A question about tomatoes

Gardening to 'grow your own food' from square foot to half an acre !!
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kitla
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A question about tomatoes

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Last year I grew lots of lovely tomatoe plants, (blight resistant varieties) in a sunny sheltered spot outdoors. They did really well - then all got blight. I wondered if I could still plant tomatoes there, or nearby, but in containers rather than in the ground. Or would the blight spores be everywhere? I think last summer was a bad year for it, other local people told me they got it too.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
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lancashire lass
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Re: A question about tomatoes

Post by lancashire lass »

Apparently blight spores (tomatoes and potatoes) don't survive to the following year on soil (unlike say, onion white rot which stays in the soil for decades once a patch is infected) I wouldn't recommend growing same crops in the same patch of soil because it encourages a build up of pests and other diseases but grown in pots or growbags should be okay (why not put a weed suppressant membrane down over the soil with the pots on top - it should reduce any soil splashing up in heavy rain and landing on the plants which might contribute to blight)

When I grew tomatoes on the allotment, I aimed for early maturing varieties because I was harvesting these before blight struck. Another method is to provide shelter from rain and reducing humidity - a few plots up from mine, someone had the metal frame of a large polytunnel and partly covered the top half so that rain didn't land on the leaves. Leaving the bottom half open meant good ventilation (and also removing some leaves so that air circulated) His plants seem to survive blight outbreaks better than those out in the open.
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kitla
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Re: A question about tomatoes

Post by kitla »

Thats interesting. I think ventilation might be important, I did squeeze more tomatoe plants than usual in the patch last year, perhaps they were too crowded.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
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Spreckly
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Re: A question about tomatoes

Post by Spreckly »

)ot: Sorry I can't answer you question kitla, but this week I have been reading a book by the fantastic Maureen Lipman, who reports that if you trap a digit, try and cut a hole in a tomato, and push the damaged part in it. Something in the fruit acts to take the sting away.
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kitla
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Re: A question about tomatoes

Post by kitla »

really?!! What a strange thing. I presume its just for pinched fingers, not cuts?
If any of us remembers to try this next time we get pinched please let me know if it works!
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
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