Tomato Blight
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Fruit | 150 comments
We have blight. When we were rushing out yesterday evening I spotted it on three tomato plants. Large blackish brownish splodges and a generally wilty look. It is unmistakeable. We had it five years ago and it devastated our tomato crop within days.
At the time we were creating a website for an expert on plant diseases. The fee was to be paid in whisky. Danny must have negotiated this deal.
The expert arrived with a rather good bottle of Isla whisky under his arm. He was immediately shepherded out to examine the tomatoes.
“Its blight. Just like potato blight. They’re the same family.”
It was hard to discuss his website. We were mourning the loss of a summer plucking sun warmed fruit from the plant and a long winter savouring our intense tomato sauce base. A good harvest makes enough sauce to last us through the winter until June.
We lost our entire crop that year. Now I grow tomatoes in at least two places. The blight has affected the plants at the front on a sunny south west facing wall. Usually the warmth of the wall nurtures the plants but warm and extended wet weather conditions are perfect for the development of tomato blight. I have hoiked out the plants and am hoping the blight spores will not have spread onto the other 12 plants. The blight affected the weakest plants, the others all look strong and healthy. If the wet weather continues for much longer I am afraid that they all will succumb.
The remaining plants could be treated with Bordeaux Mixture which was developed in France to treat fungal disease in vines. A lot of people spray their potatoes with this potion to protect against blight. It is a copper and lime mixture that is not environmentally friendly, so I am loathe to use it on our tomato plants.
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hi again just found a usefulish site from the usa about potato blight http://eap.mcgill.ca/Publications/EAP73.htm have a look and see if its helpful to the site ps am still harvesting me blighted toms and the runner beans are going nuts take care
Oh bad luck, Terri. It is soul destrying to lose your entire crop at this stage in the season. I am picking off blighty leaves every day and still have plants hanging on. Our harvest is poor, though, compared to previous summers.
I’m hoping for a hard winter too. It’s hard to be optimistic when crops fail but it’s the best attitude in the long run.
Hi, Having read all the comments about blight I’m just about to venture into my veggie plot and pull out all my tomato plants which have succumbed almost overnight with hundreds of fruit still to pick.As I’m in S.W. France you might have thought I would have no problems but like a lot of you we’ve had the wettest summer for 15 years. Just hoping for a good hard winter. Better luck next year. An eternally optimistic gardener.
Hi Ginny,
We are not experts but want to share the information and techniques that we have learnt. Gardening should be fun. The past year (veg and flowers) hasn’t been great on that front.
I have learnt so much from the comments that we have received on this post. Sharing is what it’s all abut. Better luck next year.
Thanks so much. Will go on the armillatox site as you suggest. It’s really good as a novice veg gardener to find such a helpful site at the cottage smallholder. I’ll definitely be back.
Hi Ginny,
What a shame about your tomatoes.
Armillatox (http://www.armillatox.com/) is not environmentally harmful and is a good fungicide, although you have to buy it as a patio cleaner in the UK now. It’s would be worth following the link and checking on their site. I use Citrox to clean the greenhouse, it is not harmful to wildlife.
By far the best way of killing the spores in your soil is to expose the soil to an extended period of frost. We had a mild winter last year and that is why so many people have problems with tomato blight this year.
Blight does not spread beyond potatoes and tomatoes, as far as I know. I am not an expert on blight.
As far as I know, eating tomatoes from a plant that developed blight would be harmless. One of our plants is blighty near the base but we are happily harvesting toms from the top. We leave them for a couple of days to see if they go brown and if they don’t we eat them. We haven™t keeled over yet.
Hi. What a relief to read all this and realise that I’m among a whole host of blighted friends, mourning for my poor twisted, scabby brown tomatoes. You have answered so many of my questions but three remain. 1. I am assuming that no-one has a product for sterilising the soil, post-blight. I discovered on one comment Armillattox and Citrox. Are they organic? 2. Does blight spread beyond potatoes and tomatoes? 3. If I, or any of the family, have eaten a tomato picked straight of the plant which might have gone brown if left, have we harmed ourselves? Look forward to a reply.
Hi Joanna,
How disappointing about your tomatoes. As John Coe says, they need a lot of attention and if you loose them it hurts. Pleased to hear that your pots survived.
We live in the NW corner of the States. I also found this blog while looking for info about blight. We look to have lost our entire crop of tomatoes this year, and I count ourselves lucky to have saved our tatties.
It is heartbreaking to lose an entire summer of tomatoes, especially having bought a dehydrator in anticipation of all those principe borghese to dry.
We had 3 summers in a row that were 3 months of hot & dry. So this year we went nuts with tomatoes. But the weather went nuts with warm wet rainy spells. I find it ironic that we were able to grow sweet lovely watermelon in our greenhouse, and our peppers are going gangbusters.
We got a little blight in our tatties, but ended up with a wonderful early red harvest, and the maincrop looks good too.
Hi Peter,
Just read the garden web forum link. Very useful advice, thanks for sharing.