I should mention that we practice organic gardening, so chemicals are not a consideration.

Organic does not mean chemical free and there are several fungicides that are labeled for organic use. Copper, horticultual oils (including neem oil), sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate, sulphur, bio fungicides like Serenade that use bacteria or fungi to prevent and help with disease. Some work better than others depending on the disease/fungus you are dealing with.

The best way to help prevent disease is to maintain good growing conditions. Don't overcrowd plants, allow plenty of airflow, remove any damaged leaves immidiately, mulch well, choose disease resistant varieties, grow in healthy, fertile soil, etc... Even while doing these things and giving plants near perfect growing conditions disease can still become an issue and fungicides may be necessary.

Rodney

Late blight for sure. Really nothing that you can do. :(

That's one big reason I stopped growing heirlooms and moved to hybrids with the most disease/pest resistance and best flavor I can find.

Unlike early blight, late blight cannot survive the winter in the soil. It needs living plant tissue to survive. So the general prevention strategies outlined below are what you need to know for next year. That being said, preventative fungicide spraying might be smart. Once you have late blight, a fungicide won't fix the problem. You have to keep it from starting.

Thanks carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b , I can see why. We had no problems until this year, truly enjoyed the heirlooms, but this year is a game changer.

May I ask what varieties you are growing now ?

Right now some of our cherry tomatoes ( the hybrid ones) are still not affected, together with our only standard hybrid variety, celebrity, which is indeed more disease resistant and still giving us good tomatoes, just not as flavorful as the heirloom ones...

Dan is correct that late blight needs living plant tissue to survive winter. Since tomato plants die once they freeze they can't overwinter the disease. However, potatoes can. If you grew any potatoes in your garden and they got infected then any tubers you may have missed while digging will allow the disease to overwinter and can infect next year's crops.

Rodney

Didn't grow any potatoes, but we have peppers, zucchini, and beans. Corn nearby had a fungal disease too. We have had a very wet rainy summer...sprayed zucchini to deal with mold, but it was too late for the corn. Didn't spray the tomatoes because they looked so beautiful for so long...lesson learned.