[helluvatractor]

Well, all my outside tomatoes have had to be pulled up because of the blight ( i went away for a few days and they were covered when i got back).  a couple of my inside ones are showing slight signs of it, but not too bad, i've removed all the affected leaves, and sprayed with copper solution.  Trouble is,  there are a few blight marks on some of the stems, and obviuosly i can't remove this without killing the whole plant, should it be ok?

also :  should you put blighted tomato plants in the compost bin?

and:  If some of my plants become so badly affected and have to be pulled up, can you ripen the green toms, and if so, how?

sorry for all the questions  

[jacnal]

should you put blighted tomato plants in the compost bin?

No. Apparently the fungus that causes the blight can survive composting hence the compost would be bad!

If some of my plants become so badly affected and have to be pulled up, can you ripen the green toms, and if so, how?

I know you can ripen green tomatoes just by leaving at room temperature for a while. I've not done it recently, but I remember whilst growing up we'd buy unripe toms as we didn't have a fridge. They ripened nicely  a few days later. I'm not sure about the little ones harvested too soon though.

sorry for all the questions  

No need to apologise man. We're all here to learn and share!

[richyrich7]

No don't compost burn them if you can, if not chuck em in the rubbish bin.

Yes we have successfully ripened fruit taken off blighted toms this year, I left them on a window sill and put a ripe banana next to them took a week or so.

You don't need direct light it's just where I left them they will ripen in the dark.

[helluvatractor]

whoops! i put some in the compost bin, luckily it was only a week or so ago, so i'll get out what i can.  as long as i don't grow potatoes or tomatoes on the soil where i put the compost, should it be ok?

[richyrich7]

Hopefully yes, the spores themselves are only viable without a host for a 10 days or so.

[slow_worm]

Well, all my outside tomatoes have had to be pulled up because of the blight ( i went away for a few days and they were covered when i got back).  a couple of my inside ones are showing slight signs of it, but not too bad, i've removed all the affected leaves, and sprayed with copper solution.  Trouble is,  there are a few blight marks on some of the stems, and obviuosly i can't remove this without killing the whole plant, should it be ok?

also :  should you put blighted tomato plants in the compost bin?

and:  If some of my plants become so badly affected and have to be pulled up, can you ripen the green toms, and if so, how?

sorry for all the questions  

You are not the only one - I lost all 12 of mine too!!!
I know loads of people who have them affect in greenhouses too!!

[digital_biscuit]

if the spores are only viable for 10 days then why cant you compost them?

[wellingtons]

... unrotted bits.  It's so misleading when books and blurb talks about living plant material.  In the case of blight it means any plant material that isn't completed rotted down.

It's just not worth the risk really.  Unless you have a massive compost heap and you know it will reach quite high temperatures.

[helluvatractor]

thinking way ahead here, and i really really hope we have a dry summer next year  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

but can you get blight resistant tomatoes ??

[zebraff]

I have to join the blighted

This is my first year ever so didn't realise what was wrong with the tomatoes until talking to a gardening friend.

The three outside ones are definately a gonner but the greenhouse ones are only slightly affected with one seemingly completely clear.

I have sprayed them and removed affected leaves so will they bo OK or is it too late?

Do I wait to see if they'll be OK or should I just remove unaffected fruit now and ripen them indoors?

Really gutted as the thing I was most excited about was home grown tomatoes!

Oh yes, I have also unknowingly put leaves recently in the compost so do you think if I remove the top layer the compost will be OK?

Sorry for so many questions.

Thanks
Zeb

[GrannieAnnie]

I know what you mean Zebraff, I've dug up 3 of my outdoor toms, but am trying to hang on to my tumbling toms, as they are only slightly affected, but some of my indoor toms have got a bit of blight too.  I'm down in Kent at my daughters for a week, dread to think of what things will look like when I get home on Sunday!!!  I dug up some of my Inca, and asked OH to keep an eye on the rest (I've got 80 indoor tomato plants!!!!), but he wasn't happy with me coming down here this week, so he might not keep an eye on them!!!

[richyrich7]

thinking way ahead here, and i really really hope we have a dry summer next year  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

According to the long range weather forcast from the met office mid to end august higher than average temp lower, than average rain fall  :?

[Ann]

I've lost all my toms to blight, picked all the tomatoes to ripen indoors but have found that some of them are going brown and have to be thrown out.

We usually get a good crop of 2 plants this year we had 8 plants and hardly any tomatoes

[richyrich7]

Know how you feel Ann, started the season with 40 plants now down to 4 in the greenhouse. So much for homemade pasata this year.

[Annie]

I compost all our blighted hallums(mind you this is the first time we`ve had it badly)but we have 7 compost bins so all are going in one.With all composted potato hallums we use one bin and spread the compost when ready in the beds that last had potatoes in so that the compost is also part of the rotation.
We planted lots of outdoor toms this year as the forcast was for a good summer!They`re not happy in the cold but fingers crossed about blight!