I used to get that constantly. I use Ortho multipurpose disease control (constantly), and lots of corn meal when I planted plants into each hole I dug. Problem gone!
I live in haveally forested area with lots of shade.
Also do not water folage!
Some people, say folare feed, NOT! Plants get all their neutrients from roots. Stressed plants will wilt when hot or dry and appear to perk up when water is sprayed on them, but doing this can shock them and do more harm than good. Acctually they perk from roots absorbing moisture from root system.

2 things you need to do next year. One is go buy some straw, hay or use grass clippings as a mulch. You are getting this because water is splashing up on the lower leaves. Also don't get the leaves wet when watering.

Two: Prune the lower stems off and prune any that touch the ground. Use diconal(sp?) and/or the corn meal spray regularly.

hope this helps.

Bill

I realized I overwatered my plants last year and I was really careful about watering my plants this year. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I did. I'll try the whole corn meal trick and look for a disease control. Will this still work for this year?

Give a go and let us know how it worked. It can't hurt. definately put the mulch down and trim/prune anything that looks sick or touching the ground and spray.

I put down hay this year and grass clippings and pruned the lower stems for the first foot. My disease problems are way down this year. I've trimmed anything that looked sick and sprayed the plant afterwards too. My plants are looking great for a change.

Bill S

Corn meal spray???????????
I have this in one degree or the other on all my plants.
valiantly pluck the yellow leaves and branches that have succumbed to yellow.
I have one plant that is totally yellow but has toms clinging to it.
It's my experiment plant unless it's a goner. Am guessing uneven, inconsistant watering.

I took off the yellow/dead leaves but some of my plants were too far gone. But at least the tomatoes on the plants are ripening. I did add some cornmeal to the top of the soil and wet it down (not spraying my plants.) This seemed to help but it has only been a few days. Stupid Blight!!

What does the cornmeal do to prevent blight? Can it be added to container tomato plants, too? Thanks. :)

Plants do indeed absorb nutrients on their foliage, mainly through the stoma (stomatal conductance). However, if a garden tends to get blight, foliar feeding, particularly in the evening, is going to do more harm than good. I spike my fungicide applications with a SMALL amount of fertilizer, low in N, for example a half teaspoon of 2-7-7. Add too much and you'll burn the foliage, especially when mixing it with a fungicide - although in my experience tomatoes seem more resistant to foliar burn than other vegetables.

My tomato plants contracted late blight about a week ago, after a spell of relatively cool days and cold nights. So far I've kept it under control with frequent chlorothalonil applications (every two days for about a week), but last year didn't start spraying until my plants were about where yours are at in those pics, and late blight wiped them out in about a week. This doesn't predict what may happen to your plants - weather plays a big role in the course of late blight. Some hot, dry weather with lots of sun could put your blight infection into remission. Even then, the spores will remain to savage your plants again at the first sign of favorable weather.

Here's some articles on Late Blight. Based on my internet research, chlorothalonil is the most effective fungicide for late blight that can easily be purchased by home gardeners, although some newer strains of the fungus bear some resistance to it.

Tomato and Potato late blight factsheet, Cornell
Late Blight Control
Late Blight, Phytophthora infestans (pdf file)
2005 Foliar Fungicide Spray Guide for Tomatoes in NC (pdf file)

About the foliar spraying... That may be one thing that contributed to my blight. I stopped all foliar spraying weeks ago when I realized that I was getting blight. Too bad, too, because that kelp spray seemed to really generate a lot of blossoms on my black cherries. I was bragging about it.

I did some searching on the net for anti-fungal sprays. Daconil got good reviews, but at least one scientific study that I read (sorry, I didn't save the link) showed that other anti-fungicides were more effective against it than Daconil. The advantage of Daconil (that I can see -- note to experts, PLEASE chime in) is that it has a shorter time-to-harvest period compared to others like Mancozeb.

I ordered some Mancozeb and should get it in the mail today. I should probably get some on-line advice in addition to the instructions before I start spraying. It's my last ditch effort to save some of my tomato plants.

One of those links I posted above reports that chlorothalonil (Daconil) is superior to Mancozeb. But a mix of the two is superior to either, so I'd blast 'em with both.

I just checked my garden, and in only a few hours the blight has consumed even more leaves! It's much slower than when I didn't spray last year, but the pace is relentless and if it keeps up the foliage will be gone in a few weeks. Tomorrow I'm going to try to score an agricultural fungicide.

Damn, whoever develops a late blight resistant hybrid is going to be rich. I'd pay 10 times more than regular plants if I didn't have to worry about blight. This sucks.

One of those links I posted above reports that chlorothalonil (Daconil) is superior to Mancozeb

Actually mancozeb would not be considered 'superior' to daconil across the bosrd. The link you provide is for LATE BLIGHT and chlorothalonil is considered more effective

BUT Mancozeb is considered superior to Daconil for EARLY BLIGHT which is what most people on this forum seem to be spraying for. According to the Univ. Of NC, mancozeb gives 'good' control and chlor. 'fair' control for early blight. But daconil is highly touted on these boards and many people are happy with the results.

Mancozeb is considered 'almost' non-toxic--a Class 4
pesticide. Chlor. (daconil) is 'moderately toxic', a Class 2 as it can be an eye irritant. (source EXTONET) (Of course, high dosages and frequent unprotected exposure is not recommended with either one. And of course an organic gardener would avoid both.)

Mancozeb does have a higher re-entry time.

Check out the link below for the commercial spray schedule recommended in N. Carolina. (I have posted this before as I am always amazed at the number of applications (not even counting insecticides). Note that mancozeb is recommended during the early part of the season and chlor. later on.

And the link below discusses the efficacy of various fungicides in a chart form.

http://ipm.ncsu.edu/agchem/6-22through6-24.pdf

When you speak of a 'stronger' agricultural fungicide you are getting into the systemics like Quadris.
That doesn't interest me at all. However I wish I could get my hands on Actigard--one of the phages (bacterial)
listed on the chart to use with copper against bacterial spot. I have read university research concerning the development of phages which utilizes the host plants own defenses and it looks promising. Less copper sprays would be a benefit.

(Also note that they mention that Serenade has shown some efffectiveness against Bacterial spot.)

Here is a link that might be useful: fungicide spray schedule

Dirt Poet, I see that you linked the 2005 spray schedule--I have linked a later version. The earlier version does not mention Serenade.

Oh sh--, my first sentence should have read Daconil is not considered superior to Mancozeb across the board-I was responding to your quote. Depends on disease.

As an organic gardener, I would never use any of the chemicals suggested against early blight, which is endemic around here. In the 35 years I've gardened in WV (as opposed to my gardens in Massachusetts or NY), tomatoes develop early blight. And I mulch heavily. But Gardens Alive (organic products] makes a product called Soap Shield. Used properly it greatly slows down the start of early blight, though doesn't prevent it entirely. By the time the blight really sets in it's August and the plants (all heirlooms and indeterminate types) have an enormous fruit set, so I don't care. I don't compost the plants, however.

I mulch heavily and use a drip soaker system covered by the mulch and still have some blight. So far that hasn't been a big problem. I have sprayed Daconil this year and that has seemed to control it some. After the TSWV hit I didn't need anything else taking an bunch out. I haven't tried Serenade or Manzcozeb but may in the future. And although I haven't much lately I have seen good results with foliar feeding. That is a personal decision and opinion. It works for me. On seedlings under lights I've compared and those I foliar fed were bigger and greener at transplant time. Just my experience. Jay

Quadris.... That's not the first time I have heard Quadris mentioned. I have googled for it and found it very interesting, but for the life of me, I have NO idea how to get any of it. Googling it comes up with lots of educational and research sites comparing it to this or that, but nowhere for a home guardener to buy it online or locally.

Where do you get that stuff?

About foliar spraying... I'm not the expert on this, but it seems commonsense would dictate not spraying non-fungicidal liquids on your plants when they show any early symptoms of blight or other fungal infection. At least that's the lesson I am taking from this. Any further thoughts about it would be appreciated.

doof, I laughed when you said on another thread you didn't care if you glowed in the dark but I can't imagine why you would really want to use a restricted chemical like Quadris.

You could probably buy it for several hundred dollars enough for a farm but it doesn't come in a premixed quart.

What disease do you think you have anyway?

The pictures of your plants show an advanced disease stage --these products are all used prior to rampant infection.

Now the only thing you can do is take off the dying leaves and apply your mancozeb. It really isn't the proper way to use it but too late for preventative spraying anyway.

Well, at this point it's just a grudge thing, I guess. Sort of like the year I lost my lettuce to cabbage worms and ended up spraying the yard with nuclear waste byproducts. I had already given up hope of saving anything edible; I just wanted revenge for my own petty reasons.

Seriously, though, I had had hopes until the last few days of saving some of the surviving tips of my burgundy traveler vines and maybe starting a new plant from cuttings. But their are signs of disease on all parts of the plant, even the tips, just not as badly there, so I can't see the point in trying unless I have something more reliable than what I am using right now.

Thank you for telling me that Quadris is a restricted chemical. I didn't know that. Anti-blight studies on the web comparing the different anti-fungals don't mention things like that.

What disease do I think I have? I think I have a mixture of septoria and daconil-resistant early blight. If you saw my thread Lots of pics of sick tomatoes, you saw what I had. If I had got a camera earlier, I could have uploaded pics before it had spread to the other plants. As it is now, the surviving plants all have it to some degree or another, with the two Druzbas being the least phased by it all.

Chock one up for Druzba -- not the tastiest tomato, but oh man, is it healthy and productive. I don't find it worth eating, but the neighbors love them. It has many blight-affected leaves, but it hasn't been so thoroughly defoliated and seems to be making a very effective comeback.

I was very surprised to see the several comments suggesting one should stop folliar feeding when signs of blight occur.

My experience is contrary to this. Perhaps that is because I
combine either Mancozeb or Daconil, and some other goodies,
with the folliar feed material which is either Peters, Miracle Grow or Jack's.

The last couple years I have begun using Mancozeb in my early sprays. Once tomatoes are setting I change over to
Daconil plus Soap Shield which contains copper octinate.
I also add some epsom salts and some spreader sticker to the mix. I would like to apply sprays about every 10 days but
the weather is not always on my side and sometimes 3 weeks go by. Still, by trimming away infected lower branches, spraying when I can, and growing on plastic mulch I get good yields and seldom fully lose a plant till frost does it in.

I also have to say that I am a believer in selecting varieties to grow that have some resistance or tolerance
(whatever is correct) to the blights and the various other deseases that mess with tomatoes. There are large differences!!!

So, I have a new problem. What hasn't been taken out by blight is now being munched on by hornworms. Ain't gardens grand!

I had my tomatoes almost wiped out the last 2 years, even with crop rotation. This year I sprayed them a couple of times with the Ortho spray and not one hint of blight this year, and we've had a ton of rain. Now if I could just keep the deer away from my squash and pumpkins.

Hmmm .... I have some blight, but haven't treated with anything. We have not had too much rain, so that is working in my favor. Overall, the plants look very good with one or two exceptions. I am going with the percentages this late in the season. The tomatoes are 90 to 95% fabulous looking right now, so that is good enough for me. Pink Brandywine is nearly consumed with blight, but I don't care because I have so many other great healthy plants and the PB is yielding nicely in spite of the blight. I am just pulling off the bad leaves and trying to make it to the finish line, which at this point will definitely happen. Next year, though, I am doing the corn meal thing, because it seems fairly simple to do. May as well try something new.

What is the "Ortho spray" called? Is it a general vegetable spray or does it have a specific name and is used for this tomato problem? I haven't used pestdisides in an effort to be chemical free, so will this wash off the fruit? One thing I don't understand. If were supposed to be watering from the root base only and trying to prevent too much dampness from over watering. Why should we mulch around the tomatoes? Won't this keep the moisture around the root base and cause more problems? wouldn't it be better to let the plants dry out around the root base between waterings? allowing air flow and such. and what about rain? are you saying the leaves getting wet this way will help the blight develop? I don't mean to sound so ignorant, just trying to understand what this "blight" is and how to keep it at bay. So how exactly does moisture and shade affect this condition?

cateyanne, I think the Ortho product is called "Ortho Garden Disease Control" or something along those lines. Early blight is a continuous problem in this area. I have had good success with cornmeal tea sprays for the past few years, but we had heavy frequent rains in June this year which just about negated anything I tried. Something I did decide to try was a high nitrogen root feeding with fish emulsion when the disease was getting to the serious stage. It didn't cure the blight, but most of my effected plants have started putting out new growth from lower branches now, and may survive the season until Fall. I was afraid that the high N would cut down of fruit production, but it actually seems to be the opposite. I've never had as many tomatoes forming this late in the year. I'm sure it's because of the lower night temps than usual (mid to high 70's), but I expected a reduction in flowers, and this has not been the case.
Mrs H

This is early blight, no doubt about it. It's very common
anywhere in the east. Look it up on the net, you will find
plenty of references and info from university extension
sites. Best practice is sanitation, i.e. remove infected
leaves when found, mulch, destroy old plants. Isolate
tomatoes as much as possible from forested or weedy areas
because these have alternative vectors.
I've used Soap Shield and it's just OK. I use it between
rain showers when we're expected to have rain over a
period of days. The best is a product called Serenade,
which is a biofungicide, also sold by Gardens Alive.

BUT, BUT, BUT look out for Gardens Alive. They basically
repackage other's products and charge a MUCH higher
price. For instance, this year they are getting almost
$50 a pound for Serenade, when you can buy it from any
agricultural store for about $12 a pound in 6 or 12 pound
bags. Buy a 6 pound bag and transfer it into clean, dry
glass jars. It will keep as long as you need it to. And it
works. Pay attention, though, to when you spray. Get a
dedicated weather channel radio and listen to it every
day for precip forecasts. Then tailor your spray
schedule to the weather.