"Late Blight" Threatens East Coast Private & Commercial Tomato Plant Crops

In the 1840s, late blight was responsible for the Irish Potato Famine. While never eliminated, late blight has raised it's ugly spots on North East tomato plants. If you purchased tomato plants from any of the "big box" retailers such as Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Kmart stores, and others, check them thoroughly.

Where is Late Blight Occurring?

Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Kmart in the New England states and New York have all removed their tomato plants. However, confirmed cases include the entire Northeast except Georgia. Privately owned stores and nurseries may or may not have had contact with contaminated plants. If you started your tomato plants from seed, they will not have the blight unless it's spread from another plant.

Where did this Late Blight start?

It is not clear where the blight started; only that is has spread and been confirmed at Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Kmart stores. Bonnie Plants, the main supplier for these chains, are regularly inspected and have cleared all inspections for the blight. The recent frequent rain may have encouraged the outbreak. The disease spreads very quickly with airborne spores.

What does Late Blight look like on infected tomato plants?

According to the University of Massachusetts, early systems include brown spots on stems (called lesions), and some white fungus if conditions are kept damp enough. Later symptoms include brownish spots on the leaves with the white fungal growth underneath the leaf. Spots will be irregular.

How do I treat Tomatoes infected with Late Blight?

The best treatment for late blight is simple. Destroy infected plants. Bag them in plastic bags and throw them out. This prevents more spores from spreading. (Pull the plastic bag over the top of the plant before pulling the plant from the ground to minimize spreading the spores!) Do this quickly to avoid spreading the disease to any other tomato or potato plants in your garden. Don't just go through your garden once and figure that you're clear. Airborne spores spread late blight very rapidly. Plants that appear fine today, may be infected next week!

How to protect non-infected plants

Your plants can be protected by spraying regularly with a fungicide. The University of Massachusetts website specifies using a fungicide containing Chlorothalonil. Keep in mind, this only works if your plants aren't already infected. Reapply every 5-7 days. For those organic gardeners, a copper fungicide is the only option, but not a very effective one. Reapply after every rainfall. Keep in mind, this also affects potato plants.

Consider Other Vegetables

To help compensate for a potential lower tomato crop, consider increasing the variety in your garden. Plant lettuce, beans, peas, eggplants. All of these and more aren't devastated by late blight the way tomato plants and potato plants are.

Other side effects of late blight

If this outbreak of late blight strikes the commercial tomato growers, and it's too early to tell, consumers can expect to pay higher prices for tomato and tomato products this year. This will trickle down and certainly includes ketchup, pizza's and more.