Invasion of Blight

That's right, I just noticed this morning my tomatoes, potatoes and Basil have all contracted Early Blight. I had to pick up a anti-fungal treatment and get right on it.

Here is what I found online that probably would have saved me the headache to start with:

"Early blight control is based on crop rotation, removal and destruction of crop debris from previous crops, staking, mulching, and timely application of fungicides.

Staking and mulching are important in an early blight control program, since staking keeps foliage and fruit from contacting the soil surface, and mulching cuts down on "soil splash" onto lower parts of the plant. Since soil particles often contain the early blight fungus, this is a good way of keeping the fungus from invading plants. Plastic, or organic mulches (pine straw or even newspapers) are equally effective. "

source: MSU cares

I am using a mancozeb fungal control spray... I need to treat my surviving plants every 7 days and the day after a rain. Another option is maneb, some sites and people recommend chlorothalonil, however this has been taken off the market as its been shown to be unsafe for human consumption.

This is by far one of those "LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES" moments I know I started this blog for.

Here are pictures of the blighted plants:







If you are having similar probelms or diseases in your tomatoes, here is a great site full of images you can use to start your research off. It took this page, and lots of searches to just be sure I had a fungus on my tomatoes and not a virus or bacteria... so take your time!

http://www.avrdc.org/photos/tomato_diseases/index.html