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How quickly could late blight infect nearby potato plants?
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Great Famine
Famine (1997), sculpture by Rowan Gillespie commemorating the Great Famine; in Dublin.
When late blight is present, the water mold Phytophthora infestans can infect nearby potato plants within a few hours of the spores being dispersed by the wind.1
Following this initial infection, the disease progresses rapidly: foliage blighting and the production of a new crop of sporangia occur within four to six days. This cycle of infection and reproduction repeats continuously as long as cool, moist weather conditions persist, allowing the disease to spread quickly through susceptible crops.1