Potato blight

[mmmmmchocolate]

I have 3 large beds of maincrop potatoes. 2 Maris piper and 1 that is half pink fir apple and half Desiree.

The half and half bed got hit by blight which spread to the Maris pipers. I’ve cut the foliage down and left the potatoes in the ground for a couple of weeks as I’d read it was best to allow the blight to die before harvest.

I can’t seem to find an answer online but what are the chances of these potatoes being able to be stored? I usually store them in bags and they last until February/March until the start to sprout which helps keep the food budget down over the winter.

When I cut the foliage down to the ground none of the stems had gone mushy but the leaves had brown circles and were crispy and some of the stems had started to go brown. I’ve never had blight In potatoes (just tomatoes where the stems had turned to mush) before so I was wondering if anyone who has experience could tell me what to expect?

What a bummer.

If the blight hasn't reached the tubers, they should store as normal. But I imagine it's a big risk to store them in bags, if one tuber has blight I'd expect all of the bag to get it. I don't know whether there's anything you can rinse them in before storage to improve your chances, it may be worth investigating.

The year it happened to me I made a lot of mash and froze it. But I have plenty of freezer space.

They should be fine, but I'd do lots of small bags rather than a couple of big ones just in case.

I had it on my pink fir apples too. Cut off the foliage dug them up, and left them out to dry for a few days. Put them in a sack, and inspected them a couple of weeks later, there was some that looked a bit off, so I ditched them, and spread the others in the greenhouse for a couple of days. Have just inspected every single spud (!), and they all seem OK, so back in the sack. I'll check them every couple of weeks. (I also blanched and froze some that I wasn't sure about). Good luck with yours.

Yes, do make sure they are properly dry.

Ok thank you! Will I be able to tell if they have blight when I dig them up? Is it obvious?

If they are blighted they go black and rotten, and stink. Revolting. There were two or three in the ones I inspected a few days ago, hopefully all the rest are OK, but I will keep an eye on them. Just check all your spuds carefully and isolate any that look suspicious, discard any that feel soft. Better to lose a few than infect the whole lot. Pink fir apples are really nice. I don't peel them, just Chuck them in a bowl of water for a bit and then scrub them. Mmmmm.

Ok great thank you. Do you think pink for apples are best boiled or roasted @FizzingAda ?

I'm definitely going to fill the freezer with mash @MontyDonsBlueScarf and I’ll probably freeze some ready to roast too. Can’t possibly have Christmas without homegrown potatoes!

@mmmmmchocolate I'd be interested to know how you freeze ready to roast, I've never had any success with that.

I havn’t frozen for roasties before, but I was looking at methods of freezing spuds, and mash is fine, duchesse (mash with butter and cream and piped in little whorls). For things like chips, parboil first and freeze, and for roasties it seems you can either parboil or completely boil, then roll them in oil and freeze. Personally I think I would just cut to shapes and then parboil, and freeze without the oil (in case it goes rancid in the freezer?).
this is the first time I grown pfa and only had one meal with them, that was boiled, served with butter, mmm, still to try roasting.

@MontyDonsBlueScarf I've never frozen for roasties either but I’ve seen tv chefs do it on Christmas shows. Perhaps have a look at Jamie Oliver and go through there. As I remember you parboil, coat in the fat/oil and freeze on a tray. Once frozen pop into a ziplock bag. Hopefully they don’t taste like aunt Bessie’s 😂😂

@FizzingAda I can’t wait to try them, I’ve heard good things about them! I could definitely do some duchess potatoes, thanks for the suggestion!