Control & Treat Blight

Brady — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:29:45 +0000

Blight is often the bane of farmers worldwide; it can cause wide spread damage and even death. Thankfully, there are effective ways of controlling blight.

Blight Signs and Symptoms

There are several different types of blight. Potato Blight, infamous for causing the Great Irish Famine in the 1800’s, is one of the worst. It can wipe plants out almost overnight. Worse still, it can infect potatoes and then cause them to rot in storage.

Potato Blight spreads through the air and develops when weather conditions are warm and humid. The first signs of it are brown freckles on leaves and a yellowish border spreading from the brown patch. Later on, in a severe attack, the potato foliage can become a rotting mass.

The potatoes themselves often have dark patches on the skin. Cutting them in half will reveal brownish rot spreading from the skin. In the later stages of Potato Blight, the potato itself will become soggy and foul-smelling.

Tomato Blight is also triggered by warm, wet conditions. It ruins plants and fruit quickly and can spread to other plants, such as potatoes, if left untreated.

Early Tomato Blight can affect the foliage, stems and fruit of tomato plants. It materializes as dark spots with yellow rings. Eventually, entire leaves will turn yellow and the tomatoes can be exposed to sun scald.

Anthracnose Blight is a similar fungal disease that affects and deforms leaves on trees. It can cause brownish discoloration on leaves and leaf veins. Left undetected it can develop into masses of fungus spores on lower leaf surfaces and result in leaf drop.

Blight Prevention and Treatment

It’s often possible to prevent blight infections. Choose healthy plants and monitor them regularly. Furthermore, follow a regular management plan.

Tomato Blight overwinters and can spread through soil or transplants. If the disease is spotted, remove all affected plants and clean garden debris thoroughly.

When planting potatoes, try to choose a Potato Blight-resistant strain and ensure enough earth is around the potatoes to protect them even if the disease affects the foliage. Upon harvesting, remove all the potatoes from the ground so none are left to rot.

Trees stricken with Anthracnose Blight should have infected branches trimmed. The trees themselves should be properly fertilized.
All susceptible plants should be watered at the base. In addition, application of an environmentally friendly fungicide such as OxiDate can be highly beneficial for disease prevention and control. It can be used to drench soil, dip roots in prior to planting and disinfect foliage.

Many different fungicides are available; however, OxiDate is especially popular due to it’s rapid effectiveness in treating several common forms of Blight. When faced with a disease that spreads so rapidly, it’s important to have treatment methods that can keep up.

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