Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi All,

Sorry I have not been on for a bit, I have been busy with family.

I need to ask if this is blight on my tomato plant. It is only on one plant which has been apart from the rest for about 3 weeks. It is a black variaty so not sure if this makes any difference.

It is outside in a large pot but has developed really dark almost black stems almost all over it. It has been fed and water like the rest but it does not look happy.

Any ideas, cures etc will be very welcome.

Thanks, Mandy

__________________
No mater when time you set out, you always get there at the same time

Any chance of a picture? Might help. If it is just the stems, I am going to hazard a guess that it is something to do with being a black tomato. Never grown one so couldn't say for sure. You don't mention blotchy leaves so maybe it isn't blight. There is a thread here Aaarrgghh! tell me its not blight!!! where I posted pics of my blighted potato leaves - maybe you can compare my pics with your tomatoes and see if there is any similarity. Hope it isn't blight.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Hi Shirl,

I look at the link and it doesn't look the same. Here are some pics now, should have done that earlier!

Some leaves are a little curled up but it is the stem that worries me.

Thanks, Mandy

Attached Thumbnails

       

__________________
No mater when time you set out, you always get there at the same time

I hate to say that it looks like it might indeed be blight. Hopefully someone will be along shortly to say I am wrong though.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Hello Mandy. Good to see you back. I can't see a thing wrong with your tomatoes. The damage to the leaves looks like weather damage to me. We've all had the same rubbish. In which case your tomatoes will be fine. I hope I'm right.

__________________

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Thanks Shirl and Alice,

I agree that the leaves are weather damage but I am still concerned about the stems. Should I post a better picture? They are really going black and don't look good

__________________
No mater when time you set out, you always get there at the same time

Worth a try with another picture.

I said it looked like blight to me as some of my spuds that had it looked like that on the stems - really hope I am wrong though.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Mandy, I don't think we get blight in Scotland. I've never heard of it. We certainly don't get it on potatoes and it's the same family. Anybody know for sure ?

__________________

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

You do get blight in Scotland but pretty rare, and last year most cases were in Aberdeenshire.

I cant tell from that picture too well but agree that weather damage is the most likely cause. Is that your only tomato plant and if not, are the others ok ?

__________________


An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.
Will Rogers

Thanks Sebbster.

__________________

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Hi Mandy, it does look a lot like blight on the stems but you usually get the blotches on the leaves as well. Ther isn't a cure as such, if it is blight it will spread rapidly through the plant & kill it & you should remove it & destroy it. I'd let it be for now though & see if anything else appears on it, just keep your fingers crossed, if it is blight you'll notice it spread to the other tom. plants next to it.

__________________
Into every life a little rain must fall.

Although late blight (phytopthora infestans) blowing in from other crops etc is unlikely, there are other possibilites - it can be seed borne.

It could also be early blight (altanaria solani), but either way its odd that the leaves are not affected.

I personally would wait and see.

Just re-read your post and as the tomato is a black variety, it might just be what the plant looks like! I've never grown black ones so can't help there i'm afraid.

__________________
There's vegetable growing in the family, but I must be adopted
Happy Gardening!

Sorry to bring this back up again - but the stems on some of my tomatoes look just like the ones in the photos above (the variety affected is Big Boy). I have a couple of other varieties currently seemingly fine, and one plant on the outside of the group and constantly drying out it has to be said whose leaves are yellow, dry and dying off. All the fruits seem fine and there is no slime evident. There are 7 very large plants in all, 3 in a growbag and the rest in pots but all packed together. Can anyone please help, I'm very confused about this whole blight thing now and whether my toms have it or weather damage??!

__________________
Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

My stems are the same......exactly! mine are fed and have plenty of water ...............what is it?????

At the leaf joints, in past years I've had mildew developing - especially if it is where I've tied it to some sort of support and it rubs against the stem.

__________________
My Blog - http://multiveg.wordpress.com/
Photo Album - http://www.flickr.com/photos/99039017@N00/

I really do think that the stems in those photos are showing blight infection. The first two photos show exactly what I get - and the fruits were soon showing blight patches.

I agree that you get some marks from rubbing and damage, but it looks like it is quite widespread in the first two shots.

Remember that the spread of blight is not necessarily quick - it depends on the weather conditions. There can be a hiatus if the weather is very hot and dry as the spores need moisture on the plants in order to get a hold.

Sorry to be pessimistic! Mine are dying quite slowly, if that's any consolation!!!

We need someone who has grown black tomatoes to join in now...

Okay, I'm more or less convinced that what i have is blight now - so is there any point in continuing to grow the plants, since the tomatoes themselves seem fine and not all plants seem affected so far? An additional question - I was planning to plant some maris piper potatoes in an attempt to get a christmas crop, am I wasting my time since I have blight in my garden?

__________________
Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

I hate to say it, but it is blight. All of my outside grown tomatoes were having that, it damage the plant very fast with out touching the leaves ( only severe patches on the stems) and then it goes to the fruit too and it spead very fast too. You will see the domino effect where it infect one plant to the other ( if the toms were planted in raw ).
My japanese black trifele and the black cherrie were among the last who gets it. Destroy them and remove all the infected plant parts.

Momol

__________________
I grow, I pick, I eat ...

As for your potatoes plan,once you have remove all the infected plant ( burn them too if possible )... you could grow your potatoes in container and use new compost soil to avoid the blight. But there are no guarantee that it is 100 % save and free from blight, the spores are in the air too! Give it a try if you would like to, and good luck...

Momol

__________________
I grow, I pick, I eat ...

Thanks Momol - so there's no point in keeping an affected plant while it's still alive and producing tomatoes then? I'll destroy the one that's affected tonight and keep a very keen eye on the rest for signs. Think I might put my new container spuds in mother in laws garden for perhaps a bit more safety!

__________________
Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

Hi Moggssue,

You could try to save it but if you have other tom which is free from the blight... It is better you take precautions by removing/ minimazing the source of infection but if it is the only one and you don't have any other susceptible plant at your garden ( other tom or potatoes ), perhaps you could try to save the fruit and hope it will ripe/ near to ripe at the vine... but mind you the infections could reach to the fruit it is really gambling.
As for you potatoes plan, go a head if your in laws garden don't have blight, just for the safety reason.

All the best,
Momol

__________________
I grow, I pick, I eat ...

I have another 6 tomato plants, which seem to be fine so far. One is looking shriveled but I think that's a water/weather issue since its the first of the line. I destroyed the affected plant last night, after taking off the few green toms which are now on my windowsill waiting for a little sunshine! My inlaws don't grow veg, so as far as I know they don't have blight so that's where my potato pots are going this weekend! Thanks for your help momol, very much appreciated!

__________________
Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance