Potato Blackleg

 

 

 

 

 

Hello all!  After taking a stroll through the garden here at ASPI Saxon and I have noticed a little problem going on with our potatoes.  The majority of our potatoes are doing great, with the exception of a few flea beetle bites (taking care of that).   A few plants though have been developing what we think is a disease called potato blackleg.  The base of the stem that meets the soil is turning black and rotting, the rest of the stem has a darker coloring than normal and our leaves are turning yellow and dying.  One way we are trying to slow the spread is to promptly remove any plants that are showing signs of the disease to at least slow the spread to the other plants.  When removing the plant I take care to not touch any other potato plants, and take them far from our garden and compost piles. the problem seems to be worse in our red potato variety, but has spread to a few of our other varieties.  My hope in sharing this is that anyone who is experiencing similar problems can find a solution through our photos by comparing them.  Attached is a link to the article that I found helpful in identifying the disease and providing preventative measures against the blackleg.

Link:

http://www.plantpath.ksu.edu/doc979.ashx