Home testing for late blight

New for 2009 is our Blight Check product – and it is being stocked in all Wyevale garden centres across England and Wales.  This test is breaking new ground, being the first lateral flow plant disease test on the market for home gardeners.  Blight Check can be used to detect the early symptoms of late blight in potato and tomato plants, allowing gardeners maximum time for control actions to be taken.

The strong upsurge in Grow Your Own vegetables has produced a large number of gardeners who are new to growing potatoes and tomatoes – crops which are very susceptible to blight.  ‘These new enthusiasts need all the help they can get to recognise and control blight’, says Sophie Gehin, Wyevale’s Gardening Buyer. 

Wyevale is the largest chain of garden centres in the UK, with over 120 stores.   The product is also available through a number of other garden centres and mail order outlets in the UK.  Opportunities outside the UK are being looked for by Forsite.  If you are in the retail garden business, and interested in stocking Blight Check, let us know.

Blight Check is a lateral flow test just like the well-known Pocket Diagnostic tests.  The difference lies in the reagents used to manufacture the test, with Blight Check being formatted specifically for the less demanding requirements of the home gardener.