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.

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

"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.

On 5 Sep 2005 08:37:13 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

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 ....

Fair point Nick and don't think I don't know it but as my crop is now
a smouldering pile of ash I don't have much chioce really, unless I
stop eating tomatos altogether which ranks with stopping drinking beer
in the 'undesirable life situation' catagory.

Don't suppose anyone would have a spare 20lb or so of delicious home
grown tomatos going begging would they ... I can 'collect' (ho ho,
like that's going to happen)

Cheers
Duncan



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

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