Klara wrote:
My daughter says she has black spots on her chili and aubergine
plants. Is this the same sort of thing as potato blight? What can she
do about it - preferably organically? (Being very allergic to
aubergines, I have no experience with growing them.)

thanks...

As you've no responses thus far, I thought I might hazard a guess. Chillies
are capsicums (capsica?) and, as you have correctly guessed, aubergines
belong to the same family as the potato (solarnum - commonly known as the
deadly nightshade family, which also includes the tomato). Therefore, unless
someone corrects me, I would assume that the blotches do not share a common
cause. Unless I'm corrected, I would treat the aubergine as for potato
blight (instructions from the RHS can be found here
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...ato_blight.asp). I do not know
anything about chillies so cannot advise here.

Incidentally, aubergines are poisonous if consumed young (in fact, in ye
olden dayes, it was known as the "mad apple" or "raging apple" because the
poison (solanine) was said to induce lunacy). However, a fully mature
aubergine should be 100% safe for human (and anything else's) consumption
but, maybe, there's a tiny, miniscule amount of solanine left and this is
what you're susceptible to.

Tomatoes, incidentally, were known as "love apples" (no I don't know why,
either - neither is related to the apple in any way, shape or form - OK,
tomatoes are also vaguely spherical, but that's about the only similarity)

Anyway, unless anyone else can tell you otherwise, I would treat as for
potato blight.

Warmest wishes,

Sarah

The above was written by an amateur gardener who has gleaned all her
knowledge from /Gardener's World/ and any suggestions, or advice, contained
therein should be checked with a reliable source before implemetation and,
even then, should be actioned at your own risk.


--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/