Late Blight? paging Carolyn & other tomato experts
 

Found this one stem on a sungold plant this morning. It wasn't like that when I sprayed daconil Thursday. Is this late blight? I really hope not, but I must know for sure.

Thanks,

Jen

[quote=jhp;140637]Found this one stem on a sungold plant this morning. It wasn't like that when I sprayed daconil Thursday. Is this late blight? I really hope not, but I must know for sure.

Thanks,

Jen[/quote]

All I can say Jen is that while there are other diseases that can show stem lesions like that, Early Blight being one of them and the most common, I don't like the look of the leaf that's hanging below that stem and although it's just one leaf is does look like possibly Late Blight to me.

I agree with Carolyn, I wouldn't want to diagnose LB just on the strength of one pic of one lesion on one stem. But the leaf below the stem, behind the little green fruit, looks suspiciously like LB when you look at that and the stem together.

Look around the plant some more and see if you find any more leaves that have irregular-shaped dark blotches. They might only be 1/4 the size of the one on the leaf in the pic. With a stem lesion the size of that one, I'd expect to find more than just one small leaf infected if it's LB.

You need to prune off the infected stem and the leaf regardless and seal them in a plastic bag so whatever it is doesn't spread.

It looked to me like another leaf in the background has the same type of symptom.

Okay, sorry I was out driving a friend to the airport. I'm back now. I cut the stem in the picture off and bagged it up and into the garbage. I found only one other stem lesion like that only smaller. I took that off too and any leaves that looked bad, which wasn't much. The majority of the plant looks healthy as could be. I have ripening fruit. So I hesitate to take the entire plant out.

I had a yellow brandywine that had a bad leaf, looked like LB from the pictures I've seen, but more like day one of LB as it was not very bad. No stem lesions, just what looked like black growth starting on the stem and a leaf that looked sort of like the one in the picture I posted. I pulled the entire plant and bagged it up. That was Wednesday. None of the plants near that one have any sign of LB. Maybe it was a knee jerk reaction, but I am willing to sacrafice for the good of the rest of the garden. I don't know if there is hope or if one gets it they all get it.

The sungold is sort of away from the other plants but not far from them, and only one other cherry tomato next to it. I'm willing to give it a few days and see if more develops. But if you guys think I should pull the entire plant I would do that. I want to get some kind of harvest this year. I have only harvested a handful of tomatoes so far and none of the big ones yet.

So what should I do? Yank it or leave it?

Thanks again,

Jen

Looks like lb to me too.

Personally I would yank it. . . I love sungold but not as much as the big guys, not even Close. You can let the sungolds ripen inside. . . IME it doesn't affect flavor much.

Sorry to hear about your lb. . . what a bad summer in NE it's been!!!

[quote=jhp;140658]
So what should I do? Yank it or leave it?

Jen[/quote]

it's your call but imo leave it. i found LB on my plants 11 days ago and my plants are hanging in there and i'm picking fruit. i tore out the 1st plant that showed LB 3 days prior to the others and i'm sure it would be no worse than the others are today if i left it. i really regret that.

tom

When you leave affected plants you are creating millions of spores that will travel up to 40 miles and affect not only your neighbors, but hardworking farmers that not only work their butts off to feed us. . . but that are struggling enough to take care of themselves.

I love heirlooms more than anything out there. . . but not enough to make farmers go without this winter.

If you have tomatoes near ripening and only a few blighted leaves, just keep picking off any spotty leaves or stems you see and keep spraying with Daconil every 5 days or so. The important thing is to dispose of the diseased foliage in a sealed plastic bag so it can't release spores into the open air. As long as the weather cooperates and you have time for frequent inspections (daily if possible) you can remove blighted foliage before it starts to sporulate very much and keep the plants going for long enough to get a harvest without spreading too many spores around. When the leaves and stems get covered with black blotches faster than you can keep up and the fruit starts getting rotten spots too, then it's time to give it up and bag the whole mess.

Tom you are also responsible for global warming, the lack of honey bees and the weather patterns we have been having this year. Never knew you were so important did you.:dizzy:

Seriously?

I don't know what your condition is in PA, but farmers here that haven't seen anything like this in 30+ years are loosing their crops within days.

Have you been to any of these devastated farms? I have. . . and it looks (and smells) like a nuclear bomb went off. Every Mass. farmer I've talked to has said everyone is removing affected plants to help stop the spread to others. I personally don't think I'm more knowledgeable than people that do this for a living.

I wish I'd taken a video or pics with my iphone of what I saw because it was unlike anything I've ever seen--- in person or on the net.

It is a SCIENTIFIC FACT that spores spread many miles in the wind and affect others.

Here is a very mild video of a devastated field. . . it's a lot smaller and not nearly as black as the ones I've seen.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU2Lv7M5k6k&feature=related[/url]

Here's a much more touching video with farmer interview.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4k17Qm6Y9E&feature=fvw[/url]

I don't doubt the seriousness of the LB infestation this year but the horse is out of the barn as far as I can tell. The season in western PA at least is half over. I just don't see a small home gardener being responsible for people going hungry this winter because they want to try and save a few plants.

But there are still people and farmers that don't have it yet.

IMO just because it's likely to happen doesn't mean it's okay to increase the odds.

And this is a public internet forum--- you don't know who's reading this and telling their friends lb is not such a big deal--- and most importantly you don't know where someone reading this might live.

It sounds sensational and hysterical but it only takes one home gardener in this weather to take a whole farm down.

I'm sure you are well intended and I agree with the seriousness of the BL situation. Just a little too much drama for me.