Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: missmoneypenny on June 24, 2021, 16:48
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I haven’t seen any but I’m thinking with near daily rain next week and mild temperatures here in the south east, it’s just a question of time. Anyone encountered it yet?
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Have you signed up to a Hutton Alert, MissMP?
https://blightwatch.co.uk/home/about/hutton-criteria/
I assume they're still the same sort of organisation; the warnings used to be called 'Smith Periods', but did roughly the same thing, which is to measure humidity, temperature etc, and report - for free, online.
I haven't seen one this season, so as I'm not far from you, assume everything's OK!
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Have you signed up to a Hutton Alert, MissMP?
https://blightwatch.co.uk/home/about/hutton-criteria/
I assume they're still the same sort of organisation; the warnings used to be called 'Smith Periods', but did roughly the same thing, which is to measure humidity, temperature etc, and report - for free, online.
I haven't seen one this season, so as I'm not far from you, assume everything's OK!
Growster, I think that they stopped sending out alerts! https://ahdb.org.uk/news/blightspy-replaces-blighwatch
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That's very helpful, Hasbeans - thank you very much!
They could have told us, there's a lot of us who kept an eye open for the dreaded!
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They could have told us, there's a lot of us who kept an eye open for the dreaded!
We did :lol: :lol:
https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=134929.msg1555341#msg1555341
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Oh Blast...:0~
Really didn't see that post - must do better!
;0)
(Actually, joking aside, the toms here are struggling in all three locations around 'The Turrets'! I only read the other day that a feed is advisable when flowers start to form, whereas in the past, Tomorite say apply when the first fruit sets. That must be because of the high potash content I suppose.
Anyway, I've started some Miraclegro treatment, and hope to see a result soon. The recent heavy rain has probably washed out the compost nutrients much earlier than usual)!
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Better stay alert this week. Looks like a big washout!! HH
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The second half of June has been a miserable attempt at summer in the SE so I wouldn't be surprised if the blight risk has risen.
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I reckon you're right, Al...
I have to tip out all the trays from the toms every day, and there has to be a risk of all the nutrients being washed away - the toms look pretty miserable still!
I'll re-feed again tomorrow, so will wait and see what to do next...
BTW, John has posted a piece on dealing with tom plants, it's well worth a peek!
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Yes I thought I hadn’t seen an alert for a while. I have just tried to login, then reset my password and found it impossible. I also find the feedback from posters here more useful in real time. Just using logic, given the mild weather and frequent rain, blight is a distinct possibility now.
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I reckon you're right, Miss MP.
I've never seen blight this early (could be the other sort), but so much water everywhere can't be good for plants which need lots of light, sun and fresh air.
The greenhouse toms seem OK, but the outside plants are really beginning to wimper a bit...
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I'm pulling leaves off a couple of my plants already so it's only the dry spells that's holding it back.
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I think I may have some blight on my tomato plants :( starting at the bottom leaves, I'm growing them in growbags and using grow rings in the greenhouse, we have had really bad rain here the last few days with temperatures still high and humidity very high, keeping the greenhouse condensation free has been a challenge as the rain has been splashing in the window and if i leave the door open its going straight in, can anyone please confirm
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I guess it's a micronutrient deficiency, KD, so a quick slurp of 'Miracle gro' should see that off!
I had the same issue last week, the plants said 'Ta', so don't depair, it's not blight as I know it!
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Thank you so much Growster :) I had been feeding with tomarite but switched this week to chempak calcium to try ward off botrytis so will see how they go, just relieved that I havent lost them
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Not the best picture but you can just about see the white fuzz that I associate with late blight.
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Make sure you don't over-feed. The dosages and frequency of application of fertilisers should be followed; if you over dose on one set of nutrients, it can lock up other nutrients into the soil and prevent the plant from accessing them (a non-scientific explanation!)
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Found definite blight on a couple of my Black Russians. Cut back like crazy, fingers crossed. Hope the good old Ferlines perform at least, this year is less than ideal for tomatoes ( my favourite, most valued crop).
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Not seen any sign yet but we are having some pretty ordinary weather for summer here! Yesterday and today have been cold and damp so I went on gave the plants a spray which should ward off any problem for today but I see it is hosing it down again so tomorrow will probably be a reapplication. I try my hardest to minimise spraying but I have put in too much work to let plants perish when spraying will stop any problems. Terrible weather this summer though I doubt it has been better than what most of most of the UK has had which is odd.
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Not seen any sign yet but we are having some pretty ordinary weather for summer here! Yesterday and today have been cold and damp so I went on gave the plants a spray which should ward off any problem for today but I see it is hosing it down again so tomorrow will probably be a reapplication. I try my hardest to minimise spraying but I have put in too much work to let plants perish when spraying will stop any problems. Terrible weather this summer though I doubt it has been better than what most of most of the UK has had which is odd.
May was largely cloudy and wet with cool daytime temperatures across much of the UK. The worst summer weather has been localised to the SE. Parts of the SE had double the normal rainfall in June, and that was after minimal rain in the first half of the month, so the second half was likely near four times the average for the period. July has started off cloudy and wet (some rain nearly every day) with mediocre temperatures (failing to reach 20C on several days here in Horsham). Earlier this week flash flooding from torrential rain showers has caused disruption in London. I'd be surprised if SW France has been worse, but it is not impossible. Combined with the frostiest April for at leat 60 years it has been a lousy growing season so far in SE England.
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It would surprise many just how much rain the area of France I live in actually gets. There are very few areas of England that get more. All of the areas that get as much are in the north west of the country, Scotland and Wales.
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saw what looked like blight on my toms today...cut back big time but think they will be gonners next time i visit...cut back the haulms on my potato plants too :mad:
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It would surprise many just how much rain the area of France I live in actually gets. There are very few areas of England that get more. All of the areas that get as much are in the north west of the country, Scotland and Wales.
When it comes to human impacts, it is not necessarily about the quantity of rain, it is the deviation from average that matters. That is why asking why the south of England copes badly with freezing temperatures and snow by comparing to Canada is a poor question.
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It would surprise many just how much rain the area of France I live in actually gets. There are very few areas of England that get more. All of the areas that get as much are in the north west of the country, Scotland and Wales.
When it comes to human impacts, it is not necessarily about the quantity of rain, it is the deviation from average that matters. That is why asking why the south of England copes badly with freezing temperatures and snow by comparing to Canada is a poor question.
Absolutely but the statistic is the same year on year I get far more rain than any part of the south of England and nearly all of England for that matter. Yes we do get some incredibly hot and dry summer weather most years but when it rains here... well you have to see it to believe it. Fortunately I live at the top of the col not the bottom where people also have to cope with snow melt flooding on occasion... a few years back eight people drowned due to the combination of rain and snow melt. Boulders ten feet across were washed down the hills like pebbles and houses simply removed from the land incredible what a bit of water can do.
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I've had some on some of my tomatoes and it's in various places at the allotment.
I've taken 4 affected plants out (3 yellow stuffers and 1 unknown variety bush type yellow Pear).
I'm not hopeful but keeping my fingers crossed for the 30-40 or so other plants out there - I have collected 1 ripe tomato so far!
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Just in from the garden and so a little sign of blight on a couple of plants so they have been sprayed again. It is going to be very hot over the next week so I hope that should stop any spread through the plants as I am sure I read that blight dislikes hot conditions.
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It would surprise many just how much rain the area of France I live in actually gets. There are very few areas of England that get more. All of the areas that get as much are in the north west of the country, Scotland and Wales.
When it comes to human impacts, it is not necessarily about the quantity of rain, it is the deviation from average that matters. That is why asking why the south of England copes badly with freezing temperatures and snow by comparing to Canada is a poor question.
Absolutely but the statistic is the same year on year I get far more rain than any part of the south of England and nearly all of England for that matter. Yes we do get some incredibly hot and dry summer weather most years but when it rains here... well you have to see it to believe it. Fortunately I live at the top of the col not the bottom where people also have to cope with snow melt flooding on occasion... a few years back eight people drowned due to the combination of rain and snow melt. Boulders ten feet across were washed down the hills like pebbles and houses simply removed from the land incredible what a bit of water can do.
Where in SW France do you live? I've looked at two places, Bordeaux and Pau, both have less than 1 metre of rain annually. I'm guessing you live very near on in the foothills of the Pyrenees if you are getting rainfall comparable to the wettest parts of the UK. Horsham where I live has a little over 800 mm annually, and Manchester is slightly higher, nearer 900 mm. In the UK, annual rainfall is highly variable by location, and is strongly biased higher as you go north and west. The high fells of the Lake District and Scottish mountains can get at least 2-4 meters of rain per year. Even Fort William which is at sea level gets nearly 2 meters of rain per year on average. Seathwaite is the wettest inhabited place in the UK with over 3.5 meters of rain per year on average.
The wettest places in the UK revealed ? and why these cities are so soggy (http://www.floodsax.co.uk/news/the-wettest-places-in-the-uk-revealed-and-why-the-people-who-live-there-need-floodsax-alternative-sandbags-for-flood-protection/)
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One of the older guys at the plot had to pull out all his plants. I felt for him. None on mine except one which I pulled up. If this goes on I might have to consider a greenhouse.
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No sign of any on Sunday went over yesterday had had to pull up 3 plants as they were virtually all brown.
One end of the bed is fine the other is looking like they all might need to go.
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I had to pull out the end plant from a row of 4 - the others were behind a debris netting wind-break. As the spores are windborne, it makes me wonder if surrounding them with a barrier/netting would help?
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Anything you can do to tilt the odds in your favour has to help mum - I would guess that surrounding the plants with a fine mesh barrier would provide the best outdoor protection given that the wind doesn't always blow in the same direction.
Can't do anything about the rain wetting the leaves and promoting spore germination, but making sure you don't wet them when watering has to be a slight help too.
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Went up to the plot this morning to water/feed the toms - ended up putting them all into a bin bag as they were clearly gonners - I haven't even had a chance to get any fruit off them yet. My 2nd early potatoes had also been affected I think - they were looking really healthy just a few days ago, but now all brown and dying off, so I cut those down as well to hopefully protect the spuds.
I have a couple of spare tomato seedlings at home - could I put those up at the allotment to replace the blighted ones, or is that just foolhardy?? Is it too late to start again with toms? Or is this summer a write-off now?
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I had to pull out the end plant from a row of 4 - the others were behind a debris netting wind-break. As the spores are windborne, it makes me wonder if surrounding them with a barrier/netting would help?
That's interesting mum I thought that the spores were carried in rain drops. So the spores actually arrive with the wind and are then germinated by the water from the rain one assumes ? Anyway we have had a bit of a show of blight on some of the plants but I have treated them and hope that it will hold it back. I will be treating them again because rain is forecast for sometime next week. I have been trying to keep of the treatment and it just shows that it is not worth it you have put the work in and have a legal method of saving plants then use it in my opinion, if I had followed my normal routine I would have had no problem. I am still hopeful that treating them will save them though.
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Its turned up at home as well now, I have some training toms on a 3ft wall and just found 3 plants have been hit, will need to have a good tidy up later to save what I can. A least I have had a crop from these, nothing from the allotment at all so far. Hopefully the greenhouse will escape un hit.
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I've lost 3 plants from 12. The rest are infected but still producing clean fruit. It's also on several peppers/chillies and a couple of potatoes in pots. I suspect most plants will be binned within a month. This years yield is unlikely to cover the compost cost :mad:
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I had to pull out the end plant from a row of 4 - the others were behind a debris netting wind-break. As the spores are windborne, it makes me wonder if surrounding them with a barrier/netting would help?
Interesting. I've been debating trying this anyway to reduce the wind effect a bit, but would be great if this also worked.
Hopefully the weather is not so bad next year though!