[rachelr]

I have a problem with my tomatos and dont know wat it is. I have pickedthem all as i planned to use them. Some have greyish bruises on them but others were fine. I put them in the dark to redden off indoors. When i went to them later that day they were nearly all covered in this grey bruising. It is only skin din and can be cut out but if i leave them another day it goes all the way through. I have had to bin loads of them

I know its too late for this year but in case i still cant afford a greenhouse what should i do to stop this happening again
many thanks
Rachel

[Yorkie]

Did your tomato plants have blackish marks on the stems?  Or browning on the foliage?
Stems looking a bit like this?
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/diagnostickeys/TomWlt/EarlyBlt_Tom.htm

Or tomatoes like this?
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/diagnostickeys/TomFrt/Late_Tom.htm

Quite a few of my green toms have had this marking and I believe it's blight.

If so, it's an airborne fungal disease so very difficult to protect against.  DD. recommends spraying with Dithane if you have weather conditions likely to promote the growth of the fungal spores.

Do not compost the foliage etc.

[DD.]

Dithane is being/has been replaced by "Bayer Fruit and Vegetable Disease Control Fungicide".

Why they didn't call it something short & snappy like "Blight Away" is beyond me!

[CZ Silhouette]

Dithane is being/has been replaced by "Bayer Fruit and Vegetable Disease Control Fungicide".

Why they didn't call it something short & snappy like "Blight Away" is beyond me!

"Bayer Fruit and Vegetable Disease Control Fungicide".

Just roles off the tongue doesn’t it! 

[Pip Judgeford]

Now I know my pestilence last summer was blight .  Thanks for the pix.

I didnt know it was blight, thought it was a mildew thing, so treated sprayed them all with the anti mildew baking soda/liguid seaweed mix about twice a week.  I recall it was 2 teaspoons baking soda and half a cup of liquid seaweed in 2 litres of water. I'd rather mix up something myself out of things that are more benign, than spray on commercial chemicals, even if it means spraying more often.  It didnt cure it but it did did slow the blight down considerably - enough that the plants produced a reasonable crop and most tomatoes did not have those grey leisons on them. 

I figure there have been enough bits of tomato plant and spores drop to the ground in that bed that this year I've planted the whole bed in various alliums, in an attempt to sterilize the soil.  (I dont know if this will work but it makes me feel like I am doing something!).

Did I make the blight happen?   I water from a spinkler wired on to a tall stick in the middle of the bed, so maybe the plants were too wet?  This coming season I am going to try growing my toms in tyres (good soil heat) and watering the soil and not the foliage.  Here's hoping...

= Pip

[tedsdad]

You didn't cause the blight,it's an airborne thing.I personally like to irrigate tomatoes with trickle irrigation,I think it's easier to control,deliver liquid feed,and it keeps the foliage nice and dry.

[DD.]

I figure there have been enough bits of tomato plant and spores drop to the ground in that bed

Blight spores can only survive on live plant material, so that is not where it came from. As stated previously, it'll just blow in.

[rachelr]

I have heard that once you have it it wont go away. is that a wives tale. I have hanging toms and they were not affected at all.

[DD.]

That's a load of rubbish!

Everyone on our site had it last year, (except me!), but no one has it this year. If the conditions for blight to propagate are not right, then it just won't happen.

[rachelr]

one more question. can i use the blighted toms to get seeds. I am sorry I lost my whole crop and am trying to retrieve sumat.

[DD.]

Had to look it up to be doubly sure, but yes you can.

I know this is an American site, but it was the first one that came up:

http://www.umassvegetable.org/LateBlightAlertforTomatoandPotato.html

Tomatoes wll not carry late blight over the winter, because freezing kills the whole plant. Tomato seed, even from fruit that was infected with late blight, will not ciarry the pathogen. Thus you can use your own seed or purchase seed to start next year’s crop without fear of late blight

[fatcat1955]

Blight spores can over winter in soil . Fact.

[DD.]

Only in live plant material.

[fatcat1955]

Wrong.

[mumofstig]

All the 'stuff' I've looked at on Google and Blightwatch says it doesn't over winter in the soil...you seem very certain that it does, so why not explain your reasons/view rather than saying..
...Fact...Wrong.
That's neither very friendly or very helpful, is it?