The dreaded blight has struck right across the whole site here in oxfordshire,the question im asking is can i save the toms that were nearly ready,will they recover if i cut of the worst affected stems?
Can i use the green toms as a chutney or should i pull and burn or compost and cut my losses?
Despondent of Abingdon-on-thames
last year i tried the cut the affected vegetation off for a while, but in the end there was a mass and frantic harvesting of green toms and yes i made green chutney i was so sad, sad, sad, sad :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(. can you tell i was sad. but you have to use them straight away, if you leave them a couple days you may fine you'll lose some of the green ones to blight as well. gosh i was sure :'( :'( :'(
I assume you were sad...am i right?
Last year I tried to save some by ripening them off the vine at home and a lot of them ended up blighted. So, I'd cook them up right away.
This year I started spraying with Bordeaux Mix a week after planting out and have continued spraying. So far it has held the blight at bay even though others on the site have it. I may be lucky too because none of my near neighbours have toms so I've possibly benefited from a bit of a firebreak around me.
whats bordeaux mix?
Im so peed of i had a really good year so far only to be done by the blight,lost all in the floods last year beans going crazy,marrows and cukes out of control then this.
Bordeaux Mix is a fungicide - it's copper sulphate with slaked lime.
If you're sure it's blight you've got to get them off the plant pretty quick, in my experience once a few leaves start going you're done for, it might be in the fruits already. I'd pick them and burn everything else.
Probably the most destructive/frustrating ailment there is for veg growers??
had blight all 25 plants i put in and i used Bordeaux Mix just gave up in the end just seems to be no stopping it when it takes hold
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/wrigs_2006/Toms2.jpg)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l58/wrigs_2006/Toms.jpg)
You can also use Dithane but both it and Bordeaux mixture are protective rather than curative so you have to be spraying regularly before the blight strikes. Also I believe they have a limited success.
And thoroughly - top & bottom! And respray after rain!!
Hi everyone, this is my first time on this site, joined today, will introduce myself first, I live in East Sussex and have started an allotment for the first time this year, I have been growing tomatoes in my Garden and on my allotment, the ones on my allotment have failed to blight Potatoes too, but the ones in my garden are doing fine so far, I do pick any leaves off as soon as I see any change in them but what I wanted to say is blight seems to be taking over everything, my apple tree, and some of my plants have got it,
It won't be blight on an apple. With the vile weather though, it's quite possible you could be getting other fungus diseases.
I've just chopped up all my tomato plants for the second year running. Pretty fed up. I collected all the toms- varying in size from peas upwards! Does anyone know if you can make green tomato chutney from the half grown fruit, and whether I can include the fruit which has the brown tinge of blight to it? Or are they bad to cook with?
Use them, but do it quick. Toms with brown marks will be sprouting mould in all directions if you don't.
Welcome to the site Em-L! Robert is right but if you're the slightest bit unsure don't use the ones that might have blight: stick with the small, the hard and the green.
Last year same happened, so devastating. This year I have a plan, it means less tomatoes, but touch wood, still no blight. Ive always pinched out the shoots, but thought to myself, this year I wont, 1) because open skin is a good way for infection to take hold on a person, so why not with a plant? Maybe the blight needs an entry point, and Im not helping it. 2) also, nipping the offshoots has to be the best way to spread the infection, who washes there hands inbetween each plant? Ive even planted some on the same blighted patch as last year... Still no dreaded blight. Worth a try, seems to be working for me. Will keep you updated if you want. Piggy.
Silly question but just learning about blight. My Italian friends seem to have lost all their tomatoes, they grow loads and loads, and have burnt them all. I have five plants, Gardeners Delight, and they seem to be OK although some of the leaves seem to be dying off. My potatoes seem OK. But have been told it is airborne and can affect the whole site and I have to dig my potatoes up and watch my tomatoes. Is it air borne or in the soil? I do not want to upset my fellow allotmentiers. Also was it blight that caused the famine in Ireland. Someone else said it was just the damp weather. Not that caused the famine in Ireland but has caused some peoples (mostly the Italian variety of toms) to go black etc. etc. What with red ants, cabbage butterflies, birds that feast on fig trees and eat pears. Pair of partridges that love my allotment, pigeons, swarm of horrible birds that appear in a gang and eat everything. Then follow me home to eat everything again, and the cats just watch (starlings I have been told they are) I think this allotment growing is not as easy as it seems. And why can't I grow carrots. Anyone want any runner beans, french beans, courgettes. Even my onions have not grown much. Every lasting spinach OK. Perhaps I should leave it to the experts and buy at Morrisons. Planted leeks, normally OK with them but my brussel sprouts and PSB look pathetic. One hard pear on my pear tree and a lot of orange spots of the leaves.
Blight happens so suddenly. Last Friday week I was seeing to the tomatoes and no problems; on Saturday my neighbour had his crop ruined and mine were affected too. I sprayed, but I've lost pounds of potential crop.
My fault: I always spray mid-July & again early August. This year I didn't!! Lesson learnt!!
Bin or burn the affected fruit (on no account compost them) and watch them for a day or two. Some will start to ripen, some won't & some will start to show signs of blight. Keep the first, make chutney from the second & bin the third.
I've got a gallon of chutney on the go at the moment....
Me too, found one tomato plant amongst four well away with blight on Sat night. Got it out petty quick
and bagged it. These were in the ground and against a fence, found a branch heavy with fruit laying
on the soil and rotten.
My mistake not attendig to weeding around plants properly and spray hosing can help spread blight apparently. Had another row of plants in tubs nearby, all looking a bit odd !
So gritted my teeth and on Sun morning stripped fruit off 14 plants, washed, dried and layed them out on paper -- keeping seperate each plants crops that could be already affected.
Hope I've done the right thing -- my first experiance with tomato blight and I didnt want to hang around and loose the fruit ?
I would like to grow some flowering shrubs in the vacant ground, will the affected soil harm them ?
and can I put the affected plants in the recycling bin as I believe the Council steralises its compost to
destroy infections ?
I,m not able to burn it all, but dont want to spread desease either!
With thanks,
FLOSSY
Went down the plot Friday no blight,today 12 plants of Artic plenty full of it :'(, but touch wood my Gardeners delight are showing no sign as yet, but will down there first thing with my spray. :(
I planted 8 Marmande and 8 Ferline all mixed up in 2 rows. I've had to dig up 6 of the Marmande but so far not one of the Ferline is affected, they have "good resistance to blight" - seems to be true.
Yesterday I dug up my entire crop of outdoor tomatoes. (80 or so plants!) Have salvaged a trug-ful but have 5 council sacks full of plants & fruit to "re-cycle". (Have checked with council - as they compost at such a high temperature, everything gets killed. At least some good will come out of the sorry mess!)
At least last year I managed to save some seeds, but this year it's happened so suddenly every plant has been affected and I daren't try saving anything.
Hey, ho....
all of mine including the ferline were caught by the blight
And I signed our site up to Blightwatch UK, where you can get a personalised warning for your post-code.
Still waiting for the text message & e-mail!!