Is It Blight?

[Rocketron]

By today's date over the past 2 years I have had to bin all my tomato plants, only saving a third of the fruit for chutney.
This year I have used Bordeaux Mixture every 2 weeks since the beginning of July.
I have no signs of blight, despite receiving 7 alerts from Blightwatch.
I know what i shall do next year.

[elsie-scot]

Interesting thread, I bought a cheap book today on organic gardening and it mentions bordeaux mixture, doesnt necessary approve it or not. But in same section it suggests that you shouldnt use beer for slugs as it kills off too many other things.

[binley100]

Perhaps it was for some other disease then .

[braders]

Tomato Blight

Evening Grapes
I discovered blight on most of my toms tonight...not happy ...so I went a bit mad pruning off nearly all of the leaves, as far back as I could...pics attached. They all seem free of the black stuff now and the fruit should ripen if the weather forecast is correct...lol. Need a glass of red now I think.

Night all
braders...

[Welsh Wizard]

Interestingly, the copper within Bordeaux mixture tends to accumulate in the soil: In longstanding vinyards where spraying takes place year after year the level of soil copper is hugely elevated.

Really Bordeaux mixture should not be viewed as organic at all, given the mining and refining required to produce the copper sulphate in the first place.

The Soil Association should be ashamed of fudging it as "organic": It is viewed as impossible to produce organic potatoes without Bordeaux mix in this country (I have grown my own nicely without spray this year). Is it impossible or is it merely too risky or too inconvienient?

Another point: If producing commercial amounts of organic potatoes without Bordeaux mix in the UK is impossible, what does that say about the longterm population carrying capacity of the UK?

If oil based agriculture stopped how do we feed ourselves? Because I was thinking spuds would be a good staple crop after the oil runs dry, but if there is no oil, there will be no Bordeaux mixture.

Seems to me that with Saudi rapidly running out of oil, the UK might in future see mass starvation if large scale potato growth without fungicide is impossible.

[terrier]

The toms look pretty well formed so they should ripen on the vine as they don't need the leaves to ripen. It's hard to see from the pics how bad the leaves were affected but the stems look ok. Every year I get leaves progressively going brown, I just cut them off, anything that isn't affected, I leave alone, just taking off the lower leaves to make watering easier. Now that you have defoliated the vines, at least you don't have to worry about watering them

[rustylady]

If it is indeed blight you may find that the tomatoes themselves are already infected. Keep a close eye on them. You may have to forego the red tomatoes and turn them into chutney instead.

[Comfreyfan]

I've had the same problem and have been snipping off infected leaves every morning and evening. Some of the stems have been infected - some I've got rid of, the rest I've decided to leave and take a chance. So far I'm picking tomatoes as they turn and they're ripening ok on the window sill indoors. I considered turning them all into green tomato chutney - but we don't really eat much chutney! So decided to give them a chance and see what happens. It's a real heart breaker though, I think I put far too much effort into my veg - I get very attached

[Two_Sheds]

Seems to me that with Saudi rapidly running out of oil ...

There are new oil fields to exploit, such as in Alaska
I'm afraid that every last drop of oil on this planet will be drilled, even if it means the total destruction of the environment and the extinction of the polar bear, for example.

[Two_Sheds]

I don't think they'll go red ... they will go brown because the infection is already in the plant. Use them green for chutney etc.

[lesleygl]

More Blight

Went down to the allotment last night after missing a few days and discovered that my tomatoe plants look like they are dying. I am pretty sure the tomatoes have blight. with black marks on some of them. I picked as many of them that were ready and looked OK.

What I want to know is
1. are these tomatoes still edible if you cut the black bit off?

2. should I pick all the rest of the tomatoes and ripen on a widowsill?

3. should I dig up all my plants and dispose of carefully?

4. can I grow tomatoes again next year or is that it, the soil is spoilt?

5. Is there a tomato that is resistant to blight?

I hope someone can help me and can I have a good green tomate chutney recipe if that is all I can do with the remaining tomatos of which there is loads, I have beef, normal and cherry?

[Two_Sheds]

the blackened toms taste nasty, but you can pick all the OK green ones. In my experience, they don't ripen though ... make chutney

[WeeGarden]

The varieties Ferline and Legend apparently has some blight resistance.

[SarzWix]

I'm growing Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona for the first time this year, and although my outdoor tomatoes and my Desiree spuds have both had a touch of blight, the Sarpos are still standing, healthy and green with not a drop of Bordeaux or Dithane sprayed. Providing the potatoes themselves are edible, I'll be growing them every year from now on. And there are more varieties being added to the Sarpo family, including a salad type.

The tomato problem is a bit harder to deal with, as I don't think the blight resistant varieties are that great. But at least they can be grown undercover where they have a much better chance.

[teakdesk]

Went down to the allotment last night after missing a few days and discovered that my tomatoe plants look like they are dying. I am pretty sure the tomatoes have blight. with black marks on some of them. I picked as many of them that were ready and looked OK.

What I want to know is
1. are these tomatoes still edible if you cut the black bit off?

2. should I pick all the rest of the tomatoes and ripen on a widowsill?

I put all such tomatoes into a bowl of very salty water. Leave for two or three days and inspect twice daily.

You will find some tomatoes grow a brown patch which is the blight inside the tomato. As Two Sheds says they are awful and I bin any that have the slightest hint of infection.

Any tomatoes that seem OK after three days get dried then put in a covered bowl with a banana skin and put in a dark, warm place (not in the sun!!).

Check twice daily and remove any fruit that has any hint of rot.

After a week any that have gone red are OK to eat raw... I use the green ones for chutney; there are so many recipes for chutney - some hot and spicey, some sweet and more like marmalade!!!