Blight hits; tomatoes wilt. June 27, 2012
Posted by ourfriendben in gardening, homesteading.Tags: early blight, tomato blight, tomato diseases, tomatoes
trackback
Here at Hawk’s Haven, our crops were coming in so well we thought this would be our best year ever. Then blight hit our tomatoes, and almost every one wilted before our eyes. Our local paper ran a front-page story alerting gardeners to the super-early arrival of blight this year. This is the same blight that caused the Irish potato famine; it attacks potatoes as well as tomato plants. But our potatoes seem to be holding their own; it’s only our tomatoes that are wilting. We’re just devastated.
Looks like we’ll be buying our tomatoes at the grocery or farmers’ market this year. What about you?
Noooooo! So sad! I’ve never gotten blight out here in California. Tomato cutworms and cool weather are about the only thing that stops our ‘maters. I planted mine in April and they’re covered in fruit but none have ripened yet. Our tomato season is usually July to October.
Hi Sara! Glad your tomatoes are holding their own! Ours usually do really well thanks to our organic methods and the natural predators and parasites that keep tomato hornworms and other pests in check. This is just a very sad year!
Here in north Mississippi it is the intense heat (100+F) and lack of rain that is hurting my tomatoes. causing them to ripen before they reach their usual size. I really had high hopes for the Park’s Whoppers! And their skins are so tough! We usually eat them without peeling them, but not this year.
I’m so sorry to hear about your blight – so sad to see them just die like that.
Lea
Lea’s Menagerie
Hi Lea! Thanks so much for your sympathy, we appreciate it! Sounds like you’ve got plenty of tomato issues yourself. The thought of peeling tomatoes brings to mind images of 1911-era tea rooms with peeled tomato sandwiches on white bread with the crusts removed. Yuck! But trying to eat a tomato with a tough peel would be even worse. Let’s hope for better tomatoes next year!
Doesn’t blight attack the tubers?
Absolutely, Fran, it’s what caused the dreaded Irish Potato Famine. But for whatever reason our potato plants continue to thrive.