North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["hector black" <hblack1925@fastmail.fm>]

This was my first year of trial, but I also grow Brandywine from saved seeds 
and regularly had blight problems.  I read that some fungus don't like an 
acidic or alkaline environment, so I sprayed the foliage with bicarbonate of 
soda and spreader/sticker about every week, and tried to do it after a rain 
when the foliage had dried.  I still got blight, but nowhere near as badly 
as before and really had a good crop.  About to pick the last one.  1 tbsp 
bicab, 1 tbsp spreader to one gallon water.  It would be interesting to know 
if this works for anyone else.    Hector Black zone 6 middle TN
PS also tried it to control anthacnose on black raspberries and while 
control is not complete they look better than they have in years.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Fruth" <jfruth@uslink.net>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 7:00 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] Blight and Old Wives Tales


>   Looks like I didn't provide enough information when I started this
> subject.  My volunteers are Brandywine and Roma, both of which produce
> offspring identical to the parents.  My blighted plants that I started 
> from
> (my own) seed are the same, Brandywine and Roma.  I ALWAYS get blight and 
> I
> ALWAYS mulch heavily except when I tried plastic mulch with only a tiny 
> hole
> for the tomato plant to grow through.  Consequently, the below hypothesis,
> offered by one reader, needs to be altered into some other mechanism 
> because
> my plants NEVER get splashed from soil to the leaves.
>
>
> Most blights are transferred by water from soil.  Rainfall or water from 
> the
> hose causes soil laden with blight spores to splash up on the lower leaves
> of a tomato plant transferring the spores to a friendly growing 
> environment.
> That's why a thick blanket of mulch under tomatoes works well.  Your
> volunteers may have natural immunity to certain blights.  If they are
> offspring of a hybrid, they may be versions of an open-pollinated variety
> used to create the hybrid.
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