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Tomatoes with black stems

NewGardenerCornwallNewGardenerCornwall Posts: 40
in Fruit & veg
Hello. My tomatoes were growing nicely but now some stems and vine stems have gone black. I've had to cut down half a plant which has lots of ripening fruit on it 😭 What has happened and how do i prevent? 😖
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Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    it's Blight. remove and destroy asap. 
    It's the crappy summer weather which is responsible
    Devon.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Many of us have lost  all our tomatoes this year … join the club and weep with us 😢 🍅 
    it’ll be better next year … won’t it 🤞 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • HumblebeaHumblebea Posts: 38
    Does anyone know if it’s safe to eat the tomatoes that haven’t rotted? I had to remove my plants but ripened some fruit indoors. It looks fine so is it safe to eat?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - the fruits are fine.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Yes I’ve saved about 3lbs … better than nothing … but it was going to be the best crop ever … 20 plants dripping with fruit 😭 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • NewGardenerCornwallNewGardenerCornwall Posts: 40
    Hostafan1 said:
    it's Blight. remove and destroy asap. 
    It's the crappy summer weather which is responsible
    How do you prevent it?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2021
    You can’t … not if you’re growing toms outside …and sometimes it affects plants in greenhouses too. The spores of the blight are in the air and this has been a perfect year for it …damp and coolish. 

    There are new varieties that are resistant but their flavour is not yet as good as some of the non-resistant types … I’ve grown some in recent years … but this year I took a risk and grew San Marzano … a heavy crop … but we lost almost all of them overnight … hey ho … that’s gardening.  

    Try again next year … perhaps I’ll go for a resistant variety again 🤔 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Spores of blight are carried up to 30 miles on the wind... it's most common in warm, damp summers.  Keeping the tomato foliage dry (only possible in a greenhouse, of course - water the compost, not the plant) and providing good ventilation should help to avoid it; but praying for a dry summer is your best bet, I'm afraid.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    My outside toms are fine, but today I found the first sign of blight in my greenhouse.  One plant, its half way up, so three foot off the ground, but it is the one under the vent/roof window at the far end. So even inside they are susceptible ( mind you I would have thought the ones nearest the doors that have been open for two months might have caught it first if any)🙄
  • NewGardenerCornwallNewGardenerCornwall Posts: 40
    Thank you everyone for the info and help. First time since childhood grown tomatoes so was 😞 to give a plant the chop. I may try a resistant  variety and maybe use a tube dug into the ground to water without getting leaves etc damp or creating damp air.
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