That’s a sure way to spread blight spores. Don’t prune, tie, or harvest plants when they are wet. Wait to work in your tomato patch until plants have dried from the morning’s dew or from rain (or from overhead watering, but we know now you’re not going to do that). If you know you have blight, don’t wait to see how things go-do it! For most products, this means reapplying once every 7 to 10 days (about one and a half weeks). Stopping the Spread Regular application of anti-fungal products is what will keep blight in check.Īpply fungicides as recommended to keep funguses under control. (Do read product labels to know exactly how safe that product is for pollinators and beneficial insects and what, if any, precautions should be taken during and following application). It is a safe, organic product for children, pets, and most insects. Copper fungicide is the most recommended treatment for home gardens. When you know blight is starting, at the very sign, apply an antifungal treatment. When you know this is the year you are having, start looking for blight symptoms and, even better, apply fungicides as a preventative. These are the two keys for late blight: lasting moisture and temperatures that are steadily in the 60 and 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) range (about 15 to 21 Celsius). For late blight, these include many cloudy days, continuous rains, heavy daily dew set, and cool temperatures. For early blight, these include warm, wet conditions and the presence of disease spores. Pay special attention in years when conditions are ripe for fungal diseases. Early blight spreads from the ground up late blight is usually top-down. These mostly include tan to dark brown lesions on leaves and stems (depending on if you have early or late blight). Stay alert and be on the lookout for signs of fungal disease early. Related Reading 9 Easiest Heirloom Tomato Varieties to Grow Treatment Your best defense when blight or blight-producing conditions are present is to treat plants with a quality organic product. Water at the ground level with soaker hoses, which keep your plants completely dry. You can’t control the rain, but you can control the water you apply. Air circulation is also increased through good pruning and removal of excessive foliage. Keep adequate space between plants in the row and keep space between the rows-a minimum of two feet is recommended, and three to four feet is even better. Circulating air and good airflow speed up drying after dews and rain. Straw is a good choice.īlight needs moisture and continued wetness in order to colonize to a point where it seriously affects the plant. Stopping soil splash is simple-create a barrier surrounding the plants that is between the soil and your tomatoes. Control Soil Contact and Soil Splash: Mulch!!įor early blight, soil splashing up onto plants and low leaves is the primary point of contact and infection.Healthy plants will be able to fight off diseases better, and if the infection is not too great, it may be able to mostly stop the disease on its own. Prevention Two of the best ways to prevent tomato blight are mulching to create a barrier between plants and soil and spacing to improve air circulation. If you follow these few points of action, you will have done most of what it is possible to have done to prevent and stop tomato blight. Managing tomato blight can be broken down to three basic points of action: Prevention, Treatment, and Stopping the Spread.Įach of these points can be broken down to just a handful of action points (or less). This guide breaks it down to just the basics of how to prevent and treat tomato blight. For More Details on Preventing and Treating Tomato Blight:Ī Simple Guide to Tomato Blight Treatment It is wise to have a fuller understanding of tomato blight prevention and management, but when time is of the essence, it helps to have a fast-action guide to refer to.A Simple Guide to Tomato Blight Treatment.When it comes to tomato blight, fast action is the key to a cure! (Or at least, control that will give you a good, usable crop-it's almost impossible to actually “cure” your garden of tomato blight, but you can manage it, live with it, and overcome it to save your harvest.) Jump to: If conditions are moist, you might even want to act preventatively. When blight starts to show its hand, you have to act fast. This is a good quick reference if you need a fast primer on how to prevent tomato blight and a quick-look reference for what to do when you have blight in your tomato patch. Very quickly, in real-time, here’s a fast and simple guide to managing tomato blight.
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