Tomato Blight?

Very similar to potato blight, and wet weather in the growing season (outdoor specifically) can be disasterous, as ours had the same problem last season. Spores in the ground can cause early problems in the plants, so probably best to change the compost entirely. Dont try planting spuds in what is discarded - and do not put on the compost heap - bin it where it will not end up in the green section for composting ( green waste) as this will just spread it more. A real pain to get rid of as like the common cold - it mutates year on year so any cure is very short lived.

thanks Steve, that's helpful

bw

steve

Steve,  I got the blight a few years ago for the first time +/- 15 years ago,  then again 2 years ago.

It is mostly caused by periods of high humidity; not necessarily rain, but those summer dank days with damp soil, overcast & low wind    

My affected plants were grown outdoors in a raised bed.

In both years,  I did exactly the same;  after the blight I didn't grow tomatoes in that bed the following year. I did nothing with the affected bed other than give the soil its annual winter deep compost & leaf mould mulch, then a crop of early French beans followed by spinach beet until December, then another deep mulch

The first tomato crop in the "usual" tomato bed after the 2 years ago hit was last year,  no problems,  probably the best ever,  sick of tomatoes & ran out of chutney jars. 

Look out for strains of tomatoes that are blight resistant,  seed packets usualy say something on these lines or search Mr Google.  But its getting a bit late for seed sowing right now.    

thanks Mike.

Did you throw away your soil/compost that they grew in?

I've got some seedlings that I wish to plant. I have an Earthbox - in the past it has given amazing yields - and have took out the compost and thinking how to get rid of it. I think last years tomatos were unresistant as they were heritage varieties. One, Auruga, was absolutely delicious so it's a shame I'll not be growing it again.

Steve

No Steve,  I did not throw away the compost

It was a deep bed,  that is a heavily composted rich soil in large 20cm deep wooden boxes over normal garden soil. This is the way I do all my small vegetable growing as I have a steep slope on my ground that suffers rain wash out if its not held in place.  But deep beds are an excellent idea for intensive cropping anyhow.

The treatment was not grow tomatoes for 1 year & per my text  I did nothing with the affected bed other than give the soil its annual winter deep compost

thanks again Mike

you sound like a serious gardener with a serious garden

best wishes

Steve

Mike, I have found that rotation works well against the blight, and as you say, last summer was hardly a 'summer' more a collection of warmish cloudy days, hence the problems. I was tempted to try beef tomatoes as well as usual outdoor types due to the glorious spring weather (same as right now?) and everything went wrong from June onwards. We ended up with hundreds of green totmatoes round the house slowly ripening, but they tasted great when cooked. They were in raised beds also. I have in the past and also this winter had good success with 'Armillatox' as a winter drench over the whole affected area. This seems to control a great many fungus/blight species well, along with the rose blackspot we suffer in our area with quiet badly.

This year we are limiting tomatoes to the hanging basket tumbler types, and majoring on runner beans instead, along with a few outdoor cucumbers which fared a lot better last season.

tomatoes are famous for wilt and want warm dry weather.  Also like said, rotate the crop, they can live in rather poor soil but has to drain well. out in CA we don't freeze so they have to be wilt resistant.  Growing them in a remote bin is a good way to rotate. There are numerous small tomatoes too for salads.

If you visit a nursery instead of just describing the problem put a sample in a plastic bag, so they can see. Taking pics of your area helps tremendously to someone else.  Can't count the time people come to me saying it's a little green oval leaf and white flower...........

Or I need a plant for such and such, I have to ask how big,  wide, tall etc. a couple pics would solve the problem.

next time I'll take pictures, that's good advice. I've emptied my Earth Box [container], because I can, and I can't rotate as I want to grow Toms in it this year. I have chosen different varieties though. I'll report back on the result in the summer

atb

steve