Tomato blight: an update
Now there is news of new appearances of blight, which devasted home and organic tomato crops on the East Coast last summer.
Jon Traunfeld, of the University of Maryland Extension service reports that a second outbreak was found in a high tunnel greenhouse in St. Mary's County, about a mile from the first outbreak.
So far, Traunfeld says, no other outbreaks in Maryland and none in Delaware have been reported.
However, an outbreak in a Pennsylvania greenhouse was confirmed on May 17 and that crop was destroyed.
And in northern Kentucky on May 27, infected transplants were found in one home garden and several box stores.
(Read our tips for avoiding late blight.)
"These transplants had been grown outside of Kentucky and shipped to the box stores for sale," said Traunfeld.
"The stores involved are national chains. The transplants, which are destined for home gardens, pose a huge threat because they would provide widespread dispersal of inoculum.
"We hope to avoid a recurrence of this scenario, which caused widespread commercial losses in 2009."
Be vigilant, Traunfeld said. and if late blight is suspected – please contact your extension educator.
Comments
I think I found blight on my tomoatoes today. My Dad lives in Pittsburgh and his crop was wiped out last year. I was describing the plants over the phone and he says that's how his started. I grew the plants from seeds I had stored from last year (no blight last year) and the lower leaves are yellow and there are black spots on the leaves. I removed all the infected stems and put them into a trash bag then into a can with a sealed lid. I'm located about 1/2 mile from White Marsh Mall.
Posted by: Susan Reid | June 20, 2010 9:33 PM