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litchfieldgardener

late blight?

I'd be interested to hear whether late blight has recurred in the NE this season. We all remember the disastrous growing season two summers ago, when plants were affected nationwide. Last season I had no problem. Then, and again this May/June, I applied a proactive spray to all my tomato plants, of a Ridomil Gold and Daconil combination. No problems last year, but this year I see some serious wilting on my two Red Cherokee plants, but only on them in a patch of 18 heirloom plants. (I start all my plants from seed.) Wondering if other growers are seeing any late blight this time around.

Comments (13)

  • carolyn137
    9 years ago

    From reading at other message sites, yes, some in the NE are reporting Late Blight, for some that ID was confirmed, for others it was Grey Mold, which is the disease most often confused with Late Blight,

    Do you know abut the Cornell Late Blight website which updates all confirmed instances of LB in pretty much the whole NE as to areas affected? You can probably find it by Googling and if not perahaps I can search my faves to find it for you when Ihave time, since my faves are pretty much at the maximum of 2,000 faves. ( smile)

    Carolyn

    Carolyn

  • daniel_nyc
    9 years ago

    Late Blight Management Updates (Cornell University)

    Nice Late Blight Resources (see right menu.)

  • labradors_gw
    9 years ago

    I think I have LB in Ontario, Canada! My friend down the road claims that she has it too, and that she often gets it on her paste tomatoes first!

    Linda

  • carolyn137
    9 years ago

    Thanks Daniel, and now I know I can still watch Dimitrov vs Monfils play tennis this afternoon instead of perusing my faves, which is not high on my list of to do things today. LOL

    Carolyn, who didn't click on the link but who assumes it's the regional 2014 updates of LB confirmations>

  • daniel_nyc
    9 years ago

    Carolyn, I LOVE my - 25,000+ - faves. I call them bookmarks. All organized in folders, sub-folders, sub-sub-folders, and so on.

    This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 14:32

  • litchfieldgardener
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for reminding me of the Cornell resource--I recall checking it back in the terrible summer of 2012. A couple of interesting points: In 2012 the so-called "late" blight was first appearing in late July. What I'm seeing fits into the more normal timetable for this disease. And the second point is that it's affecting ONLY my Red Cherokees. (This year's lineup includes Black Krim, M. Lifter, G. Zebra, Sungold, Garden Peach, Caspian Pink.) Perhaps the Ridomil/Daconil mix has worked, but selectively.

  • daniel_nyc
    9 years ago

    litchfieldgardener, when you say: "Ridomil Gold and Daconil combination" and "Ridomil/Daconil mix", do you mean you mix the two fungicide and spray, or, one week you spray Ridomil, the next week Daconil, and so on alternately ?

    This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 16:15

  • carolyn137
    9 years ago

    Good question since nothing else should be added to Daconil at the same time since that can cause problems

    First, by binding tosomething else it can reduce the number of chlorothalinol molecules that are needed to cover all the specific attachment sites for Early Blight and Septoria Leaf spot on the uppser leaf surface and while I've not seen any info for specifi cattachment sites for Late Blight, it's the best that home growers can use.

    Meaning those commercial farmers have access to other products.

    Carolyn, who first heard of this after she called Ortho to ask about this combo spraying many years ago.

  • carolyn137
    9 years ago

    Carolyn, I LOVE my - 25,000+ - faves. I call them bookmarks. All organized in folders, sub-folders, sub-sub-folders, and so on.

    &&&&&&
    I checked and it's actually 2500 for my faves and for many years I've had to delete some in order to save new ones>

    I started putting stuff into folders and stopped and now I find stuff just based on the pattern of links I see,if you know what I mean.

    Carolyn

  • seysonn
    9 years ago

    Talking about LB, and no pictures ? ! Just wondering.

    I am a visual person. I learn more from visio, than audio, than text . As they say : A picture can speak 1000 words.
    Internet and electronic cameras are wonderful tools.

    That is "I". YMMV.

  • daniel_nyc
    9 years ago

    Yeah, picture(s) please.

  • carolyn137
    9 years ago

    Yes,pictures do help, but it's also good to know that many do not have a camera,a smartphone or whatever.

    The last pictures I ever took were with a throwaway Kodak back in about 1983, my good Minolta camera being stolen when I was still in Denver.

    Same with all the suggestions to maintain a compost heap, mulch heavily with this or that, build a trellis, and on and on.

    I'm not the only senior citizen who could not do that, even if I didn't have this walker to contend with.(smile)

    Carolyn

  • litchfieldgardener
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Let me say a bit more about my decision to combine Ridomil Gold and Daconil:

    Two years ago, at the time of the 2012 late blight crisis, I contacted Syngenta (maker of Ridomil) to ask about its efficacy against the disease. I got a detailed and very helpful response from a technical specialist. She said that while Ridomil could be an effective preventive to certain strains of the disease, it is not useful once the disease has set in.

    However, she did suggest that I try Ridomil Gold Bravo SC, a version that includes Bravo fungicide. The active chemical ingredient in Bravo is chlorothalinol, which is also the active ingredient in, among others, Daconil. I had already paid a very large sum of money to buy the R. Gold, I was not about to shell out another $80+ for the Bravo combo. It seemed logical to me then, and still does, that Daconil would be a perfectly matched stand-in for Bravo.

    I applied this mixture in 2012 (when it was too late to have any effect except on the new growth). This year, as I've said, I sprayed the R/D mix on my tomato plants in early June. And, as I have noted, it seems to be effective EXCEPT for the two Red Cherokee plants that are now infected.

    It is my understanding that most garden chemicals are compatible. I have routinely combined insecticides and fungicides, to no ill effect. Most gardeners do, I believe. (Sulfur & copper, a k a "Bordeaux Mixture." Rotenone & pyrethrins.) In some cases of mis-match, the effectiveness of the individual chemical might be reduced. But the final call is whether the plant tissue is visibly damaged. This, I think, rarely happens.

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