Disaster of the Week

English Kitchen Garden BLIGHT

While you may be sweltering in the heat, England has endured grey, windy and wet weather for a month. It turns out to be ideal growing conditions for an enemy of the kitchen gardener - blight.

Unfortunately, this blight affects not only tomatoes but also potatoes.

The blight pathogen is a microscopic, fungus-like organism whose spores (sporangia) are easily shed from infected foliage and may be wind-blown for long distances. In order for infection to occur prolonged surface wetness (several hours) is required; this is why the disease is so serious in wet summers. The pathogen then spreads rapidly through the plant tissues, killing the cells. Under humid conditions, stalks bearing sporangia grow from freshly killed tissues and the disease can spread rapidly through the crop.

We noticed today our four outdoor tomato plants (which had cropped well but were not ready to harvest) were affected and sprang into action- especially as the plants were right next to our rows of potatoes. Green tomatoes were harvested, the plants pulled up (with soil and roots) and disposed of in the Green Waste bin collected by the council. They compost at very high temperatures which kills the pathogen. Our garden compost can't kill it.

Next step? Green tomato chutney!

The row of first early potatoes nearest the blighted plants was then dug up and the plant tops were added to that Green Waste bin. I harvested and cleaned ten pounds and nine ounces of potatoes, which I will now store in a hessian bag and hope they will keep until Christmas.

I’ve grown tomatoes in my coastal garden with varied success for over twenty-five years. Two blocks from the Pacific Ocean—that’s Sunset Climate Zone 24 and USDA Zone 10b.

In practical terms that means we contend with cool temperatures and lots of fog and overcast. When Santa Ana conditions prevail inland with blistering heat, we are usually more comfortable at the coast. We welcome the overcast or fog blanket that may shroud our homes and gardens. But it does affect our tomatoes.

If you’re trying to grow tomatoes in the fog belt, this post shares some of my experiences and perhaps you can avoid my mistakes. As I write, I’m thinking of some of my favorite coastal locations—Mendocino, Monterey, Pismo Beach, Ventura, Santa Monica, Laguna Beach.

Some of the variables that affect the bounty of my tomato crop here in the fog belt: Tomato variety Generally, early season tomatoes like Early Girl do better in my garden. They tolerate cooler temperatures and produce a flavorful, medium-sized tomato. Heirlooms like Black Krim and Cherokee Purple, my favorite tomatoes, seem less tolerant of my local conditions. But who can resist their finer qualities? So I grow one of them every year.

This year I tried San Francisco Fog, an heirloom bred for cooler areas. They are similar to Early Girl but slightly smaller, 2-3 inches and arriving about the same time. Most years I grow Stupice but in Covid times I couldn’t find it. This tomato predictably yields small but richly flavored tomatoes. It’s also a cold-tolerant variety originally from the Czech Republic. Black Cherry tomatoes usually do well here also.

Other years I succumbed to names like Sub-Arctic Maxi and a tomato purported to be grown in Siberia, trying them in my garden. Various websites and a trusted nursery can guide you to tomato varieties that perform best in your garden. You can also check the list of cool-tolerant tomatoes on the Tomato Dirt website. For a list of The Most Blight Resistant Tomato Varieties, again check the Tomato Dirt website or this post at GrowVeg.

Methods of support (cage, stake, trellis) Air circulation is key to preventing mildew and blight. Too many plants too close together reduces air circulation. Previously, I planted five tomatoes in a 4 x 8 foot raised bed using wire cages. With several dank summers, I reduced that to four in cages, which is still probably too close for caged tomatoes.

This year I planted three tomatoes using a modified staking system, pinching out suckers until the plant was about three feet tall. After that, I was less concerned about removing the suckers and provided additional supports for the wandering vines. The production has been good so far even as the leaves go away.

Next year, I may use cattle panels and T posts. When you study tomato growth patterns it is evident why they are sometimes referred to as tomato vines. This method should be easier than tying the plants to stakes. I’ll be weaving and pinching out the suckers as the vines climb the panel with improved air circulation and exposure to sun.

May Gray and June Gloom Persistent overcast in May and June can extend into July here and it has this year. Unfortunately there are no solutions for that but I do note that the less overcast we have, the better the tomato plants look as the season progresses. This year I planted the tomatoes a month earlier, hoping to establish them in the sunnier month of April and give them the longer days around the solstice to grow on. The curious can see the USGS California Fog Maps here.

Sun exposure and garden orientation Choose the sunniest part of your garden to plant the tomatoes and in a location you’ve not grown tomatoes the previous year. In urban gardens we accept the hand we’re dealt. Sometimes the choices are limited and we work with that. The fact remains: tomatoes need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily to thrive.

My garden is bordered by an imposing two-story house on the east side, only ten feet from my tomatoes. Especially in the winter and shoulder seasons I wait for the sun to rise over the house. I also contend with the trees in neighbor’s yards on the south side which continue to grow and cast their enlarging shadows.

Care of tomato plants As the tomato plants grow, I begin to remove the lowest leaves which develop blight and mildew first. Down low they are shaded and don’t catch the sun and wind to dry them or irrigation water may splash on the lowest leaves. Blight and mildew usually begins low and works up the plant.

Trim the diseased leaves to minimize the spread of blight and mildew. I filled a 15-gallon container with the detritus of three plants, bypassing the compost bin and straight to the city green bin. After the cleanup I watered the plants and fertilized with a liquid fish and seaweed fertilizer.

Irrigating tomatoes in a sunken gallon pot keeps water from splashing on the leaves. Here you can see the lowest tomatoes leaves trimmed up.

Here’s how my tomato plants looked today. San Francisco Fog is up front and Early Girl to the right. In the lower photo, Black Krim sprawls and climbs a trellis. All three plants are over five feet tall. New growth up high keeps the plants going.

Fruits of my Labor

The harvesting has really been good these past two days (check out my post at Simply Grateful Gardener for more info Two Days Of Harvesting.) Not the biggest harvests, but things are definitely picking up around here.

Par for me though, I’ve also discovered yet another ailment for the tomato plants — Blight. Early? Late? Does it really matter? More on all that in my post The Continuing Saga of…

Kaduna declares state of emergency on tomato

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry in Kaduna state, Manzo Daniel today disclosed that the state government has declared a state of emergency on tomato following an attack of tomato blight that has wiped out about 80percent of tomato farms in the state. Manzo stated this while spealing at a press briefing to mark the administration’s one year in office.

“The tomato blight is…