Behind on my TV gardening viewing, I treat them as a glut and watch them back to back on iplayer. I’ve now caught up with Alys Fowler and The Edible Garden. Sombre viewing!
Not hopeful of escaping blight, a couple of tomato plants were sited outdoors. One however was held back, a special greenhouse constructed for it, with the hope this would keep blight spores from landing on the plants’ leaves.
However something about the design of this bespoke protector did not bode well. Constructed out of individual panes of 1930’s stained glass, it crossed an advent calendar, gorged on its own chocolate gifts and a memorial chapel for the deceased, who didn’t intend to take death lying down. A gloomy, doomy place of incarceration. And as it turned out, no match for blight. Which took the treasured plant ( having already claimed the outdoor ones) and left its vexed owner swearing off growing tomatoes for good.
It did make me wonder if you are going to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse or tunnel would you do best to do only that ? – So there are no outdoor plants in quite such close proximity for the blight to first alight on? Or if it’s blowing your way are you going to get it regardless, no matter how clever your tomato hidey place ?
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Last year, I made shelters for my tomato, pepper and pumpkin plants from sheets of plastic and some four-foot poles. Each corner, and some holes in the centre, were attached to the plastic with string and tape. Extra poles in between provided support for tying in the vines and extra support for the sheeting. Despite detached corners, these constructions lasted through wind and rain.
The tomato plants got some blight spots where the rain splashed upon them, but I only lost about a dozen fruits. It was early December, because of a frost-free November, when I picked the last tomatoes and finally said farewell to my blighty but still-living tomato plants.
Blight is a fungal spore that is endemic and spreads in rainwater; it will alight on even covered plants. However, it can’t germinate and spread without warmth and moisture. Have you noticed that blight always begins where the rainwater collects on the leaf-tips? Keep the plants dry and they won’t become infected. Don’t even water them with rainwater unless you boil it; consider it toxic to tomatoes.
The downside is that you have to remember to water the plants regularly.
Early December – what an amazing growing season !
You are right about rainwater being the Trojan Cloud when it comes to blight. My ex-neighbour who gardened for a living- advised the same thing – said never to let the rain get to them. And there in lies the problem with my exuberant ‘crowd’ growing approach – I need a small stadium as opposed to a shelter – but for a more constrained, contained number – it’s great to know that this works – ie even without the side protection – just keeping it off overhead ( and also therefore from splashing back up from the ground) is effective .
Yes, space is a problem; I’m lucky and have a large garden. Maybe you could get another mini-greenhouse for your ‘family’. Mine go into the soil; you wouldn’t want to dig through your gravel but maybe you could rig something up between your shed and fence (I looked at your picture from last year).
I’d actually abandoned my plants inn November to their fate last year, and was very surprised they’d survived, along with the chilles. I was even more surprised they’d set fruit so late in the year. Tomato plants are more hardy than i thought – although frost will lay them to waste.