First blight...

[pigeonseed]

First blighted tomatoes :

I couldn't believe it when I saw the first brown patches, it's been such a hot, dry summer, but the fruit have started to show it so i pulled those plants out.

They were at the open back of my lean to mini greenhouse, so it shows how important shielding them from the wind is. The ones at the front, enclosed from breezes, just showng first signs. They probably caught it from the ones at the back. I'm just hoping to ripen off as any as i can.

If i can't grow tomatoes in a summer like this...

[pigeonseed]

[Big Gee]

First blighted tomatoes :

I couldn't believe it when I saw the first brown patches, it's been such a hot, dry summer, but the fruit have started to show it so i pulled those plants out.

They were at the open back of my lean to mini greenhouse, so it shows how important shielding them from the wind is. The ones at the front, enclosed from breezes, just showng first signs. They probably caught it from the ones at the back. I'm just hoping to ripen off as any as i can.

If i can't grow tomatoes in a summer like this...

Yep it's arrived here on the west Wales coast as well - right in the middle of Cardigan Bay - just where I live unfortunately!

Although it HAS been dry & it's kept away until late it's finally arrived. I shouldn't be too surprised though, I got a couple of full Smith Period alerts last week.

It's hit a few potato haulms, but that's no problem at this late time of the year, they would all have been lifted by the end of the month anyway. My toms in the polytunnel are fine so far, but I noticed that a fellow allotmenteer has been hit in her polytunnel at the other end of the site.

A bit more of a problem on the toms as they're a bit slow ripening, so fingers crossed it won't get worse, but with rain forecast for the coming weekend & high humidity levels it could cause more problems.

[lottie lou]

Would it be worth spraying the toms again?

[pigeonseed]

Well maybe yes, i don't spray because of effects on environment, plus cost. And i think it's preventive only, isn't it? Do you spray, lottielou?

[lottie lou]

I did this year as I have had blight on outdoor toms in the past.  Don't bother for indoor ones.  First year for ages I've grown outdoors (leftover plants).  Wondering whether it is possible to pull the plant up and hang upside down in a shed or something for the toms to ripen.  No one will eat chutney nor green tomato curry.  Thinking perhaps of fried green tomatoes.

[pigeonseed]

They never seem to ripen, they just rot, but as I never learn, i currently have some wrapped in newspaper on the windowsill ;-)

[Big Gee]

Well maybe yes, i don't spray because of effects on environment, plus cost. And i think it's preventive only, isn't it? Do you spray, lottielou?

I agree. Bordeaux mixture is a copper based spray (made up of copper sulphate and slaked lime) traditionally it's been used by organic growers to control blight. It can protect healthy foliage, but cannot cure the disease once established. So, to be effective, it has to applied regularly to healthy plants as a preventative measure which is not considered good organic practice.

It amazes me that this mixture has been permitted for organic use by the Soil Association in the past, because copper is a known enviromental hazard (especially if used in large quantities for preventative use).

Personally I would steer away from any fungicide. There is not one that is 'safe' for healthy food production. Copper sulphate (Bordeaux mixture) has been found to be harmful to fish, livestock and—due to potential build up of copper in the soil—earthworms.

The mixture started to be used by the United Fruit Company throughout Latin America around 1922. The mixture was nicknamed perico, or "parakeet", because it would turn workers completely blue. Many workers would get sick or die of poisoning due to the toxic chemical! Doesn't sound good dos it?!

My advice would be suffer the blight but take practical steps to limit it's spread and the damage it causes. I'd prefer to lose crops than poison myself or turn my family into Smurfs!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I used copper sulphate as a weedkiller when I was a kid, and completely wiped out the bindweed which was all over the garden.

[Big Gee]

I used copper sulphate as a weedkiller when I was a kid, and completely wiped out the bindweed which was all over the garden.

Didn't turn blue did you!!!!

[lottie lou]

Right, not spraying as I have cut off most of the tomato leaves anyway.  Does anyone know though, whether pulling up the plants now and hanging them upside down somewhere dry would ripen the tomatoes (thought I had read it somewhere about having ripe tomatoes late into the year or I might have, most probably, misunderstood the article).

[Big Gee]

Right, not spraying as I have cut off most of the tomato leaves anyway.  Does anyone know though, whether pulling up the plants now and hanging them upside down somewhere dry would ripen the tomatoes (thought I had read it somewhere about having ripe tomatoes late into the year or I might have, most probably, misunderstood the article).

My advice would be to dig them up and burn them - don't even put them in your compost bin.

You want to get rid of all the blight spores that may be lurking around off your infected plants - preferably by burning them. What you don't need is a spore factory hanging somewhere. The chances are that the fruit is ruined anyway.

[Digeroo]

Most of the tomatoes on our site are blighted even though we have had so little rain, we have only had one Smith period, and that was a long time ago.  Things are better in my garden, which is odd since I had had blight there in the past.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Didn't turn blue did you!!!!

No, but farm workers in the Caribbean did when it was used there in vast quantities. A lot of them died.