blight
Potato, Po-tat-o, Tomato, To-mat-o
What’s in a name?
Believe it or not, the similarities between potatoes and tomatoes don’t end with the song. They are actually part of the same family- the nightshade, or Solanaceae family- and they are closely related.
This means your tomatoes and potatoes are subject to many of the same diseases and afflictions, like blight.
Did you know that potato blight was the cause of the Irish potato famine in the 1800’s? True story. At the time, some thought it was due to static electricity from locomotives, or mortiferous vapours from a volcano, or divine punishment. Many still hold that it was a result of social, economic and political factors from the ruling English overlords.
I don’t know enough to say really, but I have suspected deadly volcano vapors being at work in my garden before. Or maybe it’s blight. Whatever.
Generally speaking, potatoes like boggy soil and thrive a bit earlier in the year when it’s cooler out. Tomatoes, on the other hand, like to keep their feet dry and thrive in the heat of late summer, so their growing cycles are staggered from one another, depending on the varieties you grow.
Having said this, hopefully you’ve planted your potatoes away from you tomatoes this year, as they are generally considered bad companion plants. It’s like your two warring sisters living next door to one another. You just know a fight’s going to break out sooner or later.
If your tomatoes get nailed with blight this year, your potatoes will be in danger too.
Tomato Blight
Update: Mom totally schooled me and corrected some info in this posting. I’ve updated the image (borrowed from avrdc.org) and corrected some factual errors below.
The number one problem you might be faced with right now is late season blight.
This darling little disease is a total pain in the ass. If you get it, you’re basically fucked.
What is it? Blight (or bloight if you’re from London) is an airborne fungal disease that thrives in moist, warm conditions.
The spores can remain dormant in the soil over the winter (it lives within plant matter infected by blight from the previous year- like stems, leaves and tubers) then comes back year after year when it gets warm and wet in August. When the rain hits the ground it travels through the air to go fuck with your tomatoes.
Blight will show up looking like a dark brown spot on your fruit, around the stem at the top.
Tip of the week: If there is one thing you do this week, figure out a way to keep the rain off your tomato plants.
Here’s the short and dirty: If your plants get wet, the blight will begin to grow on the leaves first, then travel down the stems and finally arrive on your lovely tomato fruit. At the first sign of infection, you will have to remove anything that is infected and throw it out ASAP to control the disease. This stuff spreads like wildfire.
If you get blight on your tomatoes, you can try cutting off the part that is affected and eat the rest, but don’t eat the part with blight. Ew. Gross. Leper tomatoes.
To prevent blight, here’s what you need to do:
Cracked Pot Pix
