Late Tomato Blight Could be a Big Problem for Container Gardeners
It's not too often that there is breaking news about tomatoes, but unfortunately this week there is, and the news is bad. Late tomato blight, a serious and deadly plant disease, has hit the East Coast and has also been found in Ohio, West Virginia and Alabama.
Though not a direct danger to humans, the spores from this disease can spread rapidly to both tomatoes and potatoes, and is the same pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.
The plants that have caused this alarm have been found at many "big box" stores. And though they have now been removed from the shelves, people who bought their tomato seedlings at Home Depot, Lowes, Kmart and Walmart, should be on the lookout for the symptoms of blight.
- A pale green often beginning at leaf tips or edges
- Brown spots or lesions on tomato plant stems or leaves
- If the weather is wet or humid, white spores may be visible on the undersides of leaves or at the edges of the lesions
- On green tomatoes you may see white mold or, according to Ohio State University, “large, firm, brown, leathery-appearing lesions, often concentrated on the sides or upper fruit surfaces”
The spores that carry the blight can easily spread on the wind, so it is critical to get rid of any infected plants. DO NOT PUT THEM IN YOUR COMPOST PILE!
For more info on how to get rid of plants with late tomato blight.
Ok, so what do we do about it?
I spoke to a plant pathologist at the U of Maine who said that that the best thing to do is get rid of plants that have late tomato blight. There doesn’t seem to be any good way to prevent it, and once you have it, it will kill your plant. So at this point I think the only thing to do is try to contain the blight by disposing of plants that have it.
I heard tonight that the blight has passed onto potatoes. In this state, that is a serious problem. Lots of potato farmers here.
If you’re ok with using chemicals, you can try to use chlorothalonil as a preventative measure. It only works before, though. Unfortunately, as noted, it usually just ends up where you have to throw away the plant. You can cut off the infected parts of the fruit and still eat the rest, as it’s not harmful to people. Le sigh.
Can this spread to unedible plants? Ornamentals.
As I understand it, the only plants that late tomato blight will spread to are tomatoes and potatoes, I don’t know of any ornamentals that it will spread to. I wouldn’t be surprised though, if sweet potato vine could be affected.