If it is blight, you want to remove any of the affected leaves or plants if they're bad enough. Mulch helps protect the leaves from infected soil splashing on your plants. If your soil is healthy enough, you may be able to stave it off until the end of the season. My MIL recovered her plants last year by dosing up heavily with (gulp) Miracle Grow. Mine didn't do as well since I refused the Miracle Grow advice. I do, however, use Serenade to help combat any nasties in the soil and on the plants - but only at the beginning of the season and later if the plants look like they're suffering. Finally, make sure your soil is healthy with lots of rich organic matter. Most of your plants look lovely, btw! I'm not sure if Bt helps combat blight... someone else may have the answer to that! 2009-07-31T00:15:56+10:00 false 12075 2605 2009-07-31T00:15:56+10:00 5903 Whirliegig is right, leahjuly. You need to remove affected leaves. I was just watching a deal on this issue. They said that you need to increase air flow around the leaves by thinning them out, remove any yellow or spotty ones, and mulch. I noticed that this one is sort of behind the others, and the other plants have pretty dense growth. You might try thinning them a bit as well. It has been recommended to me to remove suckers from the plants to help with circulation. I have a very mild case of this. I keep pinching off affected leaves, but I don't have any more mulch for them. I may try to get more of it next year. I did not realize the full importance of mulching until now. 2009-07-31T03:08:09+10:00 false 12076 2605 2009-07-31T03:08:09+10:00 5779 Blight, all three kinds are caused by a fungus. Here is some more info on the particular fungi: http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/expert/tomato-blight.html Remove any infected plant parts. Hot compost them away from the current plants. Cover the soil with fresh mulch (or the current mulch with a new layer). This is to prevent spores from splashing up from the soil. Don't water from over head, and try to avoid having wet plants at night. I know if it is raining there isn't much you can do about it. You can also use fungicidals if you feel the need. Cinnamon is a common and easy one. You can make a cinnamon decoction (boil cinnamon sticks or powder in some water on the stove for about ten minutes, then dilute) to use on the soil and mulch. If it is going to be dry for a bit, or it is a warm day you can spray the leaves lightly with this. But beware of adding more moisture. You can sprinkle the plants with cinnamon powder too, but this is a tricky thing again, due to the powder retaining moisture on the leaves. It needs to be a very fine dusting and early in the morning, so that by night fall most of the fungus is dead. Good air circulation helps dry out the plants and give them a chance to fight off the fungus, as does plenty of sunlight. So prune heavily to allow plenty of light and air flow. Plant garlic among the tomatoes also, it is fungicidal. You can brew a stronger tea to spray mulch and plants with if you feel the need. But if it is damp and moist sometimes this makes it worse. Garlic, chamomile, ginger and tumeric are all good herbs to add in with the cinnamon. They are all relatively inexpensive and readily available also (check an asian market for fresh tumeric). 2009-07-31T03:28:33+10:00 false 12078 2605 2009-07-31T03:28:33+10:00 3716 Interesting stuff Om. I hope that I can obtain enough mulch to mulch the tomato and bean beds next year. I have had a terrible time with rust on the bean plants. Not quite sure how to combat it from home either. But if anyone would know natural ways to cure or prevent plant disease, I think you are a great source for info!! Thanks for sharing!! 2009-07-31T04:14:11+10:00 false 12079 2605 2009-07-31T04:14:11+10:00 5779 @ leah - I believe your pictures are of tomato blight. Om is *spot* on. Ortho Garden Disease is useful, especially if its application is started early and done weekly. I don't know if it's considered organic (I doubt it...), but the label gives "days to harvest" as zero. Crop rotation is SUPER important in the future, but is not a solution, just a delay. :-( It moves fast. Don't delay responding to it or you won't have any plants. I was away on business and it has fairly well taken over my tomatoes. :::sigh::: I sprayed this evening. I hope I'm not too late. 2009-07-31T12:57:02+10:00 false 12086 2605 2009-07-31T12:57:02+10:00 5362 Sorry to hear about that PaulP. You know, tomatoes are really the star of the garden. I would not like to come home and find my tomatoes in distress. I have a lot of cool plants in my garden, but the tomatoes are still the star!! :) I hope that you are able to save them!! 2009-07-31T22:55:38+10:00 false 12090 2605 2009-07-31T22:55:38+10:00 5779 Thanks everyone for the advice! Ill be working hard tomorrow trying many of these suggestions. 2009-08-01T04:45:40+10:00 false 12094 2605 2009-08-01T04:45:40+10:00 10004 Good luck!! 2009-08-01T05:07:47+10:00 false 12095 2605 2009-08-01T05:07:47+10:00 5779