I enjoy growing tomatoes but in the past few years, they have been getting blight really bad. What do I need to do to kill this stuff in my soil?

I don't know if it can be killed in the soil short of fumigation. You can decrease transmission with plastic mulch and pruning lower limbs so there's no soil contact with the leaves. That and regular fungicide sprays.

Since I’m just a backyard gardener, 10x10 ‘, when my tomatoes got the blight I covered the ground with that weed preventive membrane. Worked great. Got the roll from Costco.

Some type of Sulphur may help. I use gypsum and it stops blossom end rot entirely. Mike

You'll never get rid of it. Covers work well but with me watering form below helped a lot. Watering from above spreads it.

You can do what warrior said, you can mulch the plants with straw or grass clippings as well. You can spray the leaves with a baking soda solution that will raise the PH of the leaves and will help stave off the blight.

All of these tips are helpful. I might add that some tomatoes are more blight-resistant than others is what I've found out. The last couple of years for me, Brandywine tomatoes seem to be a little tougher than some of the others I've tried.

Is it blight ? Or septoria leaf spot ?

Fungonil has worked as a fungicide for me. It's in the clorothalanol family of chemicals.


Better gardening through chemicals, I say.

Most infections that affect tomatoes come from the ground I.E. soil. To prevent it you must prevent the soil from splashing up on the plant when watering or raining. You can use a variety of things from membrane to hay.

Cut the bottom branches off. Don't let the dirt splash up on the plant. Put grass clippings or straw around the plants. It works for me. I use to have the same problem.

It really all depends on the the fungus that is the issue. The three big ones are early blight, septoria leaf spot, and late blight. Septoria and early blight can live in residual material in the soil, while late must have live plant tissue to carry over most of the time late it is transferred via weather systems. If you are reusing stakes or cages I suggest a bleaching prior to the growing season. Move sites if you can, as stated before mulch to reduce soil splash on lower leaves. As far as fungicides, organic you can use copper sulfate. It acts as a protectant so that means it has to be on there before any spore ever hits the plant, it won't kill the fungus just keep the spore from taking root so to speak. Other fungicides that aren't organic but very effective over the counter are daconil or funganil both the same active ingredient chlorothalonil. Other one is moancozeb. I use daconil every 7 to 10 days while disease conditions are present and have no trouble with blight.

Blossom end rot is often mistaken for a blight but is entirely environmental. It's caused by calcium magnesium deficiency induced by lack of water or to much water.

Hope this helps

One thing with blossom end rot, some cultivars are more prone to it than others. I grow Opalka, a polish paste type, and the first set of fruit gets BER no matter what while not another tomato in the garden has so much as a speck. It has done this every year since I started growing it ten years ago. It shrugs it off with the next set and won't have a bit of it until frost kills it back. It's the second most productive I grow behind Matt's Wild Cherry. Neither of those two have ever given me any blight problems either.

I used a copper sulphate spray last year and had very little leaf loss compared to the two previous years.

Keith

I use Manzate up until harvest, then add Bravo. Spray once a week. Add some insecticide. Every other week I add supper fungal spray with copper.

^^^ This.I have had no problems with blight using fungonil.

Air flow is my main issue. I tend to try to crowd to much into the garden. I agree on keeping things as dry as possible above ground. Soaker hoses are a God send. I also plant on ridges like I was taught as a kid. I use remesh cages and suspect my letting them get thick and bushy inside the cages plus crowding leads to issues, particularly in wet years. I really should do better pruning to open them up. I'm also considering the weave method of support.

So, do you guys spray the plant or the ground or both?

For blossom rot we amend the soil with bone meal. Or bury a couple pounds of carp near each plant.

Plant along south facing walls, fences, etc. Anything that will reflect the sun. Serms like peppers and tomatoes can't get too much sun.

Hope you get it solved. There's nothing better than fully vine ripened!

I have planted three dozen tomato plants per year now for about 15 years plus. I have had severe blight issues about 5 of those seasons. What I am doing lately to minimize issues are the following.
1. I do use varieties that are rated as more resistant
2. When I set the plants I put the plants in a fungicide and water mix before setting out
3. I mulch with composted manure, straw, etc. to keep the plants away from the soil.
4. Keeping the soil contact to a minimum is important for me.
5. I spray the plants about every 2-3 weeks up until they are flowering heavily.
6. I tend to over plant and if I see a diseased plant or branch I remove them ASAP

Bryce