ANYTHING you can do to keep the foliage dry will help

that would be spacing, pruning, orienting for better airflow.

even though you have plastic, cover surrounding bare spots with some kind of mulch

avoid overhead watering

get rid of infected debris and weeds such as nightshades. potato foliage can get it too

you can spray with a few kinds of chemicals. they work best when used preventativly rather than after you have a problem

Organic:
spray with copper based sprays; Kocide, Cuprofix Ultra

I tried a tip I got somewhere, mixed 2 cups cornmeal into hole I put each plant into. Seems to have helped so far, I get that blight too every year.
Watchout, if Carolyn gets wind of this thread talkin about disease she'll start talkin about things you never heard of. Way over my head.
I also spray regurally w/Dalconal(sp. close enough)

Watchout, if Carolyn gets wind of this thread talkin about disease she'll start talkin about things you never heard of. Way over my head.

****

Yes, I've seen this thread and was going to talk about the four most common foliage diseases ( which are not over anyones head b'c they're discussed here all the time by me and others) and what the options are, as well as pointing out that all NEW foliage infections are aquired via **airborne** means so having good mulch to prevent splashback infection does not always prevent infection.

However, if you feel that I talk way over your or other's heads, then I need not say more.

Carolyn

Dr. Carolyn,

I think "drtomato" was kidding you...I sure hope so! We who love growing and learning tomatoes NEED you in here to keep us straight.

I've learned over the years that, as you say, not ALL disease is due to soil splash...air-borne nasties are definitely at work as well.

I limit my use of chems in my garden, but I DO rely upon Daconil to help control tomato diseases when they rear their ugly heads. Not a cure-all, but it sure helps.

Thank you for hanging in here with us!!

Hal (retired engineer, but not a chemist..wife's that one) ~grin~

This Webpage is specific to Early Blight I.D. and Control

The Webpage gives a definition, descriptions and pictures of early blight (Alternaria solani).

Some of the recommendations are the same as those Hortist gives along with some others ...

Obtain the best certified seed or transplants.
Prevention of seedling infection is very important.
Practice crop rotation.
Tomatoes should not be planted in areas where susceptible vegetables, such as tomato, potato, pepper, or eggplant, have been grown during the previous three or four years.
Destroy solanaceous weeds, such as black nightshade or Jerusalem cherry, which can serve as hosts of the fungus.
Space transplants to allow good air circulation, thereby permitting plants to dry off rapidly after rain and dews. This will reduce the risk of disease development.
Plow under or remove old vines as soon as harvest is completed.

The Webpage recommends Daconil.

And the Webpage also advises "the cultivars, Mountain Fresh, Mountain Supreme, and Plum Dandy, have resistance to early blight."

As for Dr. Carolyn talking over our heads, I've not read a post of hers yet, here or on Tville that I thought was over my head. If you feel it's over your head, read it anyway. Maybe some of it will trickle down and will eventually make sense to you. Thanks Dr. Carolyn for all your shared knowledge.

Again

ANYTHING one can do to keep the foliage dry will reduce the problem.

early blight must have moisture in order to infect. Reduce or eliminate the moisture with cultural practices and you have seriously hampered it - including a secondary source such as airborne spores.

In addition to keeping the foliage dry and having sufficient space between my plants, I also remove diseased leaves as soon as I see them. The plant makes new healthy ones. It seems to work.

When I do this, I make a pass through the garden only for removing unhealthy leaves and I collect them in a plastic bag. Then I wash my hands thoroughly before handling the plants again to do chores like tucking stems into the cages, or whatever.

If Carolyn has ANY type of comment on this, I would love to hear it. I'm always impressed with her responses--her knowledge and her patience and humor. I'm also impressed at her willingness to continue to counsel beginners, even though she is saying the same thing for the zillionth time.

If anyone feels that any response or discussion has gone over their head, then it's their responsibility to ask questions or do some research to catch up. We're here to learn--that's how it's done.

Dr. Carolyn,

Just a little jokeing around with ya! Never have had the privilege of being able to discuss garden probs with someone like you. And I do mean "privilege". You always seem to nail down our garden wows and hit it on the head every time. Not that your perfect, but just more right than wrong most of the time. Just like going to the doctor, we all seem to only go to them after we have a prob, but with you, if we do a little prevenitive maintance befroehand it keeps us well when we're under attack.
-Dan

ps- I do understand what you say, not over-my-head. Just every once in awhile I have to look up what some of those clinical terms you use really mean? hahahalol!

Well I guess I am S.O.L. then. I am reading all your tips on keeping foliage dry and I'm looking out the window at a torrential ran storm. Was so bad I am all soaked from just walking from my car to the office where I work a block away- and I had an umbrella....

I guess I'm just going to have to learn to deal with this and not expect much from the tomatoes I plant. I'm starting to see the black spots on the actual stems too... I love this New York weather...

I had a Brandywine plant that was blighted pretty bad.
So I removed yellowing leaves,
mulched, and fed it well to
try to battle it back by producing healthy
leaves. So far so good and has fought back.

My Black Prince on the other hand is losing the
battle and I fear with these rains today, may get worse.
I've already had to take A LOT of the diseased foliage off the plant.

I fed it well - mulched - and wrapped the bottom of the cage in white plastic. With lack of foliage I don't want the remaining fruits to be sun-burnt.

Other than well fed healthy plants, keeping water off foliage, and mulching, there isn't much I can do.
If it gets any worse, I'll just have to yank it.
I'm not a daconil dude ...

~ Tom

Started spraying with daconil last week and will repeat it again tomorrow. It's important to cover the leaves that are not yet infected. And get the undersides as well as the tops. Keeping leaves dry not an option since it's drizzling out there with nearly 100% humidity and it's been wet out all day.
Daconil gave me fairly good control last year but it has to be repeated and repeated and....

I have found that Daconil if used every ten days or so, starting about a week after the mater plants are put in the garden, and continued until around mid-August really helps.
Healthy plants, from using lots of compost and composted manure is also a big plus in helping to resist the blight.

If you get early blight, or any other fungal or bacterial disease every year, then you need to take preventive measures. After having early and late blight savage my tomatoes last year, I'm taking some precautions this year, including:

1. Disease resistant varieties. I don't think any varieties are resistant to blight, but I still wanted resistance to other diseases. And if a plant is weakened by any disease, it will be more susceptible to blight.

2. Generous plant spacing for good air circulation.

3. Plastic mulch and soaker hoses to keep the foliage dry.

4. Pruning. I'm using two strategies. First, when the plants were about 3 1/2 feet tall, I removed all the leaves on the lower 12-14 inches of each plant, since these typically contract blight first. I sprayed all the fresh cuts with fungicide as a precaution. It may be coincidence, but the plants started to bloom heavily after the cutting, so maybe stressing the plants kicked them into the blooming phase. Secondly, I pinched off enough suckers to facilitate air circulation. My plants all have 2-4 main branches, but on the first 3 1/2 feet, my plants are open and airy. Above 4 feet, I quit pinching off suckers to form a foliage canopy that would shade the tomatoes. Of course the plants are sort of top-heavy, so I've got them well-supported.

5. Good fertility and consistent watering. Healthy plants that aren't water-stressed are less susceptible to disease.

6. Chemical prevention. I spray with the lowest recommended concentration of chemicals every 7-10 days, depending on rainfall. To prevent any resistant disease strains from taking hold, I'm alternating every two applications between a mancozeb + liquid copper mix, and a chlorothalonil + liquid copper mix.

7. Insect control. Insects are vectors for many diseases (not sure about blights), and they weaken the plant, increasing the risk of disease. I've only sprayed with BT so far, and have not observed any pests at all on my tomatoes. But if any insects do show up, they will rue the day they decided to feast on my plants. Insecticides on hand (in order of escalation): pyrethrins/rotenone, permethrin, and malathion. I tried using some neem earlier this summer, but suspected it stunted plant growth (and some research indicates it does partially block stomas), and it was nearly useless against an early aphid infestation of my beans. I've also got some carbaryl, but it seems to kill more beneficial insects than any other insecticide I've tried, so I treat it as a WMD of last resort.

This is a year where I've noticed more EB than in previous years, I do think that two major storms in the past month have bulked up the garden, making plants bigger and wider than if it were just normal rains and watering. I went to a good nursery to find an organic treatment for the problem. I am not fond of using chems in the garden as I have pets and an asthmatic husband who can react adversely to garden curatives. I bought a bottle of a concentrated product called Serenade, made a gallon batch and sprayed the plants two days ago. I also did some trimming back of the garden to create more airflow and removed the effected leaves. Two days later I'm looking at plants which appear to be in better health and there are no new signs of early blight. This was not a cheap product, but I don't want to cut corners with the garden or family health. The bottle will make several more batches which I likely will need as August is a very balmy and moist month when the wind dies down and the ocean sound seem to drip in the air here. Mildew is a serious problem in the garden during August, so I am hoping that I will be less troubled by air-borne disease than if I hadn't used an effective product.

Here is a link that might be useful: Serenade FAQ