Manitoba's potato crop is doing well thanks to the recent moisture.

Vikram Bisht, a plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, says the crop is about two weeks ahead of last year, however he says there are pockets that are set back due to recent storms.

"There are a couple of places where we had the hail damage in the Roseisle and Miami area, and in the last few days in the Carberry area, which has damaged a couple of fields anywhere from minor, five per cent leaf damage, to about 50 to 60 per cent leaf damage," says Bisht.

Bisht says that some of the crops damaged by hail will be behind by about seven to ten days. However, potato crops have been lucky this year when it comes to diseases, but farmers should still be on the lookout for late blight.

"Ontario has a problem [with late blight], Alberta has a problem, and the winds are coming west, so you never know with the thunderstorms -- which we are expecting a few more -- because the late blight spores can go very long distances," he says. "If you have one more thunderstorm carrying the spores, then in three, four days you can see the late blight."

Bisht also says part of the problem is home gardeners who don't realize their plants are succeptable to late blight.

"They can be the source of infection for the commercial farmers, so it is important for people who have tomatoes and potatoes in their gardens also look for the disease. You know, brown spots, which will enlarge quickly with these high humidity conditions, and if you look on the underside of that leaf, these days if it is infected by late blight, it will show some mildew growth."

Bisht says gardeners should try to get fungicide, report the late blight, or dig the plants up and put them in a black garbage bag where they can cook in the sun to kill the spores. He says gardeners should not put in infected plants in their compost.