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Garden Gate:  Tomato Blight!!  |
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nubidane
True Blue Farmgirl
2882 Posts
Lisa
Georgetown
OH
2882 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 06 2009 : 07:32:30 AM
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Do any of you gals have this?? It is supposed to be rampant in this area & I had it last year, moved my tomatoes to another bed this year, & my early girls have black spots on them & a few of the volunteers that came up in the 1st bed are wilting away.
I don't know if I can live through a second year of no tomatoes
WAAHH |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2009 : 07:36:25 AM
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I don't have it (as of yet) but did a few years back. But that was when I had my tomatoes in pots. I was told that if you take the bloom off the bottom as soon as you see it starting to fruit, you won't have such a problem..if I recall, it seemed to work pretty well.
Sorry, Lisa...this has been a really weird garden year...my potato plants are HUGE, but the potatoes not so much. Too much rain has slowed their growth and they put a ton of energy into the actual plant, instead of the potato.
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2009 : 11:05:47 AM
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| We were so plagued with the blight that we had to move our garden. I moved it to the front yard and used purchased soil. yeah, expensive $$. This is the 3rd year for our tomaotes in the new garden and have every problem EXCEPT blight. Ole Ron planted 4 tomato plants in the old garden this year and they seem to be doing OK. Some dead leaves near the bottom but not bad. I have heard a bunch of reasons for the blight, too much water, water splashing mud up on the leaves (not true) not enough air circulation and so on. Cures ranged from copper antifungas spray or planting a copper wire with the plant. Nothing worked for me. Seems that giving the soil a 2 year rest from tomatoes worked best. |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2009 : 7:03:51 PM
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As soon as you start to see signs pinch off the affected leaves. DO NOT COMPOST THEM! Do one plant at a time and wash your hands with soap and water between plants to avcoid spreading the disease. Also be sure that you arent nutrient deficient. Some deficiancies can mimic the look of blight but can easily be fixed by adding some supplements to the soil. You can get a soil tester at home and garden centers and many local extension offices will do it for free. I thought I had blight and it turned out I was nitrogen deficient. I found some great organic supplements. Picked of the worst of the leaves and now I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with.
Other ideas are to water only in the morning. This allows leaves to dry slowly and thouroughly through the day. Be careful not to OVER water. A short "rain storm" is pleanty. DONT soak.
Also if it is Blight do not plant any tomato plants or plants in that family (peppers, eggplant) in that spot for at least two seasons! Good luck!
Farmgirl Sister #17
Blog
www.willowtreecreek.wordpress.com
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AuntieM
True Blue Farmgirl
151 Posts
Marjorie
Holly Springs
NC
USA
151 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2009 : 07:34:59 AM
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| We've hd "blossom end rot" a few times and the agent at the county extension told us to treat with lime around the base of the plants and pick off the affected fruit. The remaining tomatoes were fine, and very tasty! |
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Mother Hen
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Cindy
Peck
ID
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2009 : 12:33:53 PM
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I'm ignorant to the diseases of plants. We had blossom end rot last year on the tomato plants and I went to the local nursery and bought a bottle of stuff and followed the directions and it worked.
BUT....
This year I've got a greenhouse variety of tomato (6 plants) that are really large, but all the leaves have curled back on themselves and getting very few blossoms. Is this blight that you are talking about?
I have the tomatoes planted at the bottom of the garden this year(last year they were at the top), down where DH had put all the old manure from the barn last summer. The manure was tilled in. I have other tomato plants down there that are growing and not having any trouble but they are ones from seed that I started where as the greenhouse variety were a gift from one of our neighbors.
I'd love some advise too.
Cindy
FARMGIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING!!!
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalms 34:1 |
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nubidane
True Blue Farmgirl
2882 Posts
Lisa
Georgetown
OH
2882 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 07:43:18 AM
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Thanks you guys for all of the advice, I have done most everything except the copper. My plants are not dead yet & I will just have to keep a close eye on them.
Cindy, there was a big article on Yahoo last week about this blight, & yes, it appears to be coming from greenhouse tomatoes. If you search yahoo news you will find many articles.
We have been very wet this year, but the beds my tomatoes are in drain very well. I am being careful to rotate as well, but with only 3 raised beds this will get tricky soon, since 2 of them right now have maters in them(volunteers of some heirlooms from last yr that I could not bear to rip up) |
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Mother Hen
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Cindy
Peck
ID
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2009 : 08:47:33 AM
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Lisa, thank you for telling me where to find the info on blight. I was able to find a description of how the disease looks on the plants:
"The initial sign is often brown spots on plant stems, followed by nickel-sized brown or green spots on the tops of leaves and fuzzy white fungal growth on the bottom of the leaves. The tomatoes themselves will show firm, brown spots, experts say."
I'm happy this isn't the same problem I have with the greenhouse variety I have. My plants didn't come from a greenhouse per se.
Guess I'll have to search the net for more info on diseases of tomato plants to find out exactly what is making the leaves curl back on themselves and not producing many blossoms.
Cindy
FARMGIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING!!!
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalms 34:1 |
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Garden Gate: Tomato Blight!! |
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Tomato Blight!!
