Tomato troubles

[heebiejeebie]

On Sunday, I got lots of tomatoes from my plot and very tasty they were too.
I was looking forward to lots more.

Today - brown shrivelled plants.

Is this blight? There are brown patches on stems and leaves and some of the fruit.

Can I still pick & use the green ones?
How do I prevent this in future?
I have no idea what was grown in the plot before - lots of weeds for the past 2 years.

[Earthbabe]

Unfortunately it does sound like blight heebiejeebie. If you are quick you can still pick and use the green ones, joining the green tomato chutney brigade.

You can get blight resistant varieties of tomato, so scour the catalogues. Spraying with bordeaux solution is an option and the instructions are on the bottle. Good plot hygiene is imperative and ensuring there is plenty of space between plants. There are other options which I am sure other grapes will pass on to you, this is the one we have used.

Don't put the plants on your compost heap, burn them. I don't know how long blight spores can remain around. Have a chat with some of the other plotholders to see if they have had problems or can offer suggestions.

I was devastated when we had blight two years in a row (at home and on the lottie) so I know it can be hard going when it happens but all is not lost and next year you will hopefully have a superb crop.

[JazzDuke]

"...other grapes..." ? There's a whole bunch of us!

[Earthbabe]

Exactly JD

[Lesley Jay]

One of the blight resistant varieties is Ferline. This is an excellent tomato and I would recommend trying it.

[heebiejeebie]

Ta!
I'll try Ferline next year.

[Earthbabe]

You could also try Legend, it's a beefsteak variety.

[roitelet]

Hi hebbiejebbie, sorry to hear about the blight. I had it at the beginning of August . You might like to try this - Pick the tomatoes and remove the calyx, Wash and dry them and then put them in a single layer in a wooden or cardboard box, with a lid and add a banana. The banana gives of ethylene gas which promotes ripening. Don't use plastic or they will sweat. Keep an eye on them and remove any that show signs of rot.

I did this with mine, got the majority of them ripe and have just taken the last ripe ones out of the box. Only 1 batch of green tomato chutney!!!!!!!!

Best of luck

[heebiejeebie]

Thanks roitelet - I'll try that with the garden ones (which were fungus-free until a couple of days ago)

Glad my xmas spuds aren't doing anything - probably not worth the effort since the allotments next to mine are also suffering with blight but the affected plants have not been removed yet!

[multiveg]

Next year you could try foliar applications/feed of a horsetail infusion which historically had been used for blights. Horsetail contains a lot of silicon and they say (can't remember which website - I think I found it on a companion planting website) this helps strengthen seedlings & plants - good all-round foliar feed?

[heebiejeebie]

So the horsetail that was plagueing my front garden might actually be useful?

[multiveg]

So the horsetail that was plagueing my front garden might actually be useful?

Yep The book I have on planting by moon! says to boil them for half hour in water (5-6oz per pint), cool then strain. Some of the foliar feeds have a dash of washing up liquid (this is to breakdown the protective coverings on leaf to assist absorption), then dilute - don't use spray in bright sun, etc...

[dexterdoglancashire]

just dashing off to my back garden to pick all my green tomatoes - yep, got a bit of blight so had better do it now! going to make some more of earthbabes' special green tomato chutney! dexterdog

[dexterdoglancashire]

well impressed by my crop of green tomatoes! had four plants and goodness knows how many toms I've had. If I remember correctly, they were Alicante - I only bought them because I'd been there on holiday! Another one to remember for next year! dexterdog