Tomato Blight Experiment

[GrannieAnnie]

Erected some plastic over three plants to see if keeping rain off them helps prevent early blight.
Of course- it hasn't rained since.  ;D  
Also mulched with either plastic or Wall Street Journal and wood chips.
And sprayed last week with copper sulphate.

Will cutting down on air circulation make matters worse under the plastic ???  
What think you?

[GrannieAnnie]

[artichoke]

I have seen a sloping roof erected in Germany, to keep the rain and splash off. I am going to try it this year. Would be worried about completely enclosing them though....

Someone on this site puts up supports for a roof of chicken wire, then covers that with plastic, and says it works.

[plot51A]

Someone on this site puts up supports for a roof of chicken wire, then covers that with plastic, and says it works.

Good idea, I think I'll try that. Have been wondering what to do  ;D

[asbean]

I've made a roof out of wilko arches and plastic.  I did it last year and it worked!  They got initial blight, but severaL days of picking off afected leaves and toms it went away and we had loads of tomatoes.

Will take a picture next time I go to the plot.

[GrannieAnnie]

I have seen a sloping roof erected in Germany, to keep the rain and splash off. I am going to try it this year. Would be worried about completely enclosing them though....

Someone on this site puts up supports for a roof of chicken wire, then covers that with plastic, and says it works.

I should have done the chicken wire part because, of course, water puddles on the top of mine.
Both ends are open. In this heat it can't be closed up too much.

[Fork]

Hi Peeps ;D

are you collecting any rain water that falls on your "erections"........the water that collects in your butts can hold the blight spores I have been told......tap water is better apparently.

[Tee Gee]

Will cutting down on air circulation make matters worse under the plastic

Just a personal opinion but yes I would say this is has the potential to be worse!

OK the plants are dry from rain but they might sweat!

Then because blight spores a airborne they may stick to the moist leaves, where if the leaves had been dry and well ventilated they might have just blown away!

In other words you want good air movement, opening the other end of the tunnel may help that is make it into a wind tunnel!

As I said it is only an opinion!

[GrannieAnnie]

Both ends are open. I'll hope for a wind tunnel.

[Jeannine]

Covering from the rain does help as the splash up doesn't occur, keeping the leaves dry is the important thing, so watering from the bottom if under cover helps too as does watering in the morning so the leaves have time to dry if they do get wet. Growing under cover does raise the heat so  that plus condensation is the perfect situation for blight and  if you do get it , it can cream the plants in 24 hours.  Plants in pots under an overhang stood on concrete I think the give the best protection, eg in front of the garage  where there is no soil, or on a patio that has cover too.Actually anything you can do to keep the foliage dry and prevent splash up will help a lot, as will avoiding overcrowding so the air an circulate well.

PS this is all from gained knowledge not personal experience as I have never had blight, but I have followed most of above...luck maybe!

XX Jeannine

[GrannieAnnie]

6 AM today (after no rain AGAIN) I checked the tomato patch.
The uncovered toms not under the plastic had actual beads of dew droplets rimming the leaves like diamonds
while the three toms under plastic were only slightly damp to the touch. They actually looked dry.
So it does seem to minimize the nightly leaf wetting.
Whether or not the decrease in air circulating will counteract the positive is a question.
Also, if there is significantly more heat build up it could stop the flowers from pollinating...
six of one, half a dozen...

[Jeannine]

They will pollinate under there if there is movement, they only need to shake a wee bit a few minutes a day..XX Jeannine

[Vinlander]

Yes, to keep humidity down and splashes off you basically need to grow them under a very open  carport-type structure.

Mine comes down to 30cm from the ground on the sides that face the prevailing E-W/W-E winds - hopefully that will help reduce the problem from horizontal drizzle and splashing drips - but only time will tell...

Cheers.

[GrannieAnnie]

This evening we had a whipperdo of a thunderstorm and the whole rickety structure caved in.
Almost a 1/2 inch of rain fell in about 1/2 an hour (no complaints- we needed the rain).
The tomatoes are nicely washed off now.
Tomorrow I'll try putting up something more substantial.