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Tomato Disaster, lost crop, any idea why ?
Hi
I have been growing tomatos outside in the soil in my garden 20 miles north of London in the UK for a number of years now. I never grow them in the same place two years running although my favorite bed, the one I used this year, hosts a crop every two years. The bed faces West and is backed by a larch lap fence. I fed at planting with pelleted chicken manure and then regularly with Miracle Grow (last years batch). This year, for the first time I grew potatos in the bed next door, they have performed well and have shown no sign of blight (as far as I can tell). This year I have had an almost total crop failure. Pictures here http://80.71.2.34:8815/tomatos/index.html show the current state of the crop. I will miss my home grown tomato soup this winter. Can anyone tell me what has gone wrong ? Many thanks Duncan :-( |
"Duncan Lyall" wrote I have been growing tomatos outside in the soil in my garden 20 miles north of London in the UK for a number of years now. I never grow them in the same place two years running although my favorite bed, the one I used this year, hosts a crop every two years. The bed faces West and is backed by a larch lap fence. I fed at planting with pelleted chicken manure and then regularly with Miracle Grow (last years batch). This year, for the first time I grew potatos in the bed next door, they have performed well and have shown no sign of blight (as far as I can tell). This year I have had an almost total crop failure. Pictures here http://80.71.2.34:8815/tomatos/index.html show the current state of the crop. I will miss my home grown tomato soup this winter. Can anyone tell me what has gone wrong ? Blight! Pull up and burn all affected plants/fruit, do not compost any part of them, and don't plant Toms or spuds in that spot for 5+ years. Infected fruit will rot. Have you had much rain your way recently or do you spray the plants with water? It is brought on by free floating spores in the air landing on leaves that are wet/moist, if the plant is kept dry these spores can't do any damage. Watch your spuds as they usually get this problem first. -- Regards Bob In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London |
In article ,
Bob Hobden wrote: Blight! Pull up and burn all affected plants/fruit, do not compost any part of them, and don't plant Toms or spuds in that spot for 5+ years. Infected fruit will rot. Don't be ridiculous. Blight does not have resistant spores and does not overwinter in the soil. The solution is to spray with Bordeaux mixture next year and/or hope for different weather. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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The Toms in my greenhouse are exactly in the same condition as yours. I picked all the toms off the plants, i.e. the ones without any marks on them and ripened them off in a large cardboard box. So far they have been ripening off and suffered no damage. I await some replys as I am trying to find out what has happened to my crop. Cheers Drew |
"Nick Maclaren" wrote ... after Bob Hobden Replied: Blight! Pull up and burn all affected plants/fruit, do not compost any part of them, and don't plant Toms or spuds in that spot for 5+ years. Infected fruit will rot. Don't be ridiculous. Blight does not have resistant spores and does not overwinter in the soil. The solution is to spray with Bordeaux mixture next year and/or hope for different weather. It will on any bit of plant material left behind, at least that's my understanding, and how can you be certain to get it all. I agree with the Bordeaux Mixture defensive spray though which I normally do myself, and perhaps try "Ferline" next year too, it's Blight resistant (and I've happily proved that to my own satisfaction by not using BM for the last two years and none have got blight). -- Regards Bob In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London |
In article ,
Bob Hobden wrote: It will on any bit of plant material left behind, at least that's my understanding, and how can you be certain to get it all. I believe that to be false. It was commonly believed, but modern research indicates that it does NOT overwinter in dead material, but in a variety of weed plants, forgotten potato tubers etc. And, because it is blown considerable distances by the wind, it has to be regarded as something that you will never get rid of. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Hi
Thanks for all the advice ... So Tomato blight it is then. I have used the same cultural practices for years without suffering this, the only thing I've done differently this year is grow Potatos and they have shown no sign of blight. Guess it will have to be beans, onions and courgettes next year then. Thanks again Duncan On Sun, 4 Sep 2005 11:01:52 +0000 (UTC), Duncan Lyall wrote: Hi I have been growing tomatos outside in the soil in my garden 20 miles north of London in the UK for a number of years now. I never grow them in the same place two years running although my favorite bed, the one I used this year, hosts a crop every two years. The bed faces West and is backed by a larch lap fence. I fed at planting with pelleted chicken manure and then regularly with Miracle Grow (last years batch). This year, for the first time I grew potatos in the bed next door, they have performed well and have shown no sign of blight (as far as I can tell). This year I have had an almost total crop failure. Pictures here http://80.71.2.34:8815/tomatos/index.html show the current state of the crop. I will miss my home grown tomato soup this winter. Can anyone tell me what has gone wrong ? Many thanks Duncan :-( |
"Duncan Lyall" wrote Thanks for all the advice ... So Tomato blight it is then. I have used the same cultural practices for years without suffering this, the only thing I've done differently this year is grow Potatos and they have shown no sign of blight. Guess it will have to be beans, onions and courgettes next year then. As I said Duncan, try the French "Ferline" it works, it's a large but normal shaped Tom with quite solid flesh, not too watery. I've heard rumours the French have other blight resistant toms too. From Nick's comments it's obvious I'm a little old fashioned in my knowledge of this disease so it looks like you could grow in the same place next year. (I wouldn't recommend it if we were talking spuds with blight as I've never ever managed to find all the spud whilst digging them up.) Another method of growing Toms I heard about some years ago which would suit you as you grow up a fence was to use some clear plastic sheeting (bubble wrap?) as a roof over the plants to stop them getting rain on them. You put it over like an old fashioned tent (with guy ropes over uprights and a crossbar) and it doesn't need to reach the ground just keep the rain off. You could staple it to your fence and some sloping poles like half a tent. It also allows the plants to retain any day heat into the night so helps stop cracking caused by temperature changes, indeed like their own polytunnel. When I get our new allotment site I intend to try this method myself. -- Regards Bob In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London |
Hi Drew
Hmm, looks like I have been really unlucky then as I did try to save some of the crop by picking them when they were green and ripening on the windowsill (as I have done for many years) however as soon as they started showing signs of ripening they also started to go black .... I never use any pesticides on my fruit and veg ('organic' or otherwise) so I guess I'll have to try the resistent variety next year Ho Hum, guess I'll have to go back to the rock hard tasteles muck they sell in the supermarkets. Cheers Duncan On Sun, 4 Sep 2005 14:41:58 +0000, Drew wrote: Duncan Lyall Wrote: Hi I have been growing tomatos outside in the soil in my garden 20 miles north of London in the UK for a number of years now. I never grow them in the same place two years running although my favorite bed, the one I used this year, hosts a crop every two years. The bed faces West and is backed by a larch lap fence. I fed at planting with pelleted chicken manure and then regularly with Miracle Grow (last years batch). This year, for the first time I grew potatos in the bed next door, they have performed well and have shown no sign of blight (as far as I can tell). This year I have had an almost total crop failure. Pictures here http://tinyurl.com/8qcrh show the current state of the crop. I will miss my home grown tomato soup this winter. Can anyone tell me what has gone wrong ? Many thanks Duncan :-( Hi Duncan, The Toms in my greenhouse are exactly in the same condition as yours. I picked all the toms off the plants, i.e. the ones without any marks on them and ripened them off in a large cardboard box. So far they have been ripening off and suffered no damage. I await some replys as I am trying to find out what has happened to my crop. Cheers Drew |
Hi Bob
Yes, in fact I probably will try that variety (if I can find it that is) as I can't face the prospect of eating the rubbish that is sold in the supermarkets. Actually I was thinking of getting a small greenhouse ... tomatos have become such an important crop for my family that I cannot give up growing them just yet, I'm missing them already. I appreciate all the advice re chemical controls but I have never sprayed any of my food crops with any pesticide, ever. This is the first real failure I've ever had. I realise that the use of miracle grow is probably not very 'PC' as far as the 'organic' movement is concerned and I will be switching to someting else next year, possibly seaweed or comfrey or some such thing. No, I'm not a tree hugger or organic freak it's just that I've heard so many people say that it is possible to grow without chemical input that I thought I'd give it a go, also I get more than my fair share of chemicals from the mass produced stuff that we have to eat to survive anyway. Cheers Duncan On Sun, 4 Sep 2005 23:22:01 +0100, "Bob Hobden" wrote: "Duncan Lyall" wrote Thanks for all the advice ... So Tomato blight it is then. I have used the same cultural practices for years without suffering this, the only thing I've done differently this year is grow Potatos and they have shown no sign of blight. Guess it will have to be beans, onions and courgettes next year then. As I said Duncan, try the French "Ferline" it works, it's a large but normal shaped Tom with quite solid flesh, not too watery. I've heard rumours the French have other blight resistant toms too. From Nick's comments it's obvious I'm a little old fashioned in my knowledge of this disease so it looks like you could grow in the same place next year. (I wouldn't recommend it if we were talking spuds with blight as I've never ever managed to find all the spud whilst digging them up.) Another method of growing Toms I heard about some years ago which would suit you as you grow up a fence was to use some clear plastic sheeting (bubble wrap?) as a roof over the plants to stop them getting rain on them. You put it over like an old fashioned tent (with guy ropes over uprights and a crossbar) and it doesn't need to reach the ground just keep the rain off. You could staple it to your fence and some sloping poles like half a tent. It also allows the plants to retain any day heat into the night so helps stop cracking caused by temperature changes, indeed like their own polytunnel. When I get our new allotment site I intend to try this method myself. |
In article ,
Duncan S wrote: I never use any pesticides on my fruit and veg ('organic' or otherwise) so I guess I'll have to try the resistent variety next year Bordeaux mixture is merely copper sulphate and lime (or is it sulphur?) Whatever. It is essentially just natural and common chemicals. Ho Hum, guess I'll have to go back to the rock hard tasteles muck they sell in the supermarkets. Thus ensuring that you maintain your pesticide intake .... Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
In article ,
Bob Hobden wrote: From Nick's comments it's obvious I'm a little old fashioned in my knowledge of this disease so it looks like you could grow in the same place next year. (I wouldn't recommend it if we were talking spuds with blight as I've never ever managed to find all the spud whilst digging them up.) Yes, a bit of rotation is a good idea. But I really do mean that 90% of the problem with blight is the weather. I lost a lot of potatoes to blight one year, had a lot of wildings and lost almost none the next year. Yes, they were slightly more resistant varieties (King Edward rather than Pink Fir Apple), and weren't precisely on the same soil (i.e. 2x away). Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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Duncan S wrote:
Actually I was thinking of getting a small greenhouse ... Whatever you do, don't do that: get as big a greenhouse as you have room for and can afford! :-) |
On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 10:43:46 +0100, Derek Turner somewhat@odds
wrote: Duncan S wrote: Actually I was thinking of getting a small greenhouse ... Whatever you do, don't do that: get as big a greenhouse as you have room for and can afford! :-) heh heh, like to Derek but then where would the wife sunbathe ! Cheers Duncan |
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