Potato growers know that preventive planning is a key aspect of protecting potatoes from yield-robbing diseases. With planting underway for some and just on the horizon for others, extension experts remind growers about the importance of starting each season with clean potato seed as a first line of defense against some key potato diseases, including late blight.

Under favorable conditions, late blight can destroy a potato crop within a few days. The first symptoms of the disease are small, light to dark green, circular to irregular-shaped water-soaked spots. Lesions usually appear first on the lower leaves of potatoes. A white cottony mildew develops on and around foliar lesions.

Late blight thrives under cool, wet weather, and the disease cycle may be interrupted during dry spells, but will progress when damp weather returns. In addition to leaves, stems and petioles, potato tubers are also susceptible to late blight.

Syngenta recommends Orondis® Opti, a fungicide that offers reliable control, even under heavy disease pressure. A foliar fungicide that combines two active ingredients, oxathiapiprolin and chlorothalonil, Orondis Opti defends against late blight on potatoes by protecting the crop when it is most actively growing and by helping to maximize marketable yields.

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