Dead Tomatoes

[paul]

Hi people,

Can someone help me ?! My beatiful tomato plants of different varieties grew well and i had a good crop of green toms. I had no problems up till then. All of the sudden, the stems had brown 'streaks' on them starting from the bottom and mid stem. the leaves started dying and the fruits started to turn brown. I watered everyday without fail and also picked off the side shoots. My next door allotmenteer said that it looked like blossom rot due to irregular watering. i lost a hell of a lot of toms, but managed to have some lovely cherries. I also have a grape vine that is thriving and also 4 cucumber plants that are producing perfect cucumbers and neither are affected.

Any Help would be most gratefully received !!

[Sarah]

I don't really know, but have you been feeding them weekly?

Mine are all brown now as we went on holiday for 2 weeks...but still red tomatoes!

[paul]

Hi Sarah,

Watered them everyday and fed once a week. he only other thing i could think of was blight got in when i left the windows open for ventilation. i haven't a clue.

[Martin G]

Horticultural Armageddon Paul....check out my various depressing threads about blight on the pests and diseases forum, sounds like your having the same experience, if it is and sounds like it is you have to burn or get rid of every thing as soon as possible

[Lesley Jay]

Sorry Paul but that description is definitely blight. Brown or black areas on the stems, leaves and also on the tomatoes are the signs of blight. As Martin said you must remove all of the plants and destroy them either by burning or in the bin but not in the compost. As the blight spores will live on the plant tissue over winter to return next year it's important that every little bit is removed.

You can still eat any tomatoes that are free from the blight but they will not keep.

[paul]

Thanks Lesley,

I have moved them all out now. Do I have to remove all the soil in the beds for next year or treat it with something??

[motheaten]

If your tomatoes looked like these, think its blight and previous advice from Lesley and Martin spot on. I burnt all potatoes plants similarly affected and changed soil and grew tomatoes in a different area, however all the Italian "Roma " were badly affected. The whole of this area is contaiminated by blight spores so I am looking for blight resistant plum toms.

How safe is bordeaux mixture on food crops ? it seems to be sprayed every here, internet advice is conflicting

regards dennis

cant add picture ?

[motheaten]

blight pictures , is there an easier way to add an image ? that cut paste to picasa ?

Picasa Albums Web - dennis - blight

[Lesley Jay]

Paul the blight spores over winter on plant tissue so it's important to remove all of the plant from the ground. I always understood that blight spores on the soil would be killed off in the winter but some people believe that the spores can live on the soil for two years. Ideally you should not grow tomatoes on that spot for three years. Are you planting in the greenhouse borders?

[Lesley Jay]

Dennis I've been reading about bordeaux mixture which is used for organic growing but one site says it is a highly toxic heavy metal copper spray. The alternative is Dithane 945 which contains mancozeb but mancozeb is a carcinogen, a respiratory tract irritant and has other health issues. I don't fancy using either of them. With all the rain spraying outdoor crops is probably not going to be effective.

The only blight resistant tomatoes that I know of are Ferline, Fantasio and Legend.

[paul]

Hi lesley,

Yes, I am using borders in the greenhouse.

Would putting my toms in plant pots next year be o.k ?? I will try the ' blight ' resistant ones you have mentioned next year from Thompsons and Morgans. The funny thing is, is that my cucumbers are absolutely perfect and have grown and formed well with no problems. Thanks for all the advice

[motheaten]

thanks lesley ! just seen your reply, its all a bit disheatening must be twenty plants burnt. The cherry toms and sungold fine? Farmers here believe its in the soil and thats it ,they spray everything bordeaux blue, like you I am wary.

[Martin G]

I grew Sungolds as well Motheaten and because they were earlier ripening than the other three varieties I grew and I did get some and so thought they be more resistant ........but they did get blight in the end.

[malcolmx]

if you have read my threads you may discern i am not organic, however i do try not to use chemicals if i can but i am reluctant to loose all my efforts if a chemical will help .
i think both bordeax and dithane 945 are usable in moderation

i have just lost all my out door toms to blight but no spuds 36 plants all burnt . the blight started on the f1 Inca and progressed to big boy and money maker so next year i am going to do the following space out the toms with no more than 4 in a group spray bordeaux onto my spud leaves spray dithane 3 times only and grow more in the green house that are protected from wind

i suggest a complete change of greenhouse soil or a major soak in jeyes if you cannot change it over if you grow in the green house that is