Blight!

 Not on the allotment - all potatoes and tomatoes on my plot are still fine!
(although apparently everyone else's tomatoes have been blighted out
 already!) ... but in the greenhouse!  :-(
It's the plant nearest the door, touch wood it's not spreading as of yet.
And it's a fruiting branch, too.

Do I remove the whole plant now, whilst it's not spreading, or can I get
away with just cutting away the affected branch?  And how's best to dispose
of?  (presumably not in the compost or the food waste bin!)

Dammit, only just getting my first tomatoes ripe, too!

--

 

I use "Bordeaux mixture", it won't cure blight but it will prevent
it if applied before the blight attacks.
I've used it for two years now and seems to work.
More about it here,
http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/bordeaux-mixture-p-6427.html

HTH

Wally

 Vicky wrote  .

That's what always happens, it a miracle that the ones on your allotment
haven't got it too. We gave up trying to grow any Toms that were not Blight
Resistant some years ago so instead of varieties like Roma, cherry type etc
we now only grow Ferline, Fantasio and Legend. And, we also spray with
Bordeaux Mixture (copper sulphate and lime) to prevent Blight. Belt and
braces I know but there is nothing worse than year after year watching Toms
get nearly ripe and then losing them all, no crop whatsoever, a complete
waste of all that time and effort.

Regarding your present situation, you need to remove the infected plant
totally and burn it or take it to your Council recycling plant and put it in
the general waste NOT the green waste.  Keep a good eye on the remaining
plants and do not get water on them when you water to ensure the leaves stay
dry, Blight needs damp leaves to infect.

-- Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK
 

 
Er, no.  That is almost wholly wrong.

Firstly, as far as I know, all local authority recycling plants use
high temperature composting, which will destroy much tougher organisms
than blight, even if blight transmitted through dead material (which,
in the UK, it does not).  In fact, I believe that there are some
regulations that require them to, because of pathogens that often
occur in food and are harmless to humans.

Secondly, blight does NOT need wet leaves to infect, but high
humidity - not watering may have a secondary effect, but no more.
Even if it did need wet leaves, almost all leaves that close to
the ground are wet in the UK each morning, from the dew, and you
can't stop that.

Thirdly, removing blighted material is of marginal benefit, anyway,
as it overwinters in a large number of common plants and weeds, and
transfers by the wind.  Yes, it's worth doing, but it won't make
much difference; spraying with Bordeaux mixture at the right time
will.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

 nmm1@cam.ac.uk wrote:

That's not a problem in this case, cos it's a growbag.  Just have to
remember not to throw it on the ground, and not to grow potatoes in that one
over winter!