I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can
get away with it?

Cheers

Dave R

On 4 Oct 2013 13:52:23 GMT, "David.WE.Roberts"
wrote:

I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can
get away with it?

Cheers

Dave R

I'm going to pick the last of my outdoor toms tomorrow. This is the
first year without blight for over 10 years. I've had 2 or 3 Blight
Watch warning messages but no blight here.


Pam in Bristol

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote

I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can
get away with it?


If they aren't Blight resistant varieties then a couple of days before the
plants turn totally black and collapse IME, even if Blight resistant they
are on the slippery slope and will only last another week or two. Even the
tomatoes that look fine will probably have blight and it will often show
after you pick them. Personally I'd pick off everything I think will ripen
and get rid of the rest and the plants.

Bordeaux Mixture or similar is your friend, start to spray as soon as rain
is forecast in July and before it happens, and then again every couple of
weeks if it remains damp/humid. That way the blight should not get a hold.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 4 Oct 2013 13:52:23 GMT, "David.WE.Roberts"
wrote:

I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can
get away with it?

Cheers

Dave R
Bonfire NOW. I have read that the plants can be composted but not the
fruits. I'm not convinced. Anything from my plantation that looks
dodgey will be sent off site for destruction, ASAP.

Regards
JonH

JonH wrote
"David.WE.Roberts" wrote:

I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can
get away with it?


Bonfire NOW. I have read that the plants can be composted but not the
fruits. I'm not convinced. Anything from my plantation that looks
dodgey will be sent off site for destruction, ASAP.


I understood it was OK to compost all of the plant and the unripe fruit as
the spores can only survive on living tissue. What is important is that you
remove all infected potatoes from your plot which will harbour the spores
over winter.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On Fri, 4 Oct 2013 18:22:18 +0100, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:

JonH wrote
"David.WE.Roberts" wrote:

I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can
get away with it?


Bonfire NOW. I have read that the plants can be composted but not the
fruits. I'm not convinced. Anything from my plantation that looks
dodgey will be sent off site for destruction, ASAP.


I understood it was OK to compost all of the plant and the unripe fruit as
the spores can only survive on living tissue. What is important is that you
remove all infected potatoes from your plot which will harbour the spores
over winter.

Spores can survive on living fruit. That means the manky ones?

Yes, I'm working on the spuds. The buggers keep hiding from me, I've
got Volunteeers springing up left right and centre. Apart from those
early ones in bins in the greenhouse I've given up on spuds - for the
moment.

Next year maybe, when I've cleared another patch of Bindweed/Creeping
Cinqufoil/Whatever pernicious weed comes to mind I may take a
different view.

Regards
JonH

On Friday, October 4, 2013 6:52:23 AM UTC-7, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
I'm seeing the first signs of blight.



A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.



Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are

still ripening.



What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can

get away with it?



Cheers



Dave R

If you're in the US, there is a really awesome environmentally friendly product called OxiDate RTS that we sell. Not sure how much you need covered but it's labeled to cover up to 12,000 sq ft. It fights both early and late blight. Here is a link to the product page.

http://www.enviroselects.com/OxiDate...cide_p_21.html

If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us.

Thanks, have a good day!

Truly Vidal
EnviroSelects LLC
Toll Free: 1 (877) 359-1299
Email:

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in
:

I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked
tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they
are still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I
can get away with it?

Cheers

Dave R


Are you sure it is blight?
I think it could be end of season blossom end rot(or whatever they call it)
Outdoor tomatoes this year have had to put up with some very low night time
temperatures.
It is surely normal at this time of year to have a few dark patches on
stems, and few marked leaves.
I have all of this, but, it IS October after all IMO, expected.

Prolong them by picking the whole vine, before frost and put them in a dark
place to ripen. Some people say put them in a sunny position, but dark
works for me.

Baz

On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 16:29:28 +0000, Baz wrote:

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in
:

I'm seeing the first signs of blight.

A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked
tomatoes.

Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.

What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I
can get away with it?

Cheers

Dave R


Are you sure it is blight?
I think it could be end of season blossom end rot(or whatever they call
it)
Outdoor tomatoes this year have had to put up with some very low night
time temperatures.
It is surely normal at this time of year to have a few dark patches on
stems, and few marked leaves.
I have all of this, but, it IS October after all IMO, expected.

Prolong them by picking the whole vine, before frost and put them in a
dark place to ripen. Some people say put them in a sunny position, but
dark works for me.

Baz

Pretty sure it is blight.

Dark patches on stems.
Dark patches on shrivelled leaves.
Brown areas on small fruit.
General wilting.

Temperature is fine - 18C - and without blight I would expect cropping to
continue until the first frost.

Very sheltered and sunny area.

I need to clear all of the damaged stuff out a.s.a.p.

This is in my back garden, not down at the allotment.

Cheers

Dave R

Truly wrote ...

David.WE.Roberts wrote:
I'm seeing the first signs of blight.
A few dark patches on stems, a few marked leaves, a few marked tomatoes.
Mostly the tomatoes seem fine, there is still a large crop and they are
still ripening.
What is the best way to prolong cropping, and how long do you think I can
get away with it?


If you're in the US, there is a really awesome environmentally friendly
product called OxiDate RTS that we sell. Not sure how much you need covered
but it's labeled to cover up to 12,000 sq ft. It fights both early and late
blight. Here is a link to the product page.

http://www.enviroselects.com/OxiDate...cide_p_21.html

If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us.

Thanks, have a good day!

Truly Vidal
EnviroSelects LLC
Toll Free: 1 (877) 359-1299
Email:


Having looked at the product I wish we did have it over here but
unfortunately not.

The EU and our own Defra demand all sorts of tests before a product can be
marketed, it is not sufficient that it is tested, approved and sold in the
USA. These tests cost £100,000+ which makes it uneconomic even for the major
chemical companies when they consider the potential sales to private
gardeners. Which is why we amateur growers now have very few chemicals with
which to treat diseases/pests over here, even Bordeaux Mixture is shortly
to be banned.
The Government keep saying people should grow their own food but they make
it increasingly difficult.

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Bob Hobden wrote:
If they aren't Blight resistant varieties then a couple of days before the
plants turn totally black and collapse IME, even if Blight resistant they
are on the slippery slope and will only last another week or two. Even the
tomatoes that look fine will probably have blight and it will often show
after you pick them. Personally I'd pick off everything I think will ripen
and get rid of the rest and the plants.

IME they often hold out a lot longer than that. Mine on the allotment
(all volunteers) started showing signs weeks ago, and I only gave in and
pulled them all today. At the time they were all totally green, now I have
a huge tray of green and the occasional red, and a good few on the turn
which I think will make it.
(it seems to be the round ones that go blighty later from green, the other
shapes seem to get blight early on and once they're picked if they haven't
got it, they won't. Of course, no idea what any of the varieties are -
one is long and sausage shaped, and not at all like anything I've ever
grown in the past!)

On Fri, 4 Oct 2013 18:22:18 +0100, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:


I understood it was OK to compost all of the plant and the unripe fruit as
the spores can only survive on living tissue. What is important is that you
remove all infected potatoes from your plot which will harbour the spores
over winter.


Charles Dowding says yes - compost it all.

--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk