Tomato and Potato troubles - please help!

[djt]

Hi All

I'm new to this forum and also new to gardening. I really need some help with potatoes and tomatoes that I'm growing in containers.

I've got potatoes in a tub, and tomatoes in a grow bag and in a hanging basket. I'm worried that I might have tomato blight, and perhaps potato blight.

The stems of one of the tomatoes has brown blotches, several of the fruits have brown patches - some from the bottom and some from the top. I've taken those off, and the rest look ok. The bottom leaves are brown and curling. My potato has gone brown and yellow in one of the plants, although the other is still green. The tomato in the hanging basket has some odd little growths on the stems.

What is happening and what should I do? (The growbag did get quite dry at one point).

I've attached some photos - not sure if that is the way to do it.

Would be very grateful for any help.
Deb

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Deb, welcome to our forum!!

Unfortunately it certainly looks like blight - just your description alone of the tomato plant with brown blotches on the stem and brown areas on the fruit is typical blight symptoms. It's really dreadful when your plants are hit with blight because there is nothing you can do to stop it.

With the potato plant you need to cut the foliage right down. If this is done in time it stops the blight reaching the potato tubers. The blight spores live on plant tissue so be sure to clear all the stems and leaves away. Then leave the tub alone for at least two weeks before harvesting the potatoes. When did you plant the potatoes?

With the tomato plants, any that don't have the blight symptoms I would move into your front garden. The tomatoes on the blighted plants that look okay can be harvested but they won't keep. You could make a green tomato chutney with them. I must be honest though I never really fancied eating the tomatoes when we were hit with blight. The blighted plants need removing. I would bag them all up and put them in the refuse but not the green recycling bin or on the compost. The odd growth on the stem is just additional roots.

Good luck Debs!

[djt]

Thanks Lesley, I'll do that now so it doesn't get too much chance to spread. The tomatoes in the ground are still looking ok, unfortunately I don't have a front garden, so will just have to keep my fingers crossed for them.

I planted the potatoes in about mid-March.

Deb

[paulch]

Oh i had this last year too blight not anything you can do really i did treat some less effected plants Bordeaux mixer that helped

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by djt

I planted the potatoes in about mid-March.

Deb

Hi Deb, if the potatoes are a first early or second early then you will be able to harvest the spuds after a few weeks. What variety are you growing?

You can get blight resistant varieties of both potatoes and tomatoes now. Sarpo Mira, Sarpo Axona, Lady Balfour and Valor are all blight resistant potato varieties and Ferline, Legend and Fantasio, a beefsteak tomato are all blight resistant tomato varieties. I have had great success and fabulous harvests from Ferline.

Good luck Deb!

[djt]

The potatoes are main crop Maris Piper - I chose them because I read they were pest and disease resistant!

My tomotatoes are Alcante, Gardner's Delight and Marmande (I saw Raymond Blanc make a lovely salad with Marmande, so I'm most upset about those).

Thanks for your advice on varieties - I'll try with those next year. Meanwhile, I have quite a lot of green tomatoes, I know you said you wouldn't fancy eating them after blight, but would there be any problem if I made them into chutney?

[fromthecrowsnest]

I only ever found my Gardeners' Delight and other outdoor toms had the blight after a sunless wet summer. I didn't bother with toms in the last two years, but I have grown GD and Supersweet this year and there is no blight...so far. Potatoes look fine too.

The last really good crop outside was 6 or 7 years ago; it was a brilliant sunny Summer,and GD, Marmande and Big Boy cropped like mad, never had so many tomatoes.... and there was no blight problem.

You're in Devon Debs; the weather is very similar to Hampshire this year. Sure looks like blight. Are they outside or under glass; maybe an infection from last year?

I can only reason that tomatoes need long sunny summers.

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by djt

The potatoes are main crop Maris Piper - I chose them because I read they were pest and disease resistant!

My tomotatoes are Alcante, Gardner's Delight and Marmande (I saw Raymond Blanc make a lovely salad with Marmande, so I'm most upset about those).

Thanks for your advice on varieties - I'll try with those next year. Meanwhile, I have quite a lot of green tomatoes, I know you said you wouldn't fancy eating them after blight, but would there be any problem if I made them into chutney?

Hi Debs, tomatoes from blighted plants are perfectly safe to eat as the virus is not harmful to humans. Pick them and make chutney - it will be delicious! I tried to ripen the tomatoes when we were hit with blight and found that the tomatoes don't keep long. I had 40 tomato plants, so there were loads of tomatoes! Just keep checking them over and any that show brown blight marks throw away.

Just leave your potatoes in the tub until their harvest date. As long as the blight hadn't already reached the tubers (before you cut the foliage down) then the potatoes will be just fine.

[IanC]

My potatoes in bags have lots of foliage but it has all fallen over! Does this mean the spuds are ready to harvest?

[mags16]

Mine did that too but I propped them up with canes. Afaik your spuds are ready to harvest after the plant has flowered and the foliage has died down.

[djt]

The foliage fell over on my early potatoes as well. I harvested them and they were fine, but small, and I didn't get that many. I think it would have been ok to have left them longer.

It has been a pretty wet and sunless summer down here in Devon. The tomatoes with blight are outside. I'm going to have a go at chutney as I have a lot of small green tomatoes.

I'll have another go next year!

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by IanC

My potatoes in bags have lots of foliage but it has all fallen over! Does this mean the spuds are ready to harvest?

Hi Ian, I do the same as Mags and wait until the foliage has died down before harvesting but not all potato varieties flower so I go off the foliage. The other factor is the length of time the potato plants have been growing for. Early and second early varieties want about 13 weeks from sowing to harvesting and main crop varieties about 22 weeks from sowing to harvesting.

[IanC]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Hi Ian, I do the same as Mags and wait until the foliage has died down before harvesting but not all potato varieties flower so I go off the foliage. The other factor is the length of time the potato plants have been growing for. Early and second early varieties want about 13 weeks from sowing to harvesting and main crop varieties about 22 weeks from sowing to harvesting.

I have a strong feeling I have boobed! I didn't bother to note the varieties (four different) nor did I note the date of planting. Early-ish May, I think. I also think they are Maris Piper, King Edward) these are the ones whose foliage has fallen) Vales Emerald and A N Other......

And another batch of these planted a couple of weeks or so later.

So I am just gong to leave them all to do their thing this year, and next year pay more attention to what I am doing.

Thank you - and I'll be back.......

[djt]

At least I got something from my blighted tomatoes!

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by djt

At least I got something from my blighted tomatoes!

Nice one Debs!! I see it is "Award Winning" aswell