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Not sure if I should've put this in the tomato thread, but I read somewhere the other day that if you pinch of the little extra bits between the main stem and side bits and also take off leaves at the bottom of your plants that you could introduce infection such as blight. What does everyone else think/do with your tomatoes?
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Bernie aka DDL
Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things -
I think it's a double edged sword Bernie. If it does introduce blight you lose your crop, but if you don't pinch them out you lose your crop anyway as you set up conditions i.e. loads of foliage with very little airflow through it which is conducive to blight.
My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)
Diversify & prosper
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I'd be more worried about botrytis (grey mould) than blight, especially in undercover crops. But, the same applies as Snadger says - you need good airflow through the plants to help prevent these things, and leaving all the sideshoots on will over crowd the plant. Plus it means you get a big crop of green tomatoes because the plant will struggle to ripen the amount that grow off the side shoots.
Best you can do is maintain good hygiene - if the shoots are too big to snap off cleanly, do it with a clean, sharp knife, in dry weather.Comment
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