blight

[misty]

Lots of chat about tomatoes, I love them. For the last two years everybody (well all three of us) down the lane have lost our tomatoes over night to blight. The potatoes got it too but that didn't matter as the tubers were still o.k. I grew some tomatoes in a polytunnel and some out side, all surcomed (sp?) to the dreaded blight, any advice?

[kate egg]

Did you grow them straight in the ground or in pots? Once the blight gets into the soil I think it stays there

I grew my tommies in pots of compost last year and they did really well.

[silky]

The spores of blight are dispersed by wind and rain splash. Warm, wet conditions are needed for their production and also for infection to occur. Keep your greenhouse ventaladed.

Tomatoes grown under glass are not always infected. Plants likely to be attacked are outdoor tomatoes and potatoes.

Treatment
Sprays with mancozeb (Dithane) or copper (Murphy Traditional Copper or Vitax Bordeaux Mixture). Apply these before the symptoms appear this year to protection against attack. They will not totally prevent infection, but often slow it sufficiently to save the crop.

The fungus can be seed borne, so do not save seed from infected fruit. Destroy infected plants by burning and do not compost them.