Preventing Tomato Blight ?

[Jim Almquist]

Ken mentioned this in another thread and I had problems with it as well and had a few questions.

Is there a way to prevent it ?

Did it come from the soil or was it due to the way I water them ?

Should I use a different soil this year ?

The stuff I used last year was a very old manure pile that has turned into dirt. The soil around my house is a very sandy loam and I need to get my dirt from some where else. I use nothing but buckets for my plants.

[Juneau4]

Blight comes from the dirt being splattered up on the plants when it rains or watered. Try watering from the bottom don't get the follage wet.

There is a chemical called Daconil that is very effective, but you have to use it before the blight starts or its to late. Another is called Bonide.

In a garden you shouldn't plant tomatoes where tomatoes or potatoes were planted the previous year, so dirt should probably not be used in a bucket year after year, once its in the soil it's hard to get rid of. Have fun.

[Nainoa]

Blight comes from the dirt being splattered up on the plants when it rains or watered. Try watering from the bottom don't get the follage wet.

There is a chemical called Daconil that is very effective, but you have to use it before the blight starts or its to late. Another is called Bonide.

In a garden you shouldn't plant tomatoes where tomatoes or potatoes were planted the previous year, so dirt should probably not be used in a bucket year after year, once its in the soil it's hard to get rid of. Have fun.

Yep... A lot of it is water... Also make sure that there is proper air flow... Don't crowd the plants... And once they start setting fruit, sucker them.

I'll put straw down both as a weed block... But also helps keep a dry base layer so funguses, molds and such don't have a direct wet trip if they want to get from soil to foliage.

[stoney]

another "secret" an old timer told me is to use wood mulch instead of grass or straw. He said it dries on top faster and less fungus.

[Nainoa]

another "secret" an old timer told me is to use wood mulch instead of grass or straw. He said it dries on top faster and less fungus.

Something to note here with "Wood Mulch" Do not confuse this with "Wood Chips, or saw dust or Cedar chip wood mulch...

The only wood based products you should be putting on your garden for cover is "Wood Compost." Which is wood that has basically spent a year in a pile being turned after the rains and elements etc...

There are a lot of "Other" chemicals in wood that will over the long term hurt the chemistry of your garden... Some of them are also water soluable chemicals... Which while there is a low chance of it... If in high enough concentrations could end up going into the fruit.

[blarkey]

can you put black plastek down and feeder hoses to keep weeds down or is that a bad thing

[croixflats]

Sure can works very well though you have to monitor the soil for watering more closely. The con is with black plastic the soil may get to hot mid summer. What works well also, another poster mentioned this in another tread, is weed barrier fabric lets the soil breath so the soil wont get to hot.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Sure can works very well though you have to monitor the soil for watering more closely. The con is with black plastic the soil may get to hot mid summer. What works well also, another poster mentioned this in another tread, is weed barrier fabric lets the soil breath so the soil wont get to hot.

Or use clear plastic.

[Nainoa]

can you put black plastek down and feeder hoses to keep weeds down or is that a bad thing

In the past I've used black and clear plastic in the early part of the season to warm up the soil for heat loving plants... Kind of like a floating row cover that I've just let lay flat etc...

In general though I don't use black plastic through the course of the season... Especially if there are peppers around... As the air space moisture barrier that it creates is really condusive to certain types of mold and slugs/nematodes (Which are the abolute BANE of pepper plants!

After trying a lot of different angles... I settled on straw/hay that I trade my buddy's Mother plants for each year... It allows a certain amount of breathablty with the soil, and it naturally biodegrades adding back a little bit of biomaterial back into the soil.

[blarkey]

thanks, I tried a fabric one year but did not lay any thing on top of it and the weeds just grew underneath and pushed up the fabric up it was a mess!

[Nainoa]

thanks, I tried a fabric one year but did not lay any thing on top of it and the weeds just grew underneath and pushed up the fabric up it was a mess!

Yeah I love fabric... Right until that happens!