How do I fight blight in toms?

Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on: how to avoid tomato blight

- Enid Birchall

Q My old greenhouse has had to come down and won’t be replaced until next year. We’ve always had problems with tomato blight on outdoor toms. How do we grow a successful crop? Enid Birchall, King’s Lynn, Norfolk

A Tomato blight, potato blight and late blight are all names for the funguslike organism Phytophthora infestans. Tomatoes grown outdoors are particularly prone. If summer weather turns cloudy, humid and wet, spores carried on the wind germinate and cause wet-looking brown patches on leaves, eventually withering them. Fruits turn brown and rot, usually just when they look promising.

Blight is worse in wetter western regions of the country, but growing tomatoes under glass usually solves the problem. Sometimes spores enter through vents, but if you spot symptoms quickly, immediately drying out the atmosphere by using water sparingly, not damping down and keeping the tomatoes as dry as you dare will usually prevent spread.