I saw a similar article today too. Mentioned several states. I've been seeing numerous threads about a disease affecting peoples gardens and not knowing what it is. The word about the blight needs to be spread so that home gardeners can watch for it.

It is neither early blight nor late blight. Right now I would say that they have a bit of septoria. If I look closely at one or two of those photos, there are some signs of it. Also, there could be an issue with either over-watering or soggy soil that's not draining well. Of course, we can't do a lot about all this rain, *sigh*. For the septoria, which doesn't look horrible right now, I would use a fungicide for vegetables - one that contains Chlorothalonil (Daconil, Ortho Garden). Use according to package directions. All fungicides must be used as preventatives; none are curative. They will not kill existing disease but will keep it from starting and spreading. And, they must be applied regularly. If you are gardening organically, I would go with one of the copper-based fungicides. Follow package directions for dilutions and frequency of application. Now I'll let you in on a little secret here in the Northeast: :-) Septoria is usually transient. Once the weather dries out and the temps increase, it will stop progressing. It is the cool, wet weather that creates the environment for it to thrive. So, you don't normally get a fungicide just for septoria. However, a fungicide will help prevent early blight, which is very common and far more difficult to arrest. And, if there happens to be any late blight around, it will help to prevent that as well. So it's worth using to prevent other fungal diseases. You can remove the affected leaves, but don't feel that you have to remove every leaf that has a small spot or two. As the septoria stops, it will just leave a few spots on an otherwise perfectly good leaf. However, if you're looking at cool temps and rain for another week, you may want to be more aggressive about removing affected leaves. Some folks say that you should bag the affected foliage and throw it in the garbage to prevent the spread of disease. Do that, but don't think it will forever eliminate septoria and early blight. Those fungi are all over -- in the air, in rain droplets -- so you can be extremely fastidious and still get those fungus diseases. Just an FYI. Happy gardening!

WOO - HOO! I harvested two black beefsteaks yesterday, 5/29. Which is normally when I plant out. So, a 60 day large beefsteak. The first time I have harvested before mid June. And the first time my first tomato was not a grape or cherry. This variety is an unknown that a friend of mine and myself bought as a Watermelon Beefsteak, but turned out to be a purple/black. It has been the best overall plant of mine ever since... 4 years running. It is early, produces until frost, is my most disease resistant plant and is a nice dark green color. But, disease showed up last week... septoria and a little of early blight. Some of the septoria is high up on the young growth. So, I have to stop that sh__ now! So far, no sign of the fusarium that I had bad last year. Any guesses as to the type of tomato?

So I've had a little progress with my seedlings, and finally got around to up-potting them. I culled some, but because I'm not adept yet at recognizing good or bad qualities, I kept more than I probably should have. Some are from Lemon Lime, some from Gingko Craig - and of all of those, there are both yellow and green, strappy-leaves and slightly rounder leaves, taller and shorter. I just kept those that seemed the most vigorous. I guess, if I keep them long enough I can use them to fill in empty places in the garden, or group them for a spot of color. We'll see.... I had only one seedling from Whirlwind, and it's pretty puny... not what I'd call vigorous. But it was finally large enough to handle, so I potted it. It's the really pitiful-looking one in the front. Off to the left are three pots - each with a caladium bulb that I'm trying to get a head start on, to use in pots.