Tomatoes

[chookwoman]

Last year I lost half of my tomato plants to blight. Would you risk growing them in the same spot this year? It's a south facing wall, and I haven't a lot of alternatives.

[ina]

Personally, I wouldn't. Could you grow them in pots in a different spot?

[Mainer in Exile]

We've had good luck planting tomatoes in containers on the south facing wall, with fresh soil every year. We use 90 l black mortar tubs. We also have quite a bit of overhang on our roof, so the plants do not get a lot of rain water. We've found that keeping the plants warm and not too wet helps. Blight is a real problem around here, this part of Germany tend to be very damp. Other people use plastic tomato wrops or small greenhouses to combat blight.

[chookwoman]

We dig out most of the soil and replace it with fresh, but I wondered if the spores (is it spores? ) would still be present and reinfect new plants. I could do big pots at a push, but this is a perfect situation for them.

[red]

we got blight on the tomatoes in teh greenhouse. and i am going to try to grow them again yes.. what am i sposed to do knock down the gh?

we dug out the soil, put in fresh and left the door open on frosty nights etc, and washed the glass down. best we can do

if you site is outside then it is fairly optimistic.. I think the biggest danger is in plant material still around.. like spuds still in the ground etc.

if i keep having a problem, i am going to have to not grow tomatoes for a year or too

[Cheezy]

Blight is soil bourne and spread by water droplets. It can be "controlled" by use of Bordeux mixture, which is copper based fungicide.

So if you use containers with fresh compost, a blight resistent tomato (there are some), and either protection from rain or Borduex mix, plus the luck of a good summer, you should be OK!

[Thurston Garden]

Blight may originate in the soil but it is an air bourne fungus where the spores are transported in the wind during spells of warm damp weather.

If you have had it then you need to dispose (i.e burn) all plant matter as soon as. Planting tomatoes in a different area will not prevent it from coming back - it can blow in the wind for miles!

I know of blight resistant tatties, but have not yet seen resistant toms - does anyone have any links?

Bob Flowerdew advocates growing outdoor toms under a plastic shelter - a sheet of polythene hung on a string like a washing line - polythene reaches almost to the ground on the north side but only extends over the string by a foot or on the south side therefore preventing the rain (and spores carried in the rain droplets I presume) from landing on the leaves but at the same time allowing maximum ventilation.

In a tunnel or greenhouse, ventilation is the key. Bordeaux Mixture is a cure too but I have not used it yet.

[Cheezy]

Blight may originate in the soil but it is an air bourne fungus where the spores are transported in the wind during spells of warm damp weather.

If you have had it then you need to dispose (i.e burn) all plant matter as soon as. Planting tomatoes in a different area will not prevent it from coming back - it can blow in the wind for miles!

I know of blight resistant tatties, but have not yet seen resistant toms - does anyone have any links?

Bob Flowerdew advocates growing outdoor toms under a plastic shelter - a sheet of polythene hung on a string like a washing line - polythene reaches almost to the ground on the north side but only extends over the string by a foot or on the south side therefore preventing the rain (and spores carried in the rain droplets I presume) from landing on the leaves but at the same time allowing maximum ventilation.

In a tunnel or greenhouse, ventilation is the key. Bordeaux Mixture is a cure too but I have not used it yet.

Here's a link to Dobbies:

http://www.dobies.co.uk/pd_439482_Tomat ... _Seeds.htm

http://www.dobies.co.uk/pd_439393_Tomat ... _Seeds.htm

[Thurston Garden]

Thanks Cheezy - might give them a go next year! This years are 1" tall atm

[SarahJane]

I was wondering if one of you could advise me on which variety of tomato is best suited for growing outdoors?
I know there are some outdoor varietys but I havent tried any yet. I have the mini greenhouse that they could stay in whilst still young.
And would I be best growing from seed or waiting and getting the plants.

Thanks. S.

[Peggy Sue]

I had blight problems last year so am giving my south facing wall & warm spot a rest from them. I was planning to put peppers there- can they suffer from blight? What about aubergines, I ahve some of them started too?

Before last year I ahd loads of success with gardeners delight, really productive and esy to grow outdoors, but they are cherry tomatoes so no goodif you like the biggies

[chookwoman]

I like sungold. I think I agree with Peggy Sue. I'll just get some very big pots for them this year. I would like to grow a red medium sized variety too. Any recommendations?

[Hawthorn]

I like gardeners delight. They're quite heavy fruiting (we had four plants and there are six of us and we were giving them away. We use a lot of tomatoes also)

http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/product/277/1

I got some for this year (different variety) from here

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/tomatoes.html

The idea of this site is that all seeds can be saved and they will grow true to form year after year. Saves on seeds

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I had blight problems last year so am giving my south facing wall & warm spot a rest from them. I was planning to put peppers there- can they suffer from blight? What about aubergines, I ahve some of them started too?

Peppers and aubergines are both members of the solanum (nightshade) family, so in principle are vulnerable to blight. In practice they seem at lot less prone to affliction. Last season both my tomatoes and potatoes were badly affected by the dread disease, but the peppers planted in the next row cropped more heavily than ever before.

I shall be more careful in applying Bordeaux mix this year.

[chookwoman]

I'll look at the real seeds site, thanks for that. I hate the fact I grow sungold (F1's) because I'd like to save seeds. Shame I like them so much.