Dead and dying

novel grower · September 23, 2013

All of my tomato plants started wilting as if not getting enough water then the foliage turned completely black and they all died. It started in one area of my garden then it spread to all areas even isolated plants about 100 feet away. I had a few tomatoes that I harvested first but most just rotted right away as the plants died. I don't know what I could have done if anything and I

feel just devastated. I can only guess that this is late tomato blight and don't even know if I'm going to try again next year.

KarenO · September 23, 2013

Very sorry for your lost plants and all your hard work, Late blight is what it sounds like and it is a devastating disease.
deep Breath, regroup, look up preventative spray programs for next year and try again come spring. next year is bound to be better!
KO

Paradajz · September 23, 2013

whatever it might be Karen's got the point there: next year is bound to be better

.

it will eventually be just an experience which helped you progress to healty, strong plants and lots of yummie yields in the years to follow.

btw, if you still have any 'left- overs' of those plants there you might want to check it and do an analysis if possible, so you could travel to the next season well prepared.

br,
ivan

ginger2778 · September 23, 2013

My condolences. That is heartbreaking after all your hard work. I agree with the others, learning about preventive spraying will be the " silver lining". Sometimes hard knocks is a tough school to go to.

Marsha

novel grower · September 23, 2013

Well defintely thanks for the encouragement I imagine I will try again next season just feeling kinda low with ALL the dead plants!

KarenO · September 23, 2013

PM me your address and I will send you a few seeds from my own collection as a little pick me up and something to look forward to next year after this big disappointment

do have something specific you would like to try? If I have it, it's yours.
KarenO

NewWestGardener · September 26, 2013

Sorry to hear that, I had late blight too that killed majority of my plants after a few rainy days, just when they are starting to ripen.
What is still standing actually are those "blight resistant" varieties, Mountain Magic F1 and Defiance F1, from Johnny's, both are of excellent taste and very productive this year.
I also planted Grandenaro F1, which was outstanding last year, when we did not have late blight, but they are the first goners this year, no resistance at all, plus lots of BER. This is supposed to be late blight resistant as well.
So maybe you can give the above 2 varieties a try next time around, I will certainly do, just some assurance.
I also think I should start seeds way earlier next year, so they get to go into the ground as large plants, under plastic cover, then we should be able to harvest them before late blight hits, which is usally at the end of August or early September.

novel grower · September 27, 2013

That sounds good I did some research and found I had made several mistakes which make the blight worse when it hits including not destroying infected plants immediately. Its kind of discouraging when I had over 100 plants and harvested only about 20 tomatoes but next year should be better!

September 23, 2013	#1
novel grower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: washington Posts: 13	Dead and dying All of my tomato plants started wilting as if not getting enough water then the foliage turned completely black and they all died. It started in one area of my garden then it spread to all areas even isolated plants about 100 feet away. I had a few tomatoes that I harvested first but most just rotted right away as the plants died. I don't know what I could have done if anything and I feel just devastated. I can only guess that this is late tomato blight and don't even know if I'm going to try again next year.

September 23, 2013	#3
Paradajz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Montenegro Posts: 275	whatever it might be Karen's got the point there: next year is bound to be better. it will eventually be just an experience which helped you progress to healty, strong plants and lots of yummie yields in the years to follow. btw, if you still have any 'left- overs' of those plants there you might want to check it and do an analysis if possible, so you could travel to the next season well prepared. br, ivan

September 26, 2013	#7
NewWestGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 564	Sorry to hear that, I had late blight too that killed majority of my plants after a few rainy days, just when they are starting to ripen. What is still standing actually are those "blight resistant" varieties, Mountain Magic F1 and Defiance F1, from Johnny's, both are of excellent taste and very productive this year. I also planted Grandenaro F1, which was outstanding last year, when we did not have late blight, but they are the first goners this year, no resistance at all, plus lots of BER. This is supposed to be late blight resistant as well. So maybe you can give the above 2 varieties a try next time around, I will certainly do, just some assurance. I also think I should start seeds way earlier next year, so they get to go into the ground as large plants, under plastic cover, then we should be able to harvest them before late blight hits, which is usally at the end of August or early September. Last edited by NewWestGardener; September 26, 2013 at 02:53 PM.

September 23, 2013	#2
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,932	Very sorry for your lost plants and all your hard work, Late blight is what it sounds like and it is a devastating disease. deep Breath, regroup, look up preventative spray programs for next year and try again come spring. next year is bound to be better! KO

September 23, 2013	#4
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	My condolences. That is heartbreaking after all your hard work. I agree with the others, learning about preventive spraying will be the " silver lining". Sometimes hard knocks is a tough school to go to. Marsha

September 27, 2013	#8
novel grower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: washington Posts: 13	That sounds good I did some research and found I had made several mistakes which make the blight worse when it hits including not destroying infected plants immediately. Its kind of discouraging when I had over 100 plants and harvested only about 20 tomatoes but next year should be better!