I am in the Mississippi Delta and it is hot and humid. Unusually wet spring this year. I have 14 plants in the ground. All grown from seed except Amelia which I purchased because of its advertised resistence. I have a permanent trellis and I train the tomatos vertically. They are now seven feet tall and I am about ten days away from having my first ripe fruit.

All the plants, except Amelia, have early blight. I'm used to this as I have been growing tomatos for 30 years. Usually I get a good first crop before the blight attacks, but this year it has come much earlier than normal. The plants are all healthy at the top, but I'm losing alot of leaves at the bottom.

I have treated the plants with a daconil product since planting on a weekly basis. I have removed all of the leaves infected and it has left the plants bare at the bottom. Some of the fruit are fully exposed to the sun without the leaf cover. I think they will be o.k. as they are just about to show color. Blossoms are still setting at the six foot level.

I usually have a real good first or early crop and my plants usually produce all the way to September, although much smaller fruit. I'm affraid that the Blight is not cured and is moving up all the plants.

My questions are:

(1) Have I done the right thing in removing the infected leaves?

(2) I am spraying per the directions each Saturday. Should I increase the strength of the fungicide or spray more than once a week, or both.

As I said, I have had this damn early blight many times before, but never this early and this severe. I have a clean garden and destroy all the infected leaves.

Please help!!!!!