Newswise — “All the recent rain has many who grow tomatoes thinking about late blight and wondering if there might be a repeat of 2009.
“Concern is a good thing. It reflects knowledge gained from experience with one of the most destructive plant diseases, unknown to many in 2009. Awareness of the need to routinely inspect plants for symptoms and respond when late blight occurs, by reporting as well as managing or destroying the affected plants, greatly reduces potential for another disaster.
“A few resistant tomato varieties have been developed and are beginning to be commercially available.” --Margaret McGrath, an expert on plant diseases and associate professor of Plant Pathology at Cornell University
NOTE: A new national program tracks the occurrence of late blight outbreaks from reports. For more information, go to http://usablight.org.
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