? LB or what

Save$ · September 3, 2012

Looks like LB to me, but I am not sure. Should I pick all the green tomatoes before they get infected?

RayR · September 5, 2012

Looks like it to me from the stem lesions in the first photo. You are in one of the Maine counties that have reported Late Blight?

b54red · September 5, 2012

I advise you to immediately spray the affected plants with the dilute bleach spray making sure to hit all surfaces of the leaves and stems. Also spray any plants that aren't showing the signs of LB now. I have used this in the past to stop the spread of LB but it must be done at the first symptoms showing up and repeated if new ones show up. It will not cure LB once it gets into the plant but it will kill off most of the spores and slow or prevent its spread.

Add 8 ounces of regular bleach (Clorox) to one gallon of water with a few drops of dish washing soap. Spray with a fine mist lightly wetting all surfaces especially the undersides of the leaves and all sides of the stems and even the soil or mulch under the plants. Spray early in the morning or late in the evening. The infected parts of the plant will usually start shriveling up within a day or two. After the bleach spray has thoroughly dried follow up with Daconil spray to help stop any new outbreaks. You will likely have to repeat the process.

Save$ · September 6, 2012

Thanks for the advise. Before the suggestion about the bleach, it was threatening with more cold rain. So we picke five, five gallon buckets of tomatoes, mostly all green. So, here we go with all kinds of green tomato recipes. We will try to rippen alot of them off for canned tomatoes.
I looked up why we get LB here over and over. Most give credit to the weather, but also to imported seedlings sold at the box stores. This is my third year in a row to be wiped out by LB. I did buy the Daconil, but am fearful about using it when the fruit is ready to be picked. I have some plants next to a wall, and some next to a hedge row that have not been impacted. This gives credit to the airborn thing.

Save$ · September 8, 2012

Here we are a week later. The tomato vines are all dead. All the leaves and vines are black. We picked 5, 5 gallon buckets. We canned the last of the good ones today. Many started to shows signs of being infected. Albout one pail full. We made green tomato relish, dilled green tomatoes, canned red tomatoes, and pressure canned tomatoes with yellow summer squash. Seems I get hit now every year with LB about this time. I tried Defient last year, and they, true to their name, didn't get infected until the very end of the season. Only thing is I didn't care for them. They are small, very bland tasting. They do can well. So next year, I will need to include them back in the line up. I wish I could find another spot to grow my tomatoes. Somewhere way away from anything I brought home from the box stores. We set out over a hundred seedlings of petunias etc. I understand, that while they are not affected, that they can carry the BL on them. I live in the woods, several hundred yard away for any other gardens. I have a neighbor, but he doens't garden. If I grew all my own seedlings, then I shouldn't have to worry so much. I do understand that LB can travel 40 miles. I have seen some other gardens not infected. My other option is to build a big cloche and grown them inside.

RayR · September 8, 2012

I know the feeling, I got wiped out by LB last fall, in early October when it blew into my area.
You are in Potato country, which increases the chance of LB because the only way it can survive the winter up North is on infected tubers. Maine gets hit pretty hard most years.

Tania · September 8, 2012

I am so sorry to hear about your LB problem. It is so devastating to lose your tomato crop every year. I know that feeling too well, as we get late blight here every year, and now it seems to come earlier and earlier - last year it hit us in mid July (and it was devastating), and this year it was the late July. I grow most tomatoes under cover to protect them, and it helps a lot, but sometimes even that is not sufficient if LB outbreak is very bad.

September 6, 2012	#4
Save$ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Maine Posts: 46	Thanks for the advise. Before the suggestion about the bleach, it was threatening with more cold rain. So we picke five, five gallon buckets of tomatoes, mostly all green. So, here we go with all kinds of green tomato recipes. We will try to rippen alot of them off for canned tomatoes. I looked up why we get LB here over and over. Most give credit to the weather, but also to imported seedlings sold at the box stores. This is my third year in a row to be wiped out by LB. I did buy the Daconil, but am fearful about using it when the fruit is ready to be picked. I have some plants next to a wall, and some next to a hedge row that have not been impacted. This gives credit to the airborn thing. __________________ Love to Garden, Burn Pellets, Have a solar space, cloche and do vertical growing. Will do a lot of canning if I can keep LB away.

September 8, 2012	#5
Save$ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Maine Posts: 46	Here we are a week later. The tomato vines are all dead. All the leaves and vines are black. We picked 5, 5 gallon buckets. We canned the last of the good ones today. Many started to shows signs of being infected. Albout one pail full. We made green tomato relish, dilled green tomatoes, canned red tomatoes, and pressure canned tomatoes with yellow summer squash. Seems I get hit now every year with LB about this time. I tried Defient last year, and they, true to their name, didn't get infected until the very end of the season. Only thing is I didn't care for them. They are small, very bland tasting. They do can well. So next year, I will need to include them back in the line up. I wish I could find another spot to grow my tomatoes. Somewhere way away from anything I brought home from the box stores. We set out over a hundred seedlings of petunias etc. I understand, that while they are not affected, that they can carry the BL on them. I live in the woods, several hundred yard away for any other gardens. I have a neighbor, but he doens't garden. If I grew all my own seedlings, then I shouldn't have to worry so much. I do understand that LB can travel 40 miles. I have seen some other gardens not infected. My other option is to build a big cloche and grown them inside. __________________ Love to Garden, Burn Pellets, Have a solar space, cloche and do vertical growing. Will do a lot of canning if I can keep LB away.

September 8, 2012	#7
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	I am so sorry to hear about your LB problem. It is so devastating to lose your tomato crop every year. I know that feeling too well, as we get late blight here every year, and now it seems to come earlier and earlier - last year it hit us in mid July (and it was devastating), and this year it was the late July. I grow most tomatoes under cover to protect them, and it helps a lot, but sometimes even that is not sufficient if LB outbreak is very bad. __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

September 5, 2012	#2
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	Looks like it to me from the stem lesions in the first photo. You are in one of the Maine counties that have reported Late Blight?

September 5, 2012	#3
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I advise you to immediately spray the affected plants with the dilute bleach spray making sure to hit all surfaces of the leaves and stems. Also spray any plants that aren't showing the signs of LB now. I have used this in the past to stop the spread of LB but it must be done at the first symptoms showing up and repeated if new ones show up. It will not cure LB once it gets into the plant but it will kill off most of the spores and slow or prevent its spread. Add 8 ounces of regular bleach (Clorox) to one gallon of water with a few drops of dish washing soap. Spray with a fine mist lightly wetting all surfaces especially the undersides of the leaves and all sides of the stems and even the soil or mulch under the plants. Spray early in the morning or late in the evening. The infected parts of the plant will usually start shriveling up within a day or two. After the bleach spray has thoroughly dried follow up with Daconil spray to help stop any new outbreaks. You will likely have to repeat the process.