[matt80]

hi all,

Just as my tomatoes start to ripen, I think they've gone and got blight 

I think some of the plants are OK - what should I do? Should I destroy the affected ones (saving good fruit for chutney) and hope the rest are OK, or is it worth waiting a while as they affected ones aren;t too bad at the moment and may a last a bit longer for some more of the fruit to ripen.

[mumofstig]

what has happened to them that you think is blight?
They tend to get very manky looking foliage this time of year, it's not always blight tho'..... unless you have confirmed blight in your area already?

[matt80]

They have:

- black areas on the main stems and in a couple of cases on the stems that the fruit is hanging off.
- the unripened tomatoes are getting quite large brown/black blotches
- some of the leaves are discoloured - green, yellow, brown, black

I'm not expert but that sounds like blight to me...? How do I know if its in my area?

[strangerachael]

It definitely sounds like blight, which seems to be spreading rapidly at the moment    I have some too, despite spraying with dithane. What I've done is taken off all the fruit to ripen at home. Take the tomatoes off their vines as these are often affected before the fruit. Some of them still go on to develop brown blighty blotches like you describe, as they ripen, so pick these off and throw away (don't compost). The plants should be removed and destroyed as soon as possible (again not composted) but I am being a bit slow about this as I am a) rather lazy and b) hoping it will not spread/ might go away completely 

[mickwood]

All our toms got hit with blight - we cut our losses, chopped them down and have made a hell of a lot of green tomato chutney

Gutted 

[Greengirl]

You can fry unripe green toms - not too unripe though - just as you would red ones apparently. Not tried it myself yet.

[mumofstig]

Went out to have a quick check before i shut the g/house up a bit for the night ..................and saw dark blotches on some of the green toms in the tubs outside the g/h doors. Some of the foliage also looked a bit mouldy. So decided to cut down and bag up all the outside ones just in case it was blight..snif..snif 

Hope the inside ones will be ok..........all just beginning to ripen as well...so fingers crossed.

[viettaclark]

You can make green tomato sauces for pasta and curries. They're really tasty! We also have them raw in salads (especially Thai type salads)

[Paul Plots]

You can make green tomato sauces for pasta and curries. They're really tasty! We also have them raw in salads (especially Thai type salads)

Good advice but take care not to include any fruit that has the least sign of blight as the taste is not very nice.

Blight is a bu**er.... lost all 24 of my outside plants just as fruit was coming along nicely but none ripened. It is becoming a regular annual disappointment 

[matt80]

Thanks for the responses. Just one other question - do I need to do anything in particular to clean the pots that the diseased plants were in? Presumably if I use them again next year then the blight could infect next year's crop. I don't want to throw them out as they're not cheap!

[diggerjoe]

lost nearly all toms to blight at home this year  which I reckon is because I didnt clear away last years blighted ones away quick enough and clean pots well enough - leason learned - is there nothing that can kill these spores? I expected to lose lotties ones and potatoes have blight again but at home I thought this year I might be safe!

[Greengirl]

Would have thought Jeyes fluid would be good for washing out the pots - if that doesn't kill it nothing will.

[Riala]

Can I pick all my green toms? Is there a way to ripen them off the vine?

I have never made green chutney, never even ever had a chutney before... 3 of my toms have blight on the, both plants are in the same planter.

[Paul Plots]

Would have thought Jeyes fluid would be good for washing out the pots - if that doesn't kill it nothing will.

That's exactly the answer I would have given.... Jeyes is safe and strong... 

[Paul Plots]

Can I pick all my green toms? Is there a way to ripen them off the vine?

I have never made green chutney, never even ever had a chutney before... 3 of my toms have blight on the, both plants are in the same planter.

Pick away - if the fruit is not contaminated by blight spores it should ripen if left on a sunny window sill... but keep an eye out for the brown tell-tale signs of blight and discard any that begin to show this.

Green chutney is good (Try an interent search for recipes as there are plenty around.) if you want to make use of the fruit rather than keeping it to ripen and risk blight developing.