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Post by michaeljohnson on Aug 17, 2009 11:37:27 GMT -5
I thought I had got away lightly with it a fortnight ago, when it got about ten plants and killed them, so I embarked on a spraying program straight away. but to no avail.
The late blight struck again over the weekend and killed about a hundred plants all growing outside, and ruined the tomatoes on them too- some of which were just beginning to get to the ripening stage- the whole garden looks just a decimated mess of dead and dying plants all withered and dead,and so sudden too-almost overnight.
Well that totally Buggers it for me- next year I shall grow nothing but blight resistant varieties outside in the garden- probably the large type such as ( New hampshire Surecrop) or something like that.
Luckily it did not touch any of the tomatoes in the greenhouse or conservatory-so I still have fifty or more plants in good condition in there to carry me through a bit,
Funnily enough the variety that came out best from those struck by blight were the O.S.U. Blues it only crinkled the leaves slightly but did not kill any and they are still growing quite well, and one or two others I mentioned previously got through it on the second wave of blight with only minimum damage.
The whole decimated lot of a hundred or so plants that really got a hammering was my main seed sources for next years seed exchanges -so it looks like I shall be greatly reduced in that quarter this season, with only a handful of varieties to offer,
Most of the important varieties were luckily in the greenhouse and conservatory, so I shall still have fifty or so from there-especially Cowlick's B.W. etc,
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Post by mnjrutherford on Aug 17, 2009 14:31:17 GMT -5
I've just been diagnosed with late blight as well. However, it seems to be affecting only the tomatoes and not the peppers. I could be incorrect on that at this point because I have had some peppers rot on the plant but they were on the soil so I'm hoping that was the cause.
As for the tomatoes, I also have a horrible problem with stink bugs. They sting the fruit leaving tiny pin pricks on the skins and the flesh immediately surrounding the wound does not ripen. Still edible, but not so lovely as they should be. To help with the problem, I am radically pruning all the vines. Since they are still producing and I am getting decent and edible fruit, I need to keep them as long as possible. All debris goes the the pit. With plenty of light and air, the bugs are not as eager to hang out. Perhaps it will also curtain some of the blight spores as well?
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Post by PatrickW on Aug 17, 2009 14:41:05 GMT -5
Sorry you guys... It's really a horrible feeling when it happens. My plants are still untouched, and I'm not sure why, but it will hit soon. I have several resistant varieties growing, but will lose a lot to blight when it comes.
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Post by ottawagardener on Aug 17, 2009 17:10:31 GMT -5
That sucks! There's late blight at my allotment too and the OSU seems fine but not as big as the other plants.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Aug 18, 2009 14:52:19 GMT -5
::laughing:: I appreciate the commiseration! You guys are great. Just bear in mind that it's still the best crop I've had in 4 years! ;o)
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Post by lavandulagirl on Aug 18, 2009 15:01:50 GMT -5
I'd be interested to know... besides blight-resistant varieties, versus non blight-resistant varienties, do any of you notice a pattern in the first plants to contract the late blight? What I mean is, were they some of the earliest plants you put out, or latest? Were they determinate, indeterminate, PL? Were they spcific size (cherry, large, etc) or perhaps a specific color? I realize that late blight does eventually hit a broad spectrum of the crop, but I'm wondering if there is a way to, quasi-scientifically, extrapolate which plant was most succeptible. It might be a starting point for someone who is looking for the disease vector in their own garden.
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Post by plantsnobin on Aug 18, 2009 20:08:53 GMT -5
In one of my nursery mags this week there was a report that the problem with late blight in the US northeatern area was traced to the Bonnie Plant Farm that sells to the big box stores and that they had to pull plants from Home Depot, Walmart & Lowes. The company denies they had a problem, but it really does seem like it would just be better to stick to locally produced whatevers for the most part. Small growers/producers supplying their local market, then we wouldn't have so many problems that reach such epic proportions. I guess it's too much to ask for people to see the sense in that.
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Post by michaeljohnson on Aug 19, 2009 1:07:21 GMT -5
Personally- I don't think it makes any difference where the plants come from- because the speed at which the disease kills the plants it would be very obvious if any plants were infected with it by the following morning of purchasing them, so no observant person would plant them anyway, Late blight seems to drift in the air and is airborne and or soil borne as well and you get it when the high humidity comes each year at roughly the same time-in my case it is the end of the first week in August for about two weeks after that time, then it's gone until next year, some years if you are lucky it does not come at all- and that will be a good year
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Post by PatrickW on Aug 19, 2009 2:34:59 GMT -5
I tend to agree with Michael. Tomato plants are infected or they aren't, and when they are it's all over in a very short time. You would have to be really unobservant to buy an infected plant at a big box store, and the plant would have to be infected at it's point of origin and be purchased within 24-48 hours for a seedling not to be on it's last legs. Also, blight cannot infect the roots of the tomato, only the foliage and fruit, so it couldn't have been hidden in any way in the plants.
I can imagine a few infections may have taken place this way, but that doesn't explain everything that happened this year in the US.
I've also heard, and I believe it's true, that potatoes are much more likely to infect tomatoes rather than the other way around.
Until now blight spore reproduction has been asexual, meaning it's ability to mutate has been limited. There are however now for the first time different strains with the ability to reproduce sexually and exchange DNA coming in contact with one another, with the potential of being able to mutate much faster than before. Scientists are very concerned about this, and I suspect that's what's happened in the US, there's just a new and more virulent strain emerging.
This is also just related to the general degradation of the environment, global warming and changing weather patterns.
As much as I hate the likes of Walmart and Lowes, I think it's a little fairer to put more of the blame on modern farming practices than these retailers.
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Post by robertb on Aug 19, 2009 12:46:51 GMT -5
It's also becoming more virulent in the UK, where we also have more than one strain now. That's the way it seems anyway. Over here, it usually overwinters in potatoes, either in farmers' outgrade piles, or in volunteers. In urban areas it seems to concentrate round allotment sites, where a lot of potatoes are going to be grown.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Aug 19, 2009 14:02:29 GMT -5
I have 3 varieties of VIRUS resistant tomatoes and 5 heirloom varieties. I planted them all at the same time. The VR are large fruit reds, and the heirlooms are "Green Sausage", "Aunt Ruby's German Green", "Azoychka", and "Hartman's Yellow Gooseberry". The fruit came on the HYG first followed soon after by the rest. I think I had fruit set on all plants within a 2 week span. The HYG were the first to ripen by a long shot and it wasn't until the first ones ripened that the blight began to show up on the fruit.
Your question has me pondering Lav. Cause to tell you the truth, the "greens" don't seem affected, just the fruit. And doesn't it mean something when there are root shoots coming out of the "trunk" of the plant?
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Post by PatrickW on Aug 19, 2009 15:38:11 GMT -5
Late blight just appeared on my tomatoes. I have them in two places, at the community garden and at home on my roof in pots. My home tomatoes are unaffected, but it just appeared within the last day or two at my plot.
My first tomato to get hit was...Humboltii, a variety that was supposed to be a bit resistant. (are you reading this Frank?) My other resistant tomato, Tomatito de Jalapa, is doing fine...
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Post by canadamike on Aug 19, 2009 19:57:04 GMT -5
Late blight has just killed most of my Angelina Mahoney's Blue potato vines and a lot of my Red Warbas. Many other seems untouched, and in Tom's patch too.. My tomatoes, growing pretty close to taters, seem untouched, but I stay darn away from them.
Some have been hit bad in the other garden too.
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Post by silverseeds on Aug 19, 2009 23:53:19 GMT -5
Alot of plant disease on the farm in ohio, would spread when wet, if you picked it. It also seemed if you watered it less during this period it wouldnt spread as fast. I didnt see anything on tomatoes actually, but the beans always had some white fungus stuff on them each year.
Do you guys think I would have less of an issue with this since it is so dry here? someone said it was spreading during times of high humidity. that NEVER happens here. EVER. Atleast not the five years I lived here.
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Post by grunt on Aug 20, 2009 0:17:24 GMT -5
SS You should have much less issue with any of the tomato diseases there. If you follow reasonable hygiene in your garden, use mulch, and don't aerial water (drip rather than sprinkler), you should be disease free.
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