Gardener’s Update: The Battle of the Blight
As any gardener knows, this year the tomato blight is out of control. As my Mother has told me, all tomato plants get blight, so be prepared. Unfortunately, this year is one of the worst for it. The weather has been cool and rainy for most of the summer, the dreaded blight’s favorite conditions.
New Jersey, which gains much revenue from their tomato harvest, has been very hard hit. Apparently, they have had to sacrifice the majority of their crops. Conventional wisdom is once the plant has it, get rid of the plant. I am trying to buck conventional wisdom. Being the inexperienced gardener I am, I have excuses to experiment blindly.
For one thing I refuse to give up on my plants. Instead of removing any plants showing leaves that dry over night, I am removing the offending branches. As a result, my plants have most of their foliage about two feet above the ground. That’s a good thing as the blight can be transfered to the leaves from soil that splashes on the plants in the rain.
My method of preventative maintenance likewise bucks convention. I have never been a fan of chemicals (they’re scary) and don’t like the idea of spraying my food with any. After some research on the Internet, I came up with the plan of spraying the plants weekly or after a rain with a solution of one part milk and seven parts water. Milk is a sort of fungicide. In addition, tomato plants can always benefit from calcium, so it the runoff is also beneficial.
I have no idea if this will work, but I have my fingers crossed.
I’m still waiting for a tomato to ripen. I have several large tomatoes right on the brink of ripening. At the moment it’s a race of time. I’ve already lost two tomatoes to the blight. I know because they were far from ripening and were going bad from the stem. Stupid blight.
All I want is to make a salad of heirloom tomatoes with some olive oil on them. Of all the plants I planted this year, this is the one real goal I had. The tomatoes are it. Everything else was just for the sake of seeing what would grow. Turns out, most things. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed my harvested plants thus far. I have thoroughly. I have enjoyed everything from the prepping the garden beds, to selecting the plants, to starting them from seed and watching them grow. The joy of eating what I’ve grown has been a pleasure.
It’s just that I really want to eat my own, home grown tomatoes. That’s not too much to ask. Is it?
Karl on August 25th 2009 in Garden, News, Non-Fiction
11 Responses to “Gardener’s Update: The Battle of the Blight”
xine responded on 25 Aug 2009 at 7:09 pm #
Yes. Yes it is too much. Ungrateful bastard.
Mmmm I want a vegetable garden.
Amy Peltier responded on 25 Aug 2009 at 7:15 pm #
Seriously questioning my motives with this post but…. I had many containers of red delicious Sweet 100’s this season. How did I escape the dreaded blight? Was it my over charge composted dirt? That planter was used as a garbage disposal last winter as I put every clipping I could in the dirt, reading later that only a shovel full or two are needed for a big container of planting soil.
What ever the reason, I enjoyed a sweet harvest this year. Maybe it’s just the country air?
Elsa Q responded on 25 Aug 2009 at 7:48 pm #
Our tomatoes are finally coming out here in Georgia. We had squirrels about a month ago. Watered the plants with a mix of water and castor oil and it kept the critters away! Hurray! Do you have tomato hook worms up there? Yuck.
bubba responded on 25 Aug 2009 at 7:59 pm #
Well… my father’s tomato harvest has been dismal, in his eyes, but since I hate the little red bastards, it’s perfectly ok with me. Sorry to hear about your blight though, it can be frustrating.
Dave Kopperman responded on 25 Aug 2009 at 11:33 pm #
I think one factor in the spread of blight this year is the supply of plants through big stores like Lowe’s & Home Depot.
D.
Karl responded on 26 Aug 2009 at 5:20 am #
That’s true Dave. That and the larger number of home gardens using those seedlings.
Elsa Q, I haven’t heard of those worms, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have them. A quick search on Wikipedia says they are also commonly called the Tobacco Hornworm so I think they are probably not common around here.
Good to know the castor oil will keep the squirrels away since I’m sure that will be my next battle.
Amy Peltier responded on 26 Aug 2009 at 8:49 pm #
You know, I’ve been thinking about this post today and wondering…. I don’t have the spots on the stems but the leaves did start to dry up… I just thought it was the end of the season, but perhaps it’s late blight? Hmm, so if nothing was done all season, then the soil is bad for next?
Shaun responded on 28 Aug 2009 at 10:07 am #
Is that why my tomato plants disintegrated? Just turned to black dust…
Karl responded on 28 Aug 2009 at 4:53 pm #
Amy, not sure. I’ve heard that also. But I hear you can treat the soil with a combination of epson salts and dried milk powder. Look on the Internet.
Shaun, no, that would be the alien produced space rays directed at your garden. They have an orbiting station situated above your house. It’s not an intentional thing, just the exhaust from their stabilizer beams.
Brother Bro responded on 09 Sep 2009 at 11:47 am #
Tobacco Horn Worms are pretty common. I believe they produce the Black Swallow Tail?
Karl responded on 09 Sep 2009 at 3:54 pm #
Wait, so we have them up here? Great, one more thing to worry about.