Hi Bill, I've been growing tomatoes for as far back as my memory goes, first with my dad in his garden, and then later on in gardens of my own, and Early Blight has always been a problem. Early Blight is a fungal disease caused by the microorganism Alternaria solani. I know of no tomatoes that are resistant to it, although there are some that are troubled less by it than others. The Alternaria spores can survive on plant debris in soil, on tomato seeds themselves, and in the soil. The spores can be carried by wind and water. The best "cure" is to prevent it from infecting your plants to begin with. Some years I have a huge problem with early blight, but some years I have little trouble with it at all. The key difference appears to be the amount of rainfall, cloudiness and humidity. In wetter years, EB is a huge problem. In hotter, drier, less humid years, it is not as much of a problem as long as I don't get water on the leaves when watering the plants. (So, watering with a soaker hose or drip irrigation is obviously preferable to using a sprinkler.) Here are some ways you can help minimize problems with Early Blight: 1) Use only clean seed saved from non-diseased plants if you save your own tomato seed. And, if you save your own seed, be sure to use the fermentation process to help eliminate disease. 2) Remove and dispose of all plant debris from the previous year because it can harbor spores of the fungus that causes Early Blight. Do not rototill the plant debris into the soil because that just spreads the spores throughout the soil. 3) Control (remove) volunteer tomato plants and weeds in the tomato plant area that sprout as they can harbor the spores. 4) Space plants properly for good air circulation and do not errect wind barriers. Good air flow helps plants dry off more quickly after rainfall or dew and this is important in preventing spores from germinating. 5) Orient your rows in the direction of the prevailing wind the garden receives durinng the growing season. 6) If you must use overhead irrigation, understand that every time you irrigate, you are likely to be creating conditions that encourage the spread of early blight. So, if overhead irrigation is a must, irrigate as early in the day as possible so plants can dry completely before nightfall. 7) Keep plants well-fed and well-watered, but not overfed or overwatered. Plants that have enough, but not too much, food and water are healthiest and most likely to survive early blight. 8) To the extent that you can, keep pests under control because they can spread the disease from one plant to another. 9) When you see affected foliage, which normally appears on older, lower leaves first, remove the foliage from the plants and dispose of the leaves away from the garden. Because you can spread the disease from plant to plant while removing the foliage, wash your hands before moving from one plant to another or, if using pruners, dip them in a water/bleach solution before moving from one plant to another. 10) Use varieties known to be more resistant or tolerant of Early Blight. Although no tomato variety is immune to this fungal disease, some varieties are said to be more resistant than others. Keep records from year to year to see if you can spot varieties in your garden that don't get Early Blight, or that at least seem able to "outgrow" it or otherwise overcome it. Many gardeners have found that Amelia, for example, resists early blight. Tomato leaves come in several varieties--the standard regular leaves that are most common, the potato-leaved tomatoes in which the leaves of the tomato plants look very similar to potato plant leaves, and the rugose leaves, often found on short internode plants, among others. Many gardeners believe potato-leaved tomato plants and rugose-leaved tomato plants seem better able to resist early blight. One line of thought is that both potato-leaved plants and rugose-leaved plants have thicker foliage that is harder for the spores to penetrate/infect. 11) Do everything in your power to keep ALL the moisture off the leaves that you can. This includes only ground watering via soaker hoses or drip irrigation and no overhead watering from sprinklers. As soon as the plants are in the ground, mulch the ground around them with 2" to 3" of mulch to keep soil-borne fungal spores from reaching the plants. Replenish mulch often. Some people like to scatter corn meal (a known antifungal) on the surface of their mulch to help prevent fungal spores from residing in the mulch. 12) Grow plants in the most upright manner possible. Stake them, cage them, trellis them using the Florida Weave or something similar, etc. Plants that sprawl on the ground usually get more early blight than those grown in a more upright manner. 13) You cannot "cure" Early Blight once your plants have it, although sometimes you can keep the plant growing vigorously enough that it outgrows the EB. So, the best cure is "prevention" and the best "prevention" is to spray your plants with chlorothalonil at 7-10 day intervals beginning the very first day the plants are in the ground. Spray the plants heavily, coating the stems and leaves and be absolutely certain that you spray the undersides of all leaves. Mix the chlorothalonil (Daconil) as directed on the package and be sure to dilute it as directed. If you spray with a heavier concentration than the package recommends, you can burn your plants and seriously harm/kill them. Spray at 7-10 day intervals from Day 1 and never miss a spraying. Basically, the chlorothalonil coats the leaves and stems and prevents the spores from infecting the plants. You can use other antifungals, but none of them are going to be as effective as Daconil. Copper sprays work great on some fungal problems, but not on early blight. Serenade (Bacillus subtillis) was first promoted as an anti-fungal, but even though I had good results the first year I used it, it hasn't seemed effective on early blight since then. It is a better pesticide than antifungal in my garden. Potassium bicarbonate is an organic antifungal, but isn't as effective as Daconil. In the gardening world, many people prefer not to use Daconil because it is a chemical, and I understand that. I don't use it myself. However, if Early Blight is a severe problem for you, then it is the best solution. I think early blight was so bad in so much of OK last year because of high rainfall, long periods of cloudiness and high humidity. Here in Love County where there was very little rainfall, fewer than the normal amount of clouds, and relatively low humidity all summer long, I had almost no early blight, and that is fairly rare. While Early Blight is only one of the many tomato diseases found in Oklahoma gardens, it is probably the most common one although it often is accompanied by Bacterial Speck and Bacterial Spot too. For all the talk of verticillium and fusarian wilt, it is only Early Blight that causes me problems some years. It is important, though, to understand the symptoms of Early Blight and to be sure you are diagnosing it properly so that you are treating the plants for the right problem. Hope this info helps. Dawn

I told myself I was going to go 100% organic this year....until this crud started showing up. It just seemed to come out of nowhere like you said and started spreading pretty rapidly. I finally broke down and sprayed them with Ortho Garden Disease Control several days ago which put a halt to the spread. With rain on the way, I'm sure I'll be spraying again soon. My tomatoes look so good this year with what should be very good yields - I just couldn't sit by and watch them deteriorate. I'm growing Anna Russian, Better Boy, Brandywine, Brandywine (Sudduth Strain), Cherokee Purple, Gardener's Delight, Marianna's Peace, Opalka, Sioux, and Stump of the World. All are affected with Stump of the World getting it the worst, but the spray has helped tremendously, and everything is growing without any apparent adverse impact.

I garden in far west central Pennsylvania and also in far east central Ohio. We have cool damp springs here with lots of rain. Local gardeners like to refer to our area as the "Blight Belt". For years I depended on Maneb alternated with Daconil as my best defense--however, still suffered lots of plant losses and reduced yield due to infected plants. Several years ago, at the suggestion of another Garden Webber, I tried a natural product named Actinovate. At the same time I learned of the antifungal properties of potassium bicarbonate which is pretty much benign to humans. (We cook, gargle, soak our feet, and brush our teeth with a very similar product called sodium bicarbonate which is common baking soda) Now I certainly don't recommend consuming either of these maaterials in any quantity where it can be avoided but they are both much safer than complex organic based chemicals like Daconil or Maneb. Now what I do is prepare a root drench with some of the Actinovate and put a cup of it into each planting hole for tomatoes and peppers. Immediately after planting, weather permitting, I spray my whole garden area and newly planted tomatoes and plants with an Actinovate+potassium bicarbonate+spreader/sticker spray. When the tomatoes are starting to set fruit I spray a second time but add some Miracle Grow or Jack's tomato food to the spray. Last year I sprayed a total of 4 times through the summer and into the early fall. I lost one plant to leaf disease and had to rogue it out at the 2nd spray time but all the rest did fine for me with very little leaf distress. I still hold my Daconil and Maneb in reserve for a really bad bout of Disease but for the past two years have not had to use it. By the way, I typically grow 50 to 60 tomatoes, and most of them are heirlooms. You can find both Actinovate and Potassium Bicarbonate, supplied with instructions, by Googling. A local greenhouse or nursery might be your best source for a spreader/sticker, you will find a little goes a long way, and it is pretty much a benign "glue" to keep your spray materials on through a few rains.

I have had that same problem for years.I used to water frequently. the farmer i bought my seedlings said not to water the tomatoes? this year i only waterd one time for four hours with the hose laying on the ground. so far i have not experienced any of the wilting that i used to get near the end of july. i am no means any expert at all. when i read this forum it seems there are many opinions on how and when to water the plants. it is kinda confusing on the watering issue. good luck