Blighted tomatoes again

[dave45]

Various varieties planted outside - and ALL have been blighted again in the last 2 weeks ... thats 3 years running.

Can anyone advise the best blight-resistant varieties for our soggy climate?

The greenhouse varieties have survived so far

[Durgan]

Various varieties planted outside - and ALL have been blighted again in the last 2 weeks ... thats 3 years running.

Can anyone advise the best blight-resistant varieties for our soggy climate?

The greenhouse varieties have survived so far

I sure feel for you. Out of about 30 plants last year I hardly got enough tomatoes for the table. From experience there is not much one can do if the weather is running against you, except maybe cover the plants to limit getting the foliage wet, and even this might not be sufficient.

This year was the best tomato crop, that I have ever grown. Hot, sunny, and sufficient rain at appropriate intervals.

[Millymollymandy]

I can only advise spraying with Bordeaux Mix, which does help. Sorry you have got blight, I've heard it's to the west of me in Brittany now too.

[dave45]

and now the greenhouse toms have got it

:-(

[oldjerry]

Nightmare! Bordeaux mixture is effective but really as a preventative,so has to be sprayed before the spores turn up.It's also pretty toxic(copper - based).Remember,the spores are airbourne, so a preventative might be to create a barrier between the spores and your neighbours spuds maybe compact lowgrowing varieties surrounded by a barrier of some sort (think anti - carrot fly measures).Don't know.just a thought,I truly sympathise...it's a challenge ! best wishes.

[Millymollymandy]

There's been a bit of blight around here on my toms for a few weeks but after the rain we had on Thursday I suddenly noticed two of my toms looking rather brown on Saturday evening. The worst affected were Red Pear (cherry) and then Yellow Pear. It was very interesting to note that the worst affected bits were the older leaves that were the most affected by magnesium deficiency. The young flowering side shoot that I had allowed to grow coming from the base of each plant (because they are vigourous and had been stopped out at the top of the cane) were unaffected. The plants which I propagated from side shoots have not had any blight on them at all. This lot had all been sprayed with BM several times.

Last year the only tomato plant which survived blight in July in my veg patch was a young plant propagated from a side shoot, right next to the ones that were so badly blighted I had to chuck the lot. They had not been sprayed with BM.

I am watching the blight with interest as I see a bit of a pattern here, but it is too early to tell!

Dave 45 I found Sungold cherry tom to be the most resistant to blight and cold weather. After spraying with BM only AFTER blight arrived last year* it carried on flowering and producing fruit until November despite several frosts and the blight never really harmed the plant at all.

* This was September and the plants were in pots around the house, they were not affected by the blight in July in the veg patch.

[dave45]

Some slight good news as a follow-up... After the greenhouse got infected with blight I removed the worst tom plants entirely (about 75%) and hacked off the infected bits of the remaining most productive green-tomato plants as they became identifiable.

I was going to spray the survivors with bordeaux mix, but it seems it aint necessary... it has stopped spreading inside the greenhouse and the remaining green toms are ripening nicely.

:-)

[Millymollymandy]

That's good news Dave!

[oldfella]

We had blight, in our small veg garden, but allways use BM on our main crop, as it seems to me as BM is derived from copper, ie a natural product, it is rather pointless to lose a crop once you become aware of a problem.

[oldjerry]

Agreed, but mercury is a 'natural' product,sometimes it's just the least worst option,blight has got to be the biggest challenge for organic gardeners.