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Late Blight: Is fire the answer?

Posted by billmac77 New York (My Page) on
Fri, Aug 7, 09 at 8:43

My whole tomato patch is dying off from late blight. I have a bunch of old hay in my barn. I'm tempted to load the whole patch with hay and touch it off. Do you suppose that will do anything to kill the fungus in the soil?


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Late Blight: Is fire the answer?

Am not sure it this link may help you but that also will depend on have demaged your plant is

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato-Late-Blight


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RE: Late Blight: Is fire the answer?

Since this fungus is airborne and can travel (they say) hundreds of miles on the wind, torching the lot will probably just distribute the spores more widely. Our area is hit very badly, with tremendous losses for small farmers, and I've been told NOT to burn but to bag all refuse in black plastic bags and let them sit in the sun. The heat will build up inside and 'cook' the fungus. (Also, summer is not a legal season for open burning in our area--be careful of your local regs.) What a frustrating year! Good luck, Farmer Joss


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RE: Late Blight: Is fire the answer?

There is no Late Blight fungus in the soil. Late Blight only lives on the aboveground parts of the tomato plant. Once the tomato plants are dead, the blight dies off too. You don't need to do anything to your soil at all. Late Blight cannot live by itself in the soil.

Here is a FAQ from Cornell that you may find useful, especially Question #18. Questions #14 and #15 may help you decide how best to dispose of the diseased plants:

Here is a link that might be useful: Late Blight FAQ from Cornell


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RE: Late Blight: Is fire the answer?

Glad I read this.

Today I put tomato plant that I lost to late blight in black garbage bag and tossed it into garbage can that's kept in garage.

I'll yank it out tomorrow morning and put it out in the sunlight, if there is any, to bake off nasty stuff.

With all the critters around I'll have to bring it inside for the night.

This is a real pain after losing the one bush with over 20 nearly ripe tomatoes. I had considered drenching plants again with Daconil as I did when plants were very young and I read about the 'ate blight situation. Hesitated because I was worried about Daconil being on the tomatoes.

Just read in Cornell bulletin it could've been washed off. Even so, I'd still feel uneasy about serving tomatoes that had been drenched with Daconil to anyone even though I already wash tomatoes with soapy water before anyone eats them.

Let's hope for a better year in 2010.


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