My garden is located in Iowa and this year I had to move it into my yard in
a spot that was lawn for 30 years. Previously it was bordering my backyard
in a farmer's field that he didn't plant due to the utility easements buried
there which would have been damaged with his large equipment but was
suitable for garden use with his blessing.
I planted 2 Early Girl, 2 Big Boy, 2 Celebrity, 3 Better Boy, and 1 Sweet
100s for the lone cherry tomato plant. The tomatoes are starting to ripen
and I have already picked about a dozen so far and I noticed the plants are
getting blight starting on the bottom limbs as they usually have done in
prior years!
I read from various sources this is caused when the vines contact the ground
or when the soil splashes onto the vines so when I planted the fairly large
plants from a reputable nursery, I put a 2 pound coffee can around each
plant to keep the leaves from contacting the ground and for an aid to water
them when needed. The plants are all thriving and are laden with tomatoes
with the vines now growing over the cages which are 5 feet high. I cut off
the lower branches as the vines grew so as to keep them completely away from
the ground and each time I water, I fill the coffee cans and never use a
sprinkler on the plants to prevent disease according to information I read
about watering tomato plants.
In other words; "everything by the book". Years previous, I didn't use cans
around the plants and didn't cut off the limbs contacting the ground and
used a sprinkler on the plants so it wasn't surprising the blight always set
in!
I applied lime and 10-10-10 garden fertilizer and roto-tilled it into the
soil prior to planting any vegetables.
All good advice is welcome! Thanks