Thursday, March 04, 2010
Some Suggestions For Recurrent Late Blight...
If Late Blight rears its ugly head again this year, perhaps these observations and suggested treatment(s) might prove useful. Neem Oil is perfectly harmless for humans, and seems to be proving itself a cure for an ever-widening field of pests.
via LATOC Gardening Forum
The real problem with the Irish potato blight [Late Blight], is that it can and does affect all members of the nightshade family, with the apparent exception of pepper plants. Nightshades include potatoes, tomatoes, egg plant, capsicum peppers, tobacco, and mandrigoras or mandrake. The blight has affected my potatoes worst of all but also to some extent my eggplants and tomatoes have also been affected. Not a single pepper plant has been attacked, even those that are sitting next to blight infected plants, sometimes touching them.
Reason: capsicum has anti-fungal properties among other near miraculous medicinal uses, and the blight cannot tolerate the small amount of capsicum that's even in the leaves and stems of pepper plants.
Treatment: Neem oil; I sprayed a 15ml/L solution of it all over my garden a few days ago and the blight is already starting to recede, especially on the eggplants. Only problem is that you must spray neem oil on the plants weekly for 3-4 weeks. Given the above reasoning about capsicum, it seems possible that hot pepper wax spray might also be useful against potato blight, with the added advantage that it wards off many, but not all insects.
This new blight problem underscores the fact that gardening is not easy at all and is a major intellectual and physical challenge. It seems that I am fighting a new foe every few weeks: whitefly aphids, slugs, Japanese bettles, and now Potato blight. God only knows what's next. However......
Just remember, back yard gardening is the ultimate revolutionary act in a bureaucratic fascist society that is running out of energy and therefore food !!!!, so GARDEN On !!!!
Wardoc
More at the link.
To Top Of Main Page
Labels: Gardening, Late Blight
