The year after early blight

9 years ago

Hello, all!

Last season our tomato plants suffered from early blight. What should we do with this space in our garden in the upcoming year? Can we grow anything there safely? Is there any way to be sure the blight is gone? Can we plant blight resistant varieties?

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Comments (8)

digdirt2
9 years ago
You will want to do some research into EB, its causes and how it compares to other diseases.

EB is a fungus disease and that fungus is airborne and those fungus spores are all around us so there is little one can do to prevent it when the conditions (air temps and humidity) are ideal for its development. So we treat it instead with fungicides to slow it down until the crop can be harvested.

Your garden is fine and you can grow whatever you wish there. EB fungus spores do not survive without living tissue but new spores develop every year and arrive on the wind. It is the most common tomato disease and plagues all of us. So unlike some of the other diseases it is primarily something we all live with to some degree since there are no EB resistant varieties. Some varieties may tolerate it a bit more but even that is debatable.

Proper plant spacing to insure good air circulation, heavy mulching of plants and avoiding overhead watering and soil splashing on the plants helps greatly but the only true prevention is the regular use of fungicides from the first day of planting out.

Good luck with your garden.

Dave

PS: You'll find many more discussions about EB over on the Growing Tomatoes forum here.
Peter1142
9 years ago
What Dave said. It won't be in your soil next year... but will probably arrive again anyway. As long as it's not the late blight!
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megamuphen
Original Author
9 years ago
Awesome, thanks! It was an extra damp year, and our tomatoes were foliage-full.... and were probably spaced too close together. In drier years we have ended up with sun scald, just can't win!
laceyvail 6A, WV
9 years ago
Early blight is endemic here, but I've found that if I direct seed tomatoes in late May away from the ones I have started in the house, carefully tended and set out, that the direct seeded tomatoes NEVER get early blight and start yielding fruit about the time the first tomatoes are succumbing to early blight. They fruit successfully until frost. I have no idea why they don't get EB, but I've done this for many years.

However, Late blight has hit me the last two summers (first time I'd ever seen it in almost 50 years of gardening), and Late blight kills ALL the tomatoes.
laceyvail 6A, WV
9 years ago
Early blight is endemic here, but I've found that if I direct seed tomatoes in late May away from the ones I have started in the house, carefully tended and set out, that the direct seeded tomatoes NEVER get early blight and start yielding fruit about the time the first tomatoes are succumbing to early blight. They fruit successfully until frost. I have no idea why they don't get EB, but I've done this for many years.

However, Late blight has hit me the last two summers (first time I'd ever seen it in almost 50 years of gardening), and Late blight kills ALL the tomatoes.
elisa_z5
9 years ago
laceyvail -- that's a great tomato growing tip -- I'm especially interested in trying it because we're in the same state, so I'm hoping it will work. Last year I left a couple volunteer tomatoes in the bean bed, and they escaped the blight -- but they grew too late to produce much.

I will definitely try the late direct seeding idea! Need to get my tomato storage back up to par since last year was such a lousy tomato year for me.
laceyvail 6A, WV
9 years ago
another thing that I think helps with early blight is to spray with the organic spray Soap Shield from Gardens Alive. I usually spray as directed until early July, by which time my plants are just too big. While this doesn't prevent EB, it seems to hold it off some.
planatus
9 years ago
There are a few new varieties with decent resistance to both early and late blight, most from Randy Gardner's breeding program at NC state. Last year I grew Plum Regal as my paste tomato and it was pretty awesome. Mountain Magic (cherry) is unstoppable, too. Haven't tried the slicers, Sophie's Choice and Iron Lady.