[Hitwoman]

Hi - I believe by looking at web pictures and advice that I have blight on outdoor San Mazarno tomatoes.  Is it worth removing the uneffected tomatoes to try and ripen them?
Thanks

[New shoot]

Yes    Keep a really close eye on them, remove any which show signs of blight and see how it goes.  Its amazing how even really green tomatoes will ripen in the end.

[Hitwoman]

That's good to hear - thank you.  I was concerned they would rot before ripening.

Thank you.

[Fairy Plotmother]

That's good to hear - thank you.  I was concerned they would rot before ripening.

Thank you.

I had signs of blight about 2 weeks ago. First I took off dodgy fruit and most of the leaves. I gave them another spray of Bordeaux mix. Every day since I have been to check...taken off rotting fruit and dAmaged leaves. The fruit that has ripen I have frozen for later use. I have found that if I have left it for kitchen use it has gone bad. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this strategy will continue to work as there it still a lot of fruit there.

[sunshineband]

Not wanting to sound like the thought police, but as the use of Bordeaux mix was banned a little while back we shouldn't really advertise its use here.

Stripping off all the leaves sounds drastic but can slow the progress of blight significantly. Here are my tomatoes in the polytunnel two weeks ago, and most of these fruits  have ripened successfully on the plants,

Any that have the dreaded brown staining though won't make it, so I take these off as soon as I spot them and consign them to the bonfire pile.

"Clean" green ones from outside ripened well in trays in the kitchen, although as there were so many I did use lots for cooking too. Good luck with yours Hitwoman

[Hitwoman]

Many thanks for you response,  I have stripped off the leaves tonight, so we will see how they go!

Only my outdoor toms are effected so far.  Is it inevitable I will get this every year now? Will the spores stay in the soil?

Thanks

[New shoot]

Blight, whether tomato or potato is very weather dependent.  In a warm, dry summer you can get away without seeing it at all.  This summer has been humid, stormy and wet at points, so it was really a case of when, rather than if, it hit 

If you clean up all the diseased plants, that is all you can do and its a gamble again next year on the weather.  That's why Crimson Crush tomatoes have been chatted about a lot on here recently.  Blight resistant varieties do offer a good safety net crop if your other plants fall prey.

 

[Wiltshire Worms]

My outdoor toms got blight and had to be cleared, at home in the greenhouse they seemed to take forever to ripen, and now I could open a tomato shop,  best I've ever done

[Fairy Plotmother]

Lost the battle with blight I'm afraid. All tomato plants were dug up on Friday. Still a few in the greenhouse though.

[Hitwoman]

Thank you for your replies - sorry to hear about your toms Fairy Plotmother.

Does anyone know if the suggested Crimson Crush is a good cooker? The outdoor toms I grow are San Marzano which are a cooking Tom, so would be looking to replace them next year.

Thanks.