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Brown patches on the leaves are a symptom of tomato blight. Photo courtesy of Meg McGrath/Cornell University
For more on tomato blight, see our latest update.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Anything but the tomatoes! Unfortunately for home gardeners and farmers alike—including some of us here at Rodale.com and our Organic Gardening colleagues—the fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which causes the infamous late blight, commonly called tomato blight, is starting to appear in parts of the country. And, as before, it's threatening gardeners' most prized possessions—their juicy, homegrown tomatoes. "Unfortunately, I think it's a matter of time before it's widespread," says Meg McGrath, PhD, associate professor of plant pathology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. "Hopefully, people will be more knowledgeable of the disease this year, realizing it's a community disease. If you end up with it, you have to take care of the problem, you can't let it fester in your garden."
THE DETAILS: Maryland reported the first outbreak this growing season, with Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Canada following suit. The disease is cropping up in all types of settings, from backyard gardens to fields and high tunnels on farms. McGrath says plant pathologists have not been able to pinpoint the source of each outbreak this spring, but notes that the disease needs a living host and can overwinter in potatoes left in the soil or in storage. (Late blight affects potatoes too, and caused the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century.)
Photo courtesy of Meg McGrath/Cornell University
Telltale signs of blight include brown spots or lesions on the stems, with white fungal growth developing.
Photo courtesy of Meg McGrath/Cornell University
If a stem is OK, but you start to see nickel-size or bigger olive-green or brown patches on a plant's leaves, with some white fungal growth underneath, your plant has most likely been struck by the disease. The brown areas are likely to first appear in the early morning or after rain. Sometimes the spot is surrounded by yellow, or looks water-soaked, explains McGrath.
Last year's tomato blight outbreak got rolling after gardeners in the Northeast, not knowing this disease including its symptoms because it typically occurs very rarely, bought infected plants at garden centers and didn't know this is one disease requiring a "community response" (notify and destroy). Tomato blight spores on infected plants are easily swept up in wind currents and carried high into the atmosphere, where they can potentially travel for long distances, even between states. The spores survive up there in ideal weather conditions (rainy, or even just humid and overcast days), and then fall into gardens and onto farm fields with the next rain.
WHAT IT MEANS: This is bad news for this year's tomato crop. What's worse, McGrath says if tomato blight sticks around for a few more years, it could very well become endemic in this area. That's bad news especially for organic growers, who nix the use of toxic fungicides. And while some copper products are approved for organic use, they aren't benign to soil or human health, either. "For organic, copper is the best choice," she says. "But people should make sure they understand that just because it's an organic product, it isn't as safe as water."
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think frequently monitor the leaves & fruit for signs of blight. If you find some, remove NS0-510 | ASC-091 | 1z0-548 | ST0-095 | C-TERP10-60 | ST0-132 | 1z0-516 | 1z0-536 | the affected plant. You may be able to save the fruit by picking. The plant should be placed in a plastic bag & carefully disposed
john313
I know of a product that may or may not help
with tomato blight. I have no tomato plants
with the disease to BI0-112 | BCP-420 | 250-311 | 200-530 | ST0-91W | test if it will or not help.If you are willing to carry out a test on your own with your plants that are affected, you may contact me for more info. But be assured that I don't make any claims what so ever.
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I think frequently monitor the leaves & fruit for signs of blight. If you find some, remove the affected plant. You may be able to save the fruit by picking. The plant should be placed in a plastic bag & carefully disposed of to prevent the disease spreading to neighbouring gardens or farms. ged math test questions ged social studies test
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Tomato Blight
I think frequently monitor the leaves & fruit for signs of blight. If you find some, remove the affected plant. You may be able to save the fruit by picking. The plant should be placed in a plastic bag & carefully disposed of to prevent the disease spreading to neighbouring gardens or farms. life settlement fund fsa
Blight again?
I thought this was dealt with the first time round, it's really annoying to see it back. Is tomato blight still a problem now? Doug from papasan chair
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tomato blight
I know of a product that may or may not help
with tomato blight. I have no tomato plants
with the disease to test if it will or not help.
If you are willing to carry out a test on your own
with your plants that are affected, you may contact
me for more info. But be assured that I don't make any
claims what so ever.
For some information to read up on, and to make your
own informed decision to pursue this route, e-mail me
with a separate email, other than your personal one to
aronodell@rogers.com
I'm not interested in collecting emails for a list.
Just trying to help you out with this tomato blight problem.
Sincerely, Aron
Cure for tomato blight?
Isn't there anything you can put on the plants to stop this problem? Is the only answer to throw the plant away???