Tomato Blight

Lotus-eater

Blackjack_Davy wrote: »

You got blight on your greenhouse toms? The spores are spread by rain splashes, so long as the plants are kept dry there shouldn't be any problems with blight, I've never had a problem with greenhouse toms I just water them at the roots.

I believe they are also spread by air currents and then can be activated by high humidity, but in a greenhouse you still need holes to enable fresh air to get in and in those, rain can come, if I get blight in my greenhouse, it's always under the skylights or next to the door.

foxgloves

First good crop this year for a while as we lost loads of our crop to blight the last couple of years. This year, we grew 'Ferline'. It's a tomato variety which is more blight resistant than most. It doesn't mean that Ferline plants never get it, but they hold off for longer, so you have a better chance of getting your crop ripe before the first signs of it start appearing. My greenhouse border is infected with blight from previous years, & my outdoor ones get it too, but nothing so far this year. I think I got the seeds from the Thompson & Morgan catalogue. It's so disappointing when all that hard work & expectation of a crop gets destroyed by that horrible virus, so after a bad couple of years, we've decided we'll stick with growing 'Ferline' in future. I've picked 14 lbs of big ripe tomatoes this week when by this time last year, I'd already had to throw most of the plants away.

Primrose

foxgloves - despite spraying regularly, one or two of my other varieties are now showing tiny traces of blight but my Ferline are so far blight free and laden with lovely big ripening tomatoes. Next year get your seeds from http://www.wallis-seeds.co.uk/. They're cheaper than Thompson & Morgan. I ordered mine from their 2009-10 catalogue last week and they arrived within 3 days so I'm stocked up for next season if they run out later when everybody who's suffered blight for the last 2 or 3 years this year is deciding to switch varieties.

Jake'sGran

Blackjack_Davy wrote: »

You got blight on your greenhouse toms? The spores are spread by rain splashes, so long as the plants are kept dry there shouldn't be any problems with blight, I've never had a problem with greenhouse toms I just water them at the roots.

Yes, mine are always grown in a small greenhouse and therefore don't get wet. We have had a lot of cherry tomatoes but I don't like them as they are too sweet (Sungold) and the only normal size ones I grew have End Rot, so, not a good year for toms all round but I don't have blight and don't really know what it looks like. All my small flowered chrysanthemums are covered in some disease and an orange powdery stuff. They are now in the waste bin but I wondered if blight is similar to this?

olly300

Jake'sGran wrote: »

Yes, mine are always grown in a small greenhouse and therefore don't get wet. We have had a lot of cherry tomatoes but I don't like them as they are too sweet (Sungold) and the only normal size ones I grew have End Rot, so, not a good year for toms all round but I don't have blight and don't really know what it looks like. All my small flowered chrysanthemums are covered in some disease and an orange powdery stuff. They are now in the waste bin but I wondered if blight is similar to this?

From the RHS -
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles0803/tomato_blight.asp

Blackjack_Davy

Jake'sGran wrote: »

Yes, mine are always grown in a small greenhouse and therefore don't get wet. We have had a lot of cherry tomatoes but I don't like them as they are too sweet (Sungold) and the only normal size ones I grew have End Rot,

Blossom End Rot is caused by irregular watering, so you need to do something about that.

so, not a good year for toms all round but I don't have blight and don't really know what it looks like.

You really don't want to know. Nasty, slimy, mushy, smelly rot! Affects them very quickly! Potatoes too. Can be a nightmare in wet summers if grown outdoors.

All my small flowered chrysanthemums are covered in some disease and an orange powdery stuff. They are now in the waste bin but I wondered if blight is similar to this?

No, thats Rust. Spray them with a suitable fungicide.

Sazbo

I can totally empathise with this. We came back from a week's holiday in Cornwall on Saturday to find our toms had the dreaded blight. I have to admit it was a bit upsetting, as others have said, to have nurtured them from seed to healthy plant (and the first things I had ever grown) - and then seeing them like this BUT am determined not to let this discourage me from growing my own - it is all a learning experience; will investigate blight-resistant varieties and bordeaux mixture for next year

Saz x

MunnyBoiler

believe they are also spread by air currents and then can be activated by high humidity, but in a greenhouse you still need holes to enable fresh air to get in and in those, rain can come, if I get blight in my greenhouse, it's always under the skylights or next to the door.[/QUOTE]


Reading some of the replies about the cause/spread of blight has got me thinking.......

I water my greenhouse using water from a waterbutt which fills up with rainwater from my shed. I water the plants at the root and try to avoid watering the whole plant.

Is it possible that the blight virus is also spread through rainwater & perhaps shouldn't use this to water blight vunerable plants?

MunnyBoiler

buxtonrabbitgreen wrote: »

munnyboiler (like the user name I hope you are not coming after this munny though lol)

As long as a munnybunny is not found eating in my garden, they are generally safe...:p

Primrose

MunnyBoiler - I guess it's quite possible that blight spores are spread by rain in the way you speculate and watering from a waterbut filled by rainwater could help infect your plants. It was not an option I had previously thought of and I do often water my plants in this way so I suppose I could be increasing the risk. On the other hand, blight is not always in the air; it only seems to be active during periods of high moisture or humidity, and when I water my tomato plants direct by hose from the tap, the lime in our water is so high that their veins would probably be clogged up with limescale !