Inside Urban Green

Tomatoes And Potatoes: Late Blight Advice From Cornell

Hopefully "late blight" (Phytophthora infestans) won't be as big a problem in the Northeast this year as it was in 2009.

If you are growing tomatoes or potatoes this year, the following is some good precautionary advice from Cornell University via Garden Center Magazine. As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure both for you and on behalf of your neighbors. It is a contagious disease.

It seems like a good idea to sprout your own seeds if you can manage it. It isn't hard to do. It just takes some time and a minimal amount of work. Here is some seed starting information about what I did last year.

via www.gardencentermagazine.com

Gardeners throughout the Northeast can take steps to protect their cherished tomato and potato plants against the “late blight” that wiped out thousands of home tomato plants during the 2009 growing season.

Late blight, Phytophthora infestans, is the fungus-like pathogen that causes lesions and eventual die-off in tomatoes, potatoes and other tomato-family plants. This disease can be highly contagious among susceptible plants, and gardeners need to take steps to identify the disease and prevent it from spreading.

Tomato Late Blight, Phythophora, Water Mold Anyone!

Photo and text - Missouri Botanical Garden 

A strain of the fungus, Phytophthora infestans, causes late blight in tomatoes. As the common name implies, Phytophthora is prevalent on tomato hosts in late summer, after the plants have bloomed. Late blight is more common in north central and northeastern states, but is observed in the Midwest when the humidity is high and temperatures are around 68 degrees F late in the growing season. Watch for the disease when cool, moist nights are followed by warm, humid days.

There are many reports of "late blight" or Phythophora hitting tomato plants in the northeast. Phythophora is a water mold that we occasionally dealt with back in my days in the interior plantscaping business. It was almost always associated with a watering problem, as in too much. If you're in the northeast you know what a wet and cloudy spring we have had. Phythophora is no surprise to me. 

Has anyone been hit with this problem? Please share your experience.