure isn't contaminated.
Maybe they give it to local gardeners and you could ask them? It's worth taking as much care as possible.