When they grow in the same space year after year, it increases the likelihood that those diseases might have become established, and are lying in wait. Tomatoes are highly susceptible to soil-borne disease. Growing tomatoes in the same soil or garden space every year is an open invitation for blight. Not only do tomatoes take nutrients from the soil as they grow, the soil can also become infected with the spores that cause blight. When growing tomatoes in containers, it is vital to change the soil ever year. Left to its own accord, Late blight will eventually spread to the fruit as well, ruining it in the process. It tends to be more of an issue in cooler climates, or in growing seasons that are extremely wet and rainy. Late blight is spurred on by cool, damp temperatures. It quickly progresses until the stems, leaves and tomatoes turn black. Late blight starts as tiny, light-colored spots on the foliage of plants. This can lead to most of the fruit simply rotting away as it tries to ripen on the vine without protection. When it does, the tomatoes are left to endure the scalding hot sun without protection. Unfortunately, it does destroy all of the foliage. This type of blight doesn’t directly damage the fruit. Early Tomato BlightĮarly tomato blight on the other hand will appear after the tomato plants have set fruit. Leaf spot will steadily begin to destroy all of the foliage of the plant, usually within 30 days of first appearing. Leaf spot starts with the lower leaves turning brown, then black, and finally rotting away. It begins to appear in late June to early July. Of the three, Leaf spot blight is by far the most common in the home garden. Early blight, Leaf spot blight, and Late blight. There are actually three distinct types of tomato blight. All the more reason to prevent it before it ever becomes an issue! Three Types of Blight – How To Stop Tomato Blight Leaf Spot Blight In fact, once blight appears in a specific soil space, the spores can stay alive in the soil for up to 5 more years. In some cases, an infected area can take five years before the spores die off. Once blight hits a plant area, you should not replant tomatoes in the same spot for at least 3 years to avoid continuing the problem. And it does so for several years afterwards. Beyond heavily damaging or destroying the plants, once blight occurs, it unfortunately renders the soil where the crops are growing useless for planting tomatoes in the future. They also can drop to the soil from infected plants above. They can be blown in from the wind, carried in and left by insects or animals, or even dropped onto the soil through rainfall. The spores can get into the soil by several different means. How Blight Spreads – How To Stop Tomato Blightīlight is spread through spores in the soil. Quite quickly, it will spread to the stems and branches, and depending on the type of blight, even the fruit.Įven worse, it can then spread easily to neighboring plants, wiping out an entire crop in the process. It usually starts out with the browning of leaves. Unfortunately, once the first signs of tomato blight appear, it can be nearly impossible to keep it from eventually wiping out the plant. Once the tell-tale signs of blight show up, it is usually too late to help the afflicted plant. The key to stopping tomato blight is prevention.
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