Lost 3 tomato plants to blight last week and nearly gave up on gardening

I was out in my backyard garden in Portland checking on my heirloom tomatoes and noticed brown spots all over the leaves. Within 4 days 3 of my 5 plants were wilting and I had to pull them out. I spent the whole weekend crying over dirt honestly. My neighbor suggested I spray the remaining ones with a mix of baking soda, water, and a drop of dish soap. It actually stopped the spread on the 2 survivors so far. Anyone else dealt with blight ruining their whole season?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_white9520d ago

That baking soda trick is a bandaid at best. Your soil's probably infected now so you gotta solarize it next season or switch to containers. Drown the remaining plants in neem oil too every 3 days until harvest.

mila_craig420d agoTop Commenter

Whoa, hold on there. Is it really that serious? I've had plenty of seasons where a little mildew showed up and baking soda kept it in check for the whole year. Your mileage may vary but I wouldn't jump to solarizing everything just yet. Unless you're seeing actual rot or the plants are dying fast I'd give it a few more weeks before nuking the whole garden. Neem oil every three days sounds like overkill too, that stuff can burn leaves if you go too heavy.