Posted: 2/1/2010 1:31:16 PM EDT
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I have heard around that if you got the dreaded "Late Blight" last year, you can't plant tomatoes for three years in that soil. Any truth to this? Last summer I lost all my maters to the blight. It came on all of a sudden. Doing fine and growing really well. LOTS of fruit and trellised vines growing over 6 feet tall. I was cutting the tops of the vines to make them produce more... Then, within days, I started getting the grayish brown spots on the leaves and fruit and within 2 weeks everything was dying. I pulled all of the plants and picked up any fallen fruit to clean my garden. I am planning on moving my maters to a different area this year to get them in new soil in raised beds. Bottom line. Is there any truth to this? I know my gardening neighbors will try to grow their plants like they did last year and have read that the mold spores can travel up to 50 miles. Am I doomed, or do you think I will be OK this year? |
| pyro6988 posted a link a few months ago to a .edu site that said the late blight does not over-winter well. Cold kills it. I recall it well, but can't find the link to the original post. I remember it as it's definitely germane to our plans this year. We're gonna plant our tomatoes in a piece of ground that has never seen tomatoes but is still within 100 yards of last years tomato patch. |
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Wet rainy weather like we had last summer is excellent for growing blight. If I want tomatoes at all I have to spray a fungucide. If you plant just a few tomatoes you can build a fire where you plan to plant. Let it get plenty hot for a while so it kills deep into the ground. Leave plenty of space between plants for good air circulation. Never water directly on the plant. I push dirt up around my plants to make a circular dam to hold water, this makes watering easier. My father-in-law uses a coffee can with the ends removed to help water. He pushes the can into the ground and puts the plants in the cans. Don't push the can so deep in the ground it inhibits roots spreading. The cans make an excellent dam for watering. Also try to plant where they get plenty of sun. The more the better. Also I think working in your plants while they're wet encourages blight growth. I try to wait until late afternoon when it's dry to pick tomatoes and tie plants. After the bottom leaves stop growing I cut them off. .
A few years ago, I used plenty of grass clippings to mulch my plants. The same day I sprayed them with miracle grow. The next morning my plants were completely destroyed by blight There must have been lots of fungus in the grass clippings. I try to be carefull when mowing to blow clippings away from the plants. There are also varieties that are somewhat resistent to blight. This turned into a know it all rant but I have do everything I can to prevent blight, or do without tomatoes and bell peppers. |
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Most folks including me don't have the luxury of moving a garden to avoid planting in the same place. You have to do the best you can. My garden is a dictionary of diseases and somehow or another I have managed to get a good crop........so far.
Nutrition is important, don't let your plants go without at least one side dressing right after they set fruit. I'm now a firm believer in bone meal also to reduce the BER. As for disease, prevention starts the minute you set the plants. Get some Ortho Garden Disease stuff and set up a regular schedule starting the day you plant your stuff. This will help mitigate the diseases but it still might not stop them. Feral and I are now the soaker hose kings. I will never ever spray water again. DO NOT over water your plants. Just before they start getting distressed water them but be consistant. I have a friend that waters his whole garden with soaker hoses exactly 15 minutes every morning during the summer. Be careful with mulch cause if the mulch stays wet it will mold also, I never mulch. Also remember that bugs carry fungus and other crap on them. Try to keep the aphids down. YMMV |