Canadá: Canadian gardeners enlisted help billion-dollar potato industry

The department says this will help ensure a healthy crop and at the same time protect the province’s $1 billion potato industry.

Some of the outbreaks of late blight in commercial potato crops can be traced to gardens where spores from infected plants were carried by the wind. Gardeners should choose from several varieties known to be resistant to the late blight strain US-23. Resistant varieties exist in many size categories from large cherry, beefsteak and medium-sized tomatoesLate blight is a disease caused by an organism that is closely related to algae. It affects potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and even petunias.The organism produces white fuzz on the underside of leaves that releases millions of spores that float on the air to infect other plants. When the spores land on a susceptible leaf, they germinate and cause brown oily lesions. The spores splash on the ground and infect potato tubers, which become brown and rusty looking with a granular texture.