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What You Need to Know About Tomato Blight

Late blight, caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans, is a very destructive and very infectious disease that killed tomato and potato plants in gardens and on commercial farms throughout the mid-west and eastern U.S. during 2009. The cool, wet growing season contributed to last years disastrous tomato troubles.

Tomatoes. Late blight is not seedborne (however, it is tuber-borne in potato), so tomato plants started from seed locally should be free of the disease. Growing your own transplants from seed or purchasing from a reputable local grower will ensure a healthy start to the season. In addition to late blight, each year tomatoes become infected with early blight and Septoria leaf spot, which look very similar.

Potatoes that freeze or fully decompose will not carry the pathogen over winter. Tomatoes will not carry late blight over the winter, because freezing kills the whole plant. Tomato seed, even from fruit that was infected with late blight, will not carry the pathogen, so no need to worry about the tomatoes left behind in the garden or compost pile. Certain perennial weeds can become infected with late blight, but none of their above-ground tissues live through the winter. Late blight will not survive on tomato stakes and cages.
The biggest threat for overwintered disease is on potatoes. In the spring, advise home gardeners to inspect last year’s potato plot and any compost or cull piles for volunteer potato plants that might come up. If potato plants are found, pull them out and put them in the trash or destroy them. If tubers were infected and survive, then the late blight could grow upward from the tuber, infecting the stem and producing spores when weather conditions are favorable. These spores could then disperse to other tomato and potato plants.


Source: Tina Smith outreach educator, UMass Extension, Amherst

Pictures and More Info on Late Blight:

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/Facilities/lihrec/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm

 Vermicomposting and Worm Castings By Patty Bailey

Make “Black Gold” For Your Plants

Composting has become very popular theses days with more and more people wanting really nutritious fertilizer for their gardens at the least amount of cost. Still, composting can be more work than many people have time for. What if I told you there is a very easy way to compost right in your own home with absolutely no odor, right in your own kitchen. By converting kitchen scraps and paper garage you can make “Black Gold” a homemade nutrient-rich compost in no time at all. How you say? By a composting technique called “Vermiculture or Vermicomposting”. This is a practice that uses worms, not the large night crawlers you fish with but tiny worms called “Red Wigglers” or “Earthworms”. Red Wigglers eat and burrow twenty-four hours a day. I have put old plant leaves or lettuce in my worm bin and in less than a week those hungry creatures have turned the leaves into a wonderful natural soil conditioner. I can then use this “worm poop” to fertilize all my plants. I never thought I would be calling my little red wigglers “Pets” but I feed them and care for them almost like I care for “Sassy” my little black cocker spaniel.

Earthworm castings are clean, odorless, and sterile. J.I. Rodale (Founder of the Organic Gardening Magazine) had this to say about worm castings.

“Earthworm castings are the finest form of humus known. These castings consist of soil and other matter which passes through and mixes with a secretion in their intestinal canal and is of extremely high fertilizer value”.

Worm casting are a natural, organic soil builder and fertilizer. They also can inhibit bacterial and fungal diseases. Castings never burns plants even if you use another fertilizer along with it. (Although you wouldn’t really need to.) There isn’t any odor. It gives your plants the right amount of micro (boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc) and macro (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur) nutrients. It is not only immediate fertilizer that gets your plants off to a good start, but it’s also long lasting and your plants will drink it in when they need it later. It’s unlike a chemical fertilizer in which the plant drinks it up all at once. Whatever isn’t used by your plant is leached out into the ground or even the ground water. It’s always been said, “Feed the soil and the soil will feed your plants”. I know it works and truly believe in it. Worm castings are one of the keys to healthier plants. The healthier your plants the less susceptible they will be to insects and diseases. Isn’t that what everyone wants? Yes, “Healthy Plants”.

Vermicomposting is a fun composting practice, especially if you have limited space. There are pre-made worm bins, one is what I call a worm apartment (Wormtopia). This is a four-tray worm compost system which can accommodate over 15,000 redworms. Worms work in one tray at a time, producing castings as they migrate up to the upper trays. It's made from recycled plastic, which also features a handy spigot for the collection of liquid vermicompost. The temperature conditions for the worm bin ranges from 55° to 75°F and works best indoors. Having a storage area in your kitchen would be helpful, if not, a cooler room or basement would work.

Worm bins can also be constructed using a large plastic container with a lid. Fill the box with bedding material which can include chopped leaves mixed with compost and straw or shredded newspaper. Leaves alone may mat down, reduce air circulation and cause odor problems. You also can use shredded newspaper mixed with peat moss or garden soil. There should be a drainage hold which you can put a cork or spigot in for the liquid that is produced. Liquid should be checked for periodically so the worms don't drown. After filling the box with bedding, moisten it with water until damp but not wet. You shouldn't be able to squeeze water out of it. Now you are ready to add the worms. Red wigglers come to the surface to feed and then drag the food down into their bedding. Worms can eat their weight in organic matter each day. You can feed the worms kitchen scraps, such as crushed egg shells, carrot, potato, apple peels and lettuce Do not feed them dairy or meat products because these foods attract flies and cause unwanted odors. Worm castings should be removed once a month or so. It's best if you add scraps to only one side of the worm bin so you feed them on the one side for several weeks which allows the other side of the box to be clear for casting removal. In no time at all you will have rich, nutritious soil conditioner for your plants.

Patty Bailey is the owner of Patty's Plants a Natural and Organic Garden Supply store at 819 E. High St. Milton, WI

www.pattysplants.com patty@pattysplants.com