Late Blight and Heirloom Tomatoes
by John Yazo
Late Blight is a potentially serious disease of both potatoes and tomatoes and is caused by a fungus. It is especially dangerous in cool, wet weather and effects all parts of the plant. Young lesions on the leaves are small and look like a dark water spot. If a plant is infected, these leaf spots will enlarge quickly and white mold will appear at the edges of the infected area. This is usually on the lower surface of the leaves. Within 14 days of the start of the infection the plant will start browning and both the leaves and stem will shrivel up.
The fruit of the tomato plant will develop a shiny, dark olive color lesion that will cover a large area of the fruit. The fungal spores from this disease are spread by both rain and wind. Daytime temperatures in the high 70's Fahrenheit along with high humidity are ideal conditions for this disease.
There are preventative measures that can be taken to control this disease in your garden. Keeping your plants foliage dry, avoid overhead watering and locate your garden to get the maximum amount of morning sun. Keep plants when planting apart so there is plenty of room to improve the air flow between and around the plants. Destroy any plants that have been infected with the disease, don't compost them.
Keeping your gardens soil healthy is a key to having a successful organic garden. Adding plenty of organic matter to the soil food web will supply the fuel needed for the microorganisms in your garden soil to create a healthy, nutrient rich soil structure that will benefit the crops you are growing.
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