Late Blight?

[Hunter77]

Half of my tomato plants have developed a few dark brown, almost blac

areas, mostly along the stem. At first, I thought it was dirt an gently scraped at it, taking off some of the epidermis. So far, th affected areas don't feel mushy, but it looks like so kind of rot. Th surrounding stems are fine. There is a little bit of yellowing on th lower foilage on just a few of the plants, but doesn't have me worried as it is normal this time of year. I've ruled out cold damage as tha affects the new, tender growth. Are these the early symptoms of lat blight? If not, then what is this

-- Hunter77

[Pat Kiewicz]

Maybe early blight, which usually sets in late (to keep us all confused).

[Penelope Periwinkle]

hth

Penelope

[Hunter77]

Thanks for the comprehensive disease indentification page

Unfortunately, it appears to be late blight. It's strange that I didn' notice this until just a couple of days ago. The disease has progresse rapidly. It is especially bad on the Gold Nugget which had been doin so well all summer. It's nearly completely destroyed the Quali T-23 Almost every branch has those characteric water soaked lesions. Much o the foilage is infected. A half dozen other plants have mild to moderat symptoms. Another half a dozen have not yet shown any signs of lat blight. And now it's even gotten to the wonderful Purple Calabash. Jus when they finally got well-established. The causes were probably th cool, humid weather, the fact they were planted close together, lack o nutrients stressing the plants, and most importantly, the mistake o planting tomatoes in the same location for 2 consecutive seasons.

Anyways, can cuttings be taken from non-infected branches? Can lat blight spread to peppers? Is there a (practical) way to sterilize th soil so tomatoes can be grown next year

-- Hunter77

[Penelope Periwinkle]

For home gardeners, there sometimes isn't much choice but to plant in the same place for consecutive seasons. I have a large lot by the standards of the area I'm in, but the areas I can put in a vegetable garden are limited. Raised beds offer some relief, as I can dig out the soil and replace it every couple or few years, but I'd have to do without a garden to avoid consecutive plantings.

The advice some of these garden sites give is really unhelpful, but that's a peeve for another time.

blight is not much of a problem around here, so I have no experience with it. A quick google on the subject gives some conflicting information, too.

Good Luck!

Penelope