Mould/rot/fungus on tomato stems?

[Caro]

Serves me right for going on holiday for 3 weeks! I've just come back to discover that most of my tomato plants have succumbed to some sort of mould. In places, the "branches" have gone brown and rotten (in the middle of the branch?), and also there is dark furriness in a lot of places. The tomatoes themselves appear untouched.

It's been very wet while i've been away and I don't suppose my neighbours bothered to ventilate the gerenhouse much. I've googled blight and botrytis and i don't think it's either of those. I found a reference to grey mould, and it does sound like this

Can anyone help identify the problem?

1)If I have it this year, will it infect any tomato plants next year, even if I clean the greenhouse with *****?
2)And could it be this that has disastrously affected the potatoes I've planted for christmas? Should i just bin them now or wait and see whether they recover?

Tempted to give up on toms after a second disastrous year

Thanks for any replies

[zazen999]

I think:

Salvage the toms that are on the plants and bin the foliage [carefully]
Give the g'house a good airing
Check the potatoes over and put them out for a blow about for a day or two, clean the greenhouse out and then put them back. Hopefully any spores will be blown away and the greenhouse will be nice and clean when they go back in.

Only you know whether to give up on toms though....

[Nicos]

My guess is early blight

I'd remove the toms and use them now before they show signs.

[Nicos]

Depends on how organic you are- but I'd spray the spuds with Bordeaux mixture- just to make sure....it'll kill off most fungal spores whilst you ***** the greenhouse.

[Caro]

Hmmm. Just caught up with my neighbours. Apparently my tomatoes did fine, they had LOADS of sweet cherry tomatoes from them

Next year, though, I think I'm going for small, bushy plants. And I'm NOT going on holiday in September.