Potatoes vs. Tomatoes: disease?

[greggf]

Does growing potatoes jeopardize your tomato crop?

I ask because when I grew potatoes in my garden, it seems as if my tomatoes always had more disease problems.

Has anybody else noticed that? If so, what factors might be at work?

How many of you grow both tomatoes and potatoes?

=gregg=

[Suze]

I grow potatoes occasionally and have not noticed any increase in disease.

Specifically, what disease problems did you have with the tomato plants? Fungal, bacterial, etc.

[greggf]

We've noticed that potatoes seem a magnet for insects - Colorado Potato Beetles - that then overflow the diner and go for the tomatoes as well, although they clearly prefer the potatoes. The one year we grew eggplants, the eggplants attracted as many beetles as the potatoes, with overflow to the tomatoes, too.

There are NO beetles if there are only tomatoes on site.

It seems as if early blight and fungal infections are more likely when potatoes are also grown. The tomatoes are less healthy-looking. And we did grow potatoes the year late blight wiped out both tomatoes and potatoes.

No potatoes seems to = healthier tomatoes.

Although Daconil definitely = healthier tomatoes. 8)

=gregg=

[carolyn137]

We've noticed that potatoes seem a magnet for insects - Colorado Potato Beetles - that then overflow the diner and go for the tomatoes as well, although they clearly prefer the potatoes. The one year we grew eggplants, the eggplants attracted as many beetles as the potatoes, with overflow to the tomatoes, too.


Gregg, for CPB's the order of susceptibility for me, not that far from you, has always been eggplant, most susceptible, then potato, then Tomato. But I used to use 5% Rotenone for the adults and BT Colorado Beetle Beater for the larvae, and all was well if things got out of hand and I couldn't hand pick them.

That was when I was growing so much down in Loudonville all those years there were lots of beetles and in Melrose at Charlie's Farm not so many b'c he sprayed, but I've yet to see one beetle where I now live although they are around here, just not at MY property.

As for the fungal foliage diseases tomatoes semed the most susceptible but Daconil kept that in check.

I don't know about Late Blight ( P. infestans) since so far I've not had that problem anywhere I've grown.

And we don't have the more common systemic diseases where we live, except for a touch of Verticillium from time to time as well as CMV, but those were never a large scale problem for me except CMV on the cukes.

[greggf]

Carolyn,

You can't miss late blight - one day all was well, next day not, week later all was dead, and funny smelling. Like a poorly-tended morgue.

=gregg=

[carolyn137]

You can't miss late blight - one day all was well, next day not, week later all was dead, and funny smelling. Like a poorly-tended morgue.


I know the symptoms Gregg, but what I'm saying is that Late Blight has never been around in areas where I've grown tomatoes in NYS.

In the past 10 years there's been only ONE documented incidence of it in the 5 county Albany Cornell Coop Ext service area and none north of that where I am in Washington County.

It seems that most outbreaks are in the western part of the state and it's potato cull piles that are the culprit.

Where the heck do you think your plants are getting it from? And are you sure it isn't Grey Mold which can mimic Late Blight to a certain degree?

[greggf]

Carolyn,

The late blight was one year only, about 1995 give-or-take. It was on the local news, as everybody seemed to be affected by it, and I recall potatoes being mentioned as implicated in the problem.

=gregg=