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Organic deterrent to potato and tomato blight?
By admin | April 10, 2010
Does anybody know of an organic way to treat potatoes and tomatoes against blight. There is a blight warning and I have both thest growing in my garden. Last year we lost most of our potatoes to blight.
Topics: Organic Gardening | 4 Comments »
April 10th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
agree about planting Sarpo potatoes and Ferline tomatoes, to help with prevention. Also, if you can cover the tomatoes by making a sort of roof and sides from enviromesh supported on bamboo poles, I’ve found that helps to shield them from blight spores, also try to keep the foliage as dry as possible and water only the compost at the base, not the leaves.
April 10th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
I can’t help with the potato, but there are varieties of tomato that are resistant to it, and I’d just plant those.
April 10th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
The real answer is to grow potatoes from the Sarpo range they are blight resistant,and they really are.,other wise you have to use Dithane .It has to be sprayed before the blight arrives as it’s a prevention not a cure.Another down side is the fact it has to be used every two weeks.As for tomatoes I gave up trying to grow them out doors years ago,now they are grown under cover.
April 10th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
mulching tomatoes goes a long way as blights are soil born diseases.
I have not done this but was reading a conversation on a market farming list serve and one person said they had decent success (i.e. they got an unblighted crop) by using an OMRI approved copper spray weekly on the tomatoes. they started spraying as soon as they saw the first signs of blight. they said if they waited even a week the crop would die.
Potatoes may also respond to this treatment.