Late Blight Alert! Disease of Tomatoes, Potatoes Arrives in New Hampshire

Late blight, a devastating fungal disease that infects tomatoes and potatoes, has been confirmed in Maine, upstate New York, Pennsylvania and as of Friday morning, New Hampshire.

Left unchecked, the fungus, can quickly wipe out plantings of these popular vegetables.

Premature arrival, probably on infected tomato seedlings
"Late blight usually doesn't strike the Northeast until August." says Extension Plant Health Specialist Cheryl Smith. "Rainy, overcast weather has provided very favorable conditions for development and spread of the disease."

"Some large, nationwide retail stores have apparently sold infected tomato seedlings. If you bought tomato seedlings at one of these stores, check your plants and keep on checking," Smith says.


Symptoms
"Classic symptoms include large, irregularly-shaped, water-soaked, olive-green-to-brown spots on leaves. Under wet or very humid conditions, a slightly fuzzy, white fungal growth may be visible on the underside of the leaf," says Smith." "Leaf lesions begin as tiny, irregularly-shaped dark green or brown spots. Brown to blackish irregular lesions also develop on upper stems. Firm, brown spots develop on tomato fruit, and infected fruit often looks bumpy".

Advice to home gardeners "The late blight fungus produces many spores, which can travel long distances through the air. It's crucial that everyone who grows potatoes or tomatoes, including home gardeners, is monitoring for late blight to avoid being a source of spores that move on to infect potatoes and tomatoes in neighboring gardens and commercial fields.

"There's no need to take action if your plants show no signs of infection," Smith says. But she urges home gardeners to heed this advice:

• Thoroughly inspect potato and tomato plantings on a daily basis, because late blight moves fast and can be difficult to control once established in a planting.
• If you see signs of infection, pull all infected plants from the ground, bag them up, and dispose of the bags in the trash. Do not put them in the compost or in a refuse heap.
• Put a few samples (include several stems plus leaves and/or fruit) into a plastic bag and bring it to your County Extension office, but don't wait for confirmation to pull out the infected plants.
• Don't attempt to treat infected plants with fungicides, even those labeled for late blight. Home gardeners don't have access to pesticides effective for controlling the disease once plants are infected.
• Don't touch healthy plants after handling infected plants until you've scrubbed your hands with soap and water thoroughly.

Guidance for commercial growers
Detailed information for commercial growers, who have access to methods and materials for controlling late-blight infected plantings.

Late blight vs early blight photos
Photos compare late blight with early blight.

Photo of late blight on tomato leaves by Eric Sideman, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

Free pressure-canner testing, food preservation workshops

Thinking about canning the abundance from your garden, CSA, or local farm stand?

Before you harvest, make sure you're using current canning information and tested recipes. And make sure your equipment is in good working order.

Test your pressure canner
Test the pressure-canner dial gauge for accuracy each year before the canning season.

Home food-preservers with Presto-made pressure canners* may bring their Pressure Dial Gauge or Pressure Tru Indicator to a UNH Cooperative Extension county office for testing.

Please call your county Extension office in advance, rather than just walking in with your pressure gauge. If your county isn't conducting testing this year, the Family and Consumer Resources educator there can refer you to a site that will. The educator doing the testing can also inspect your equipment and provide you with recommendations for use based on its condition.

Although weighted-gauge types of pressure canners don't require testing for accuracy, replace the weighted gauge if it's damaged in any way.

*Brand names manufactured by National Presto Industries include: Magic Seal, Maid of Honor, Presto, and National.

Full story.....

Ticks are Active Now. Protect Yourself.

Blacklegged ticks (formerly called deer ticks) are active now throughout much of New Hampshire. June is especially important, because the nymphs (immature forms) of blacklegged ticks are active, and they can transmit Lyme Disease more quickly than the adults.

American dog tick, which doesn't transmit Lyme Disease, will probably be active until some time in August (depends on rainfall).

If you suspect a tick has been biting more than a few hours, consider having it identified once you remove it. (Tweezers or forceps can help with the removal.).

To protect yourself:

• Avoid thick brush and tall grass when ticks are active.
• Use tick repellent on socks and pantlegs (or legs if you wear shorts).
• Check yourself for ticks at the end of the day; remember that they can crawl under your clothing, between your toes, and behind or on your ears.
• Remove attached ticks promptly.

New UNH Cooperative Extension publications that can help

• Insect Repellents includes information on several new active ingredients, including some that work on ticks.
• Biology and Management of Ticks in New Hampshire Comprehensive fact sheet has been updated and expanded to include much new information on diseases, tick species, and controls.

Alan Eaton, UNH Cooperative Extension entomology specialist