The Catskill Chronicle

Twice Divorced – By Grayce Goin

Dear Twice Divorced,

Last year was the year of the “Great Tomato Blight.” I, like my neighbors lost all my plants and had to resort to store bought. This spring I planted tomatoes again. So far, so good.

But, recently a friend asked me if I had “destroyed” all of last year’s plants. I said I threw them on the compost pile. The same compost I just used to plant this year’s garden.

My friend said that the blight can live in a compost pile and that my tomatoes will most likely get the blight again this year because I did not destroy last year’s crop. Is this true?

Tomato Lover

Dear Tomato Lover,

Unfortunately your friend is correct.

When I responded to a similar letter several months ago, I was only half right about the reason for the lack of edible tomatoes in this region. At the time I said it was the cool summer and excessive rain that caused the problem and tomatoes do require sun and heat to grow healthy and be fruitful.

What I did not realize at the time was that those weather conditions also allowed the fungus to grow that destroyed the plants and that he spores of this fungus can be carried on the wind.

The recommended procedure is to remove the blighted plant en toto from the garden, seal it in plastic and trash it – never compost it.
Larger scale operations turn their fields under and treat with fungicides and/or herbicides. Treating unaffected plants may work but once a plant has the blight nothing can save it.

The following is a selection of links to information concerning the problem, the first of which is the most concise; however you will need to register with the New York Times to read it, (and, no, it will not generate spam).

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/nyregion/18tomatoes.html?_r=1

http://newsblog.projo.com/2009/07/irish-potato-fa.html

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu.

Happy planting next year, and

Be Well

Letters can be sent to deartwice@yahoo.com or Catskill.Chronicle@yahoo.com. Be sure to put Twice Divorced in the subject line.

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