trying to prevent late blight

On Saturday, I found what looked like late blight in tomatoes in our community garden. I have been watching for it since it was confirmed a week ago in a field a mile away. I sent a sample for analysis (to UMass plant lab) and late blight was confirmed on Monday. Since then, its amazing how fast the infection has spread. Five plots now have nearly dead tomatoes and gardeners are in the process of removing the plants and debris. Adjacent plots have early infections.

My plot is on the far side of the garden from the start of the infection. Today, was another dreary wet afternoon. Perfect for spread of the fungus. I read that covering with plastic can protect the plants. I have been spraying with copper fungicide for two weeks, but thought it would be good to experiment with another method too. I haven't had such nice looking tomato plants in a long time and would love to have them produce into September.

So, today Skippy and I went to my plot and I put up a bit of a frame with some old wood poles lashed together with string. I spread a sheet of plastic over this and secured it with string. It covers the top and about 2-3 feet down on the side, but leaves plenty of room for airflow from below. I'm thinking the idea is to reduce the number of spores that can fall on the top of the plants. Also, keep the plants dry in all this rain we are having. While traveling in Switzerland, I saw that many home gardens had plastic coverings over their tomato plants.

Its an experiment for me, just to see what happens. It will make it harder to get good coverage with the spray, but I am planning to spray again tomorrow.

It rained yet again just as I finished putting up the plastic. Underneath the tomatoes are dry. This seems to be good. I am really curious to hear if anyone has experience with tomatoes under plastic.

skippy

Skippy and I spent the afternoon at my community garden plot today. After a bit of weeding and setting up my tomato tent, the skies got really dark. I have a big umbrella stashed under the lilac bush and we hunkered down under it. Turns out the old umbrella has developed a few holes. We stayed mostly dry as the skies opened up. Thunder and giant rain drops for about half an hour. Skippy moved around to avoid the drips and we stayed pretty dry. I amused myself taking photos of rain drops and mud.

photos of rain drops

fennel and basil

dahlia and leeks

lettuce and parsnips

dill

beets and borage

broccoli and sunflower

nasturtium and muddy baby chili

asparagus

happy muddy radish and carrot seedlings

garden work

I did a lot of work today to remove fungi damage. Squash leaves at the base of plants, especially zucchini and butternut, were white and fuzzy. I removed and bagged these. The pruning made it easier to find and pick squashes and weed under the plants.

My potatoes ares quickly dying back now. I removed the plants from my red potatoes and bagged these rather than composting just to be safe.

I also removed tomato leaves with leaf spot damage. It's a super year for tomatoes - plants are big and leaf spot damage is not bad. Lots of big tomatoes on the plants though it is early in the season and so far I have only picked 3 or 4 tomatoes. The worry is reports of late blight in the area. I heard today that late blight was found on tomatoes at Waltham Fields, 1 mile as the crow flies (as the spores travel) from my garden. I was afraid i might find late blight on my plants today, but did not. I looked at other plots at our garden and was dissappointed to find one or two at the far south side that have damage that could be late blight. After harvesting, I sprayed my tomatoes thoroughly with copper fungicide.

I also watered a bit, especially the bed where I sowed carrots a couple days ago. We had rain yesterday, but the ground was surprisingly dry. I will have to get a rain gauge as I don't think the garden (1 mile groom my house) gets the same rain as my house.

The weather was dry when I sprayed at midday, but by 6 pm rain moved in. The whole area got at least 1 or 2 inches of drenching rain. Was it better to spray the tomatoes before this rain? Should I spray again after? I am finding this a bit confusing, but my understanding is that a regular schedule is best and so I should spray again in about 5 days.

today's harvest

July photos of my gardens

This is my side yard garden. The beds are getting sun about 11 am to 2:30 pm now because of trees to the east and west. But is is really sheltered and warm here, especially in the open cold frame against the south wall of the house.





And this is my community plot - with completely full sun.

skippy - the day before the haircut

A kid said to Skip today, "Who pulled the wool over your eyes?"

Tomorrow is his haircut day. I'll see if I can get an "after" photo, too.