Garden Blight

[johnpma]

Been fighting blight with my tomatoes for years. I start the seeds in a hoop house and transfer the thick stem plants around Memorial day. I have tried copper spray, dish soap and baking powder but still end up with the fungus on my plants come August. I have also tried epson salt when planting and planting thru plastic sheeting with irrigation beneath the plastic with poor results.

Anyone ever try flooding your garden then covering the area with heavy clear plastic? To kill the blight? I think it's called solarization?? The heat generated kils the fungus in the ground

[red dorakeen]

Have you tried some of the resistant varieties? I get plenty of tomatoes to put up but late tomatoes start to decline. I think Fusarium wilt. I'm going to experiment with a couple of the resistant hybrids this year.

[buckeye gold]

You need to open up new ground. The only way to get rid of the blight is to fumigate tented soil. Heck I don't even know what you would use now as the old (I believe it was a bromide formula) stuff we used in the 70s is banned now. You might be able to acidify your soil enough to kill it but then you'd have to rebalance it. Resistant varieties or new ground is the best options. I rotate my tomatoes around my garden and every 5 years I plow up a new plot. My daughter raises flowers for cutting and she takes over the old garden space when I'm done with veggies. Of course I have plenty of ground to move to, if you don't your kinda stuck. It's verticillium wilt, below is a link

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/verticillium-wilt-of-tomatoes-and-potatoes/

[johnpma]

Thanks guys! I usually plant Jet Star and Supersonic I will consider Hybrid varieties for sure! Where does this stuf come from?

I do rotate my garden each year. Tomatoes seem to be the only plant hit hard with this each year. I dump my wood stove ashes in the garden in hopes that will have an effect on the soil........

[bowtie]

Depending on the size of your garden, you could move your tomatoes to a different section. I have had blight and bottom rot the last couple of years but not a big issue as my wife and kids don't eat fresh tomatoes, so the 30-40 plants I put in are really just for me to watch them grow and eat a few fresh. From what I have read some blights can be the be transferred from tomatoes to potatoes and back,same nightshade family. Tough to get rid of in the soil once established. Maybe try container planting of tomatoes for a year and plant something else in the area. I try to rotate my garden every year, but it is fairly easy for me as it is almost 5000 sq ft of annual space in one area and at least 1000-1200 sq ft in my other area.
Going to looking at my jungs catalog later and start planning my garden for the year.
Good luck this year.

[Run Forest Run!]

Hi John. Your garden looks wonderful! I can't wait to get going on mine this spring after seeing that picture.

One thing that really helps to keep my tomato plants healthy is to prevent them from bushing out too much. Your photos shows very thick, dense plants. If you minimized the number of stems on each plant you'll encourage more airflow through the tomato patch. That's important as the leaves need to be able to dry off when dew and rain hits them. I also try to stay diligent in staking the plants so that no stems and leaves are anywhere near the ground. That's more easily accomplished by selected 'indeterminate' varieties versus 'determinate' varieties. Determinate varieties of tomatoes have a tendency to grow as bushy plants, where as the indeterminate ones grow tall - and need to be staked.

Staking has also worked wonders with the cucumber and zucchini plants. Instead of letting them wander through garden I grow them up tall stakes. They need to be tied up every four or five inches, but it has almost eliminated the bacterial wilt that those plants are susceptible to near the end of the summer. It looks a little weird, but I can get more plants in the garden that way and the cukes and zukes are always easy to see, clean and free of dirt and pest and rodent nibbles.

Good luck with your garden harvest this summer!

[johnpma]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts! I think this year I will try a new variety of plants. The rest of my garden stays free of blight. This includes cuke zuke peas squash carrots kale cabbage it's just my darn tomatoes that give me trouble. I do rotate my crops year to year. I'm going to also pass on planting corn this year in an effort to bring more sunlight into the garden

Karen, thanks for the compliments and the time you put into your post!! Can you prune tomato plants as they mature? I don't use fertilizer but we do use compost around the base of the plants before we cover the earth with plastic

[Run Forest Run!]

Hi John. You most certainly can prune the tomatoes as they mature. Pinching the suckers that constantly appear, especially on tomatoes that are thriving because of all that wonderful compost that you are providing, is really important. The plant can put more energy into fruit rather than foliage.

And as for that last photo, you are killing me! All I can think of now is eating a fresh tomato sandwich made with toasted whole wheat bread while sitting on my deck.


Here's a link that really explains the pruning and pinching back of tomato stems and suckers. Hope it helps!

http://www.tomatodirt.com/pruning-tomato.html

[johnpma]

Hi John. You most certainly can prune the tomatoes as they mature. Pinching the suckers that constantly appear, especially on tomatoes that are thriving because of all that wonderful compost that you are providing, is really important. The plant can put more energy into fruit rather than foliage.

And as for that last photo, you are killing me! All I can think of now is eating a fresh tomato sandwich made with toasted whole wheat bread while sitting on my deck.


Here's a link that really explains the pruning and pinching back of tomato stems and suckers. Hope it helps!

http://www.tomatodirt.com/pruning-tomato.html great read! Thanks again for all your help! And I agree a tomato sandwich on homemade bread with a couple thin slices of vermont cheddar cheese Yum!

[Michael Greer]

We've had blight here in far northern New York several times. I'm religious about rotating crops into new soil to avoid leftover pathogens, and have pretty good luck. Late Blight can come in on the breeze though, and our local ag people keep us informed on where it's showing up in the state. There have been some years when avoiding it is not really an option.
Philosophically, I grow a bit of everything because SOMETHING fails every year. I love my tomatoes, but relying on just tomatoes would be a disaster. On the bright side, some crop excels every year too. Last year we had terrible drought all summer. Te carrots were a total failure, but we grew the most beautiful onions and garlic ever. The squash and pumpkins were a little scarce, but the dry beans were bountiful and flawless...you never know.

[johnpma]

Does anyone know if potato's are susceptible to blight? Thinking about trying to grow red potato's this year

[Run Forest Run!]

I don't ever plant potatoes in ground that held tomatoes the year before, and vice versa. The blight will affect both plants.
If you don't have any free ground available this year, consider planting them in containers (like bushel baskets) and they do quite well.


I forgot to mention that the same rule applies to pepper plants.

[Michael Greer]

Potatoes are susceptible, so take those precautions others have mentioned. If Late Blight shows up in your garden, cut and dispose of all tomato and potato foliage immediately, and harvest the potatoes soon after. The longer you delay, the greater chance of the infection getting into the tubers. On the bright side, potatoes are one crop that will thrive in a brand new garden plot. This may be your opportunity to grow a bigger garden.

[johnpma]

I don't ever plant potatoes in ground that held tomatoes the year before, and vice versa. The blight will affect both plants.
If you don't have any free ground available this year, consider planting them in containers (like bushel baskets) and they do quite well.


I forgot to mention that the same rule applies to pepper plants.Thanks Karen!! I have horrible luck in the soil with peppers......I may try the baskets this year. My buddy grows his potatoes in trash barrels which is kind of cool

[johnpma]

Potatoes are susceptible, so take those precautions others have mentioned. If Late Blight shows up in your garden, cut and dispose of all tomato and potato foliage immediately, and harvest the potatoes soon after. The longer you delay, the greater chance of the infection getting into the tubers. On the bright side, potatoes are one crop that will thrive in a brand new garden plot. This may be your opportunity to grow a bigger garden. I have an area in my garden that does not get full sun that I may try the potatoes in. My garlic, carrots, beet, lettuce and parsnips are all in raised beds which I've had good luck with.

[red dorakeen]

I was out pruning tomatoes a few days ago when I remembered this thread and something worth adding.

When pruning it's good to prune off the leaves that touch or are near the ground so soil born diseases don't splash up and infect the leaves.

[johnpma]

I was out pruning tomatoes a few days ago when I remembered this thread and something worth adding.

When pruning it's good to prune off the leaves that touch or are near the ground so soil born diseases don't splash up and infect the leaves.

Great advise!! Thank you!! We need SUN badly.......my tomato plants look like crap period. This year I planted thru plastic sheeting. I also "furrowed" my rows because of all the water we have had......this is just horrible horrible gardening weather

[jimmygarison]

Hi, i am jimmy , I am religious about rotating crops into new soil to avoid leftover pathogens, and have pretty good luck.

[Michael Greer]

I grow my tomatoes up high on a trellis of poles and twine, and prune them up 16 inches or so to allow some free air to flow under them. While there is some risk of sun burning, the pruning keeps things drier.

[johnpma]

I grow my tomatoes up high on a trellis of poles and twine, and prune them up 16 inches or so to allow some free air to flow under them. While there is some risk of sun burning, the pruning keeps things drier. That is a fantastic idea. One plant got it pretty badly so I pulled the plant in an effort to minimize the potential of it infecting other plants. The rest have a few leaves that I removed and discarded

Picked our first round of beans last night.....things are happening slowly but they are happening

[barnbc76]

Nice beans, what kind are they, and how many feet did you plant? I will be harvesting the first of our pole beans in a couple days. My tomatoes are umanageable, though that was my own fault for planting them so close together. Spacing is 2ft apart in a 4ft bed with 2 rows stagered, its just a jungle mess basically 2x what i should have in that space. Not really much disease this year, this is the first year planting in this spot though. Very late harvesting my tomatoes this year, only just now getting our regular size and large tomatoes, cherry and plum have been harvesting small amounts. Last year i think i started harvesting in late july.

[johnpma]

Nice beans, what kind are they, and how many feet did you plant? I will be harvesting the first of our pole beans in a couple days. My tomatoes are umanageable, though that was my own fault for planting them so close together. Spacing is 2ft apart in a 4ft bed with 2 rows stagered, its just a jungle mess basically 2x what i should have in that space. Not really much disease this year, this is the first year planting in this spot though. Very late harvesting my tomatoes this year, only just now getting our regular size and large tomatoes, cherry and plum have been harvesting small amounts. Last year i think i started harvesting in late july. These were bush beans which I have great luck with every year. I planted two rows maybe 10 feet long. I'm getting ripe plumb tomatoes now but my others are huge and green like the beefsteaks I planted. Other then that we got a few cukes and a few squash......very tough year for us