Let’s Fight That Blight!

If you’re growing potatoes and tomatoes you’ll want to avoid a horrid sounding disease called late blight. It’s caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans (now that’s hard to say!) The fungus normally appears in the UK from July or August and loves to grow in wet, humid conditions. Read on to find out how to identify it, what to do if you get it and what you can do to try to prevent it.

Not a hint of blight in sight!

How to look out for blight

Within 3 days of the fungus landing on a leaf the initial symptoms appear.  Small, dark spots develop into lesions. There is often a halo of light green issue around the dark brown lesion. The leaves will shrivel up and turn brown. In humid conditions you might see a white fungus growing around the edges of the undersides of leaf lesions.  Next the brown lesions spread to stems and if untreated rain will wash the fungus down to the developing crop of potatoes and tomatoes.  Potatoes will develop a red-brown decay below the skin and will rot quickly in storage. Green tomatoes will develop brown patches and ripe fruit will again spoil quickly.

If you live in a blight-prone area you should register with blightwatch. It’s a free service provided to potato farmers but us amateur gardeners can use it too.  It calculates the risk of blight being in your postcode based on weather conditions

How to treat blight

Dealing quickly with an attack is key.  If you catch it early you might be able to remove and destroy any diseased leaves.  Ideally burn this material or bury it more than 45cm underground. If more than a quarter of the foliage is affected or if the stems are affected then you will have to remove and destroy the whole plant.  If it is late in the growing season you can remove the potato foliage near soil level and leave the developing potatoes in the soil for 2-3 weeks to harden the skin and allow the fungal spores to die before harvesting and eating.

How to avoid blight

Blight survives over winter in infected seed potatoes, diseased potatoes dumped by your veg plot and in unharvested potatoes left in the soil which will sprout the following season. Black nightshade and bittersweet are common weeds in Britain that can also be a natural host and spreaders of blight. The majority of infections in gardens are due to spores being blown on the wind from neighbouring gardens and allotments. So unless you want angry neighbours, make sure your garden is as clean as possible. Also make sure that you’ve removed all potatoes at harvest time. Don’t just use any old potatoes as seed the following year but buy certified seed from reputable suppliers.

Our trug full of lovely perfect potatoes

How to get the better of blight

In blight-prone areas you will have best success with first and second early potato varieties as these are harvested earlier, giving the fungus less chance to attack. You can still get blight in older cultivars of potatoes and tomatoes that are labelled as “blight resistant”.  This is because the fungus has changed over time and learned to attack these cultivars. Despite having pretty sounding names such as Pink 6, Blue 13 and Green 33 these new strains are highly infectious.

Make sure to chit your potatoes before planting as this will give a shorter time to harvest and less time to be susceptible to the fungus.
If you’re growing more than one variety of potatoes you can try to alternate rows of varieties with lower and higher blight resistance. This can reduce spread of milder cases.

If possible grow crops on a 4 year rotational basis so your earth has a chance to clear plant specific diseases in between crops.Blight typically affects tomatoes grown outside so you should have better success in avoiding the disease in plants grown in the greenhouse. Despite “Feline” and “Legend” tomatoes being labelled as resistant, they will succumb in prolonged humid conditions.

Suttons Seeds have just started to sell a new variety called Crimson Crush that they claim is the “world’s first fully blight resistant tomato”.

Growing Red, White and Blue (Yes Blue) Tomatoes

Mummy, Daddy and I were really upset when we found out that 4 out of every 5 tomatoes that we eat in the UK are imported from other countries.  May 18th-24th is British Tomato Week so I’m going to try to persuade you to have a go at growing your own (or at least eating British) this year.

Tomato Facts

Tomatoes are the most widely grown ‘vegetable’ (ok, you and I both know they’re a fruit) in the world.  They are grown from as far North as Iceland and as far South as the Falkland Islands. Some have even been grown in space. But British tomatoes taste best as they can be harvested when riper with less distance to travel to reach our tummies.  They can be in the shops within 24 hours of harvest.
Science boffins have just found out that the colour of light the tomatoes are grown in makes tomatoes taste differently and can vary the amount of vitamins they contain.  The energy efficient LED lights cost less so UK farmers will be able to compete with cheaper imported tomatoes.  The first ever British Winter tomato crops were harvested in December 2014.

Yummy tomatoes

Growing your own

The time to reach tummy is even less if you grown your own. Tomato seeds are normally sown between February and April.  Don’t worry if you’ve not sown any seed, you’re not too late to grow tomatoes this year as as you can easily pick up some small plants at garden centres or specialist tomato selling websites.  For expert tips on growing tomatoes from seed (for next year) and making yummy chutney read my Tasty Tomato blog.

Despite the biggest UK tomatoes greenhouse being the size if 25 football pitches (!!), you don’t need much space to grown your own. Just pick types that will happily grow in pots or even a hanging basket. Sunlight rather than heat is the thing that make for best tomatoes.  If its too hot the plants produce less fruit and they don’t taste as good or last as long.  Let’s hope we get a sunny Summer then!

What varieties to grow

By growing your own you can get a really big range of colours, sizes and flavours.  Euan is growing black tomatoes this year but I never knew you can get pink, white and even indigo blue tomatoes. If your garden does suffer from blight you can pick certain varieties such as Ferline, Legend and Losetto that are more resistant to the disease. But they can still catch it in warm, wet weather.

Losetto has the bonus of being way to grow in containers in small gardens. Sungold is an orange coloured cherry tomato that loads of people think is the sweetest and best tasting of all. Shirley is one of Euan’s granddad’s favourites and he’s been growing tomatoes for 60 years. It is a medium sized tomato that normally gives a good crop. Rambling Redstrip is a great one for hanging baskets and has lovely green stripes on the red tomatoes.  It has a long cropping season too.

Euan likes to give his home grown tomatoes a bit of a taste test first!

Problems to look out for

Although they looking nothing alike, tomatoes and potatoes are related to each other (I think they’re second cousins once removed or something).  So tomatoes can also suffer from the nasty sounding disease blight. It’s caused by a fungus and is normally more of a problem in tomatoes grown outside as the fungus likes damp weather (look out for my blog all about it next month).  The brainy folk at the RHS have useful info on their webpages about blight and other tomato diseases such as blossom end rot and cracked or split tomatoes (both can be prevented with regular watering).
Just make sure to water the soil and not the plants- tomatoes hate getting their leaves and stems wet (almost as much army BFF Euan hates getting his hair wet!)

My favourite way to eat home grown tomatoes is right off the plant when you can still feel the sunshine on their skin, yum. Even in pasta sauces Mummy says they don’t need cooking as they are so yummy.  She just chops some up with garlic and torn basil and tosses them through pasta with some olive oil.

I’m off to check on our little tomato plants to make sure they’re got enough water.

Make sure you buy British this week.

Sowing The Seeds Of Love

Hi everybody! It’s less than a month ’til the official start of Spring which is super-exciting! Already plants are pushing through the ground, buds are appearing on shrubs and slowly the garden is waking up from its winter sleep. Let’s have a big stretch everyone as it’s time to dust down your seed trays, rummage through your seed boxes and get sowing. If you’ve never sown seeds before, don’t worry, I will talk you through the process, making it super-easy. Plus you don’t have to have any fancy equipment as I have some neat alternatives to share with you. Come on, let’s do it…

Collecting nasturtium seeds for next year is really easy!

Step One – Organise your equipment

If you are a professional like me you will have lovely seed trays to grow your seeds in. But I think it’s cool to grow them in other things which are lying around the house. I will tell you more about them later. But first things first, make sure you give your trays, cells and covers (or whatever you are using) a good old clean. It gets rid of nasty bugs which could affect your seeds. It’s just the same as us washing our hands before we eat, right?

Step 2 – Fill your containers with compost

It’s important to use a good compost which is meant for sowing seeds to give them the best possible start. This sort of compost is lighter and holds water better which means the seeds can grow more easily. Read your packets in case your seeds have special instructions. We used Verve Sowing and Cutting Compost (it has to be the 12L bags) as it’s a Which Best Buy.

Fill your seed trays

Step 3 – Sow Your Seeds

Remember to read your packet and find out when and how your seeds are to be sown. Some like to sit on the top, some like a light covering. We have sown some of ours slightly early but we don’t have a heated propagator so that will be fine. Some of the seeds are teeny-tiny (like a Pontipine!) so you have to be really careful when you are handling them. I like the pumpkin and courgette seeds as they are big (like me!)

Step 4 – Label & Cover

Make sure you label your trays clearly so that you know exactly what is growing there. You could write the names or draw a picture of what it will look like. It’s important to label as whilst I love growing courgettes in the middle of our flower beds some people might not want their broccoli in a hanging basket 😉 Cover your trays to create a humid environment for the seeds to germinate well. Remember to keep the trays well watered and in a sunny spot.

Alternative Trays

If you don’t have seed trays there are lots of alternatives you can use such as plastic bottles, yogurt pots, tin cans, egg cartons, juice cartons, old boots, milk cartons or any old flower pots you have sitting around. To use a bottle, cut the plastic bottle in half long-ways (ask a grown-up to do this) to create a lid which you can easily flip up to water. Remember to put drainage holes in the bottom.

Use a juice bottle as a seed tray

So there you have it! And already, even in just a few days I can see my seeds starting to push through the soil. I have a selection of pretty flowers growing such as nasturtiums, poppies, sweet peas and cosmos as well as loads of different veg from courgettes and pumpkins to tomatoes (OK, technically a fruit) and broccoli. How exciting! Once your seedlings have developed their first true leaves and are large enough to be handled, carefully pot them into their own small pots. Be careful to handle them by the leaves or you may damage the stem.

Give on, give sowing some seeds a try. I promise you it’s waaaay more fun, more tasty, cheaper and better for the environment than relying on supermarket produce.

Hugs & kisses,

Lulu xx

Top Tips for Tasty Tomatoes

It’s the time of year when many of us gardeners are eagerly watching our tomato plants and hoping to see them ripen and give us a bumper crop. I was recently asked for tips on growing tomatoes so I figured two brains were better than one (even if the second one is a boy’s!) so I decided to interview my BFF Euan. He has 98 (yes 98!) tomato plants at home and his Grandad is a proper expert on tomatoes. So read on for some top tips for tasty tomatoes (that’s a lot of alliteration you know!) in my interview with Euan Boutell, tomato extraordinaire, aged 20 months!

I just need to give our home grown tomatoes a bit of a taste test first!

Hiya Euan, I know that if you want to grow tomatoes for super cheap, it’s best to grow them from seed. Plus it’s great fun watching them sprout through the earth and grow big and strong like you and me! So, when would you say it’s best to start sowing seeds?

Good advice Euan. And  what would be a good variety for a beginner? Or a good variety for a pot on the patio if you don’t have a greenhouse?

Moneymaker or Ailsa Craig are good red varieties and Golden Sunrise for a yellow. They are all pretty hardy and easily available. If you are growing in a pot outdoors a Tumbler is a great tomato plant. Add a few marigolds and nasturtiums in the same pot and you have a very pretty and tasty pot! . The “bush” varieties of tomato don’t need staking, pinching out or grow so tall either so can be a good option for beginners.

Clockwise from top left: Ailsa Craig, 2 Golden Sunrises, Roma Plum, Tigerella, Gardener’s Delight cherry. Centre is Ailsa Craig.

And what is it best to sow seeds in – a tray? a biodegradable pot?

Just in a normal seed tray is absolutely fine. But you can use pretty much whatever you have lying about the kitchen – a yoghurt pot would work well and we always have a lot of them Lulu!

And what kind of soil would you grow the tomatoes in Euan? A certain compost? Add vermiculite?

Again, it’s really simple Lulu – just a standard seed compost.  No vermiculite required.

So, how do you know when to pot the little plants on?

Easy – when the first true leaves have emerged.

And I know it’s important to remove trusses as this helps you get a better crop of fruit. When do you do that?

The aim is to have a single stem with four or five trusses (the branches with yellow flowers on them.) Late summer remove the top
growing tip so all energy is focused on the rest of the plant. Keep “pinching out” side-shoots so the plant can focus on those few branches. There will be less fruit but what you get will have a chance to ripen and be better. As lower leaves wilt remove these to keep the plant nice and healthy.

Cuore di bue beefsteak tomatoes. Later ripening so not
the best for
northern gardens but good for bulking out green tomato chutney.

Now Euan, you know better than anyone that feeding is important and not just for us toddlers! When should you start feeding tomato plants and how often?

Well Lulu if I was a tomato plant I would want to be fed lots of times a day! But really feeding should start when the first truss (remember that’s thebranch which will have the yellow flowers) has formed. Everyone has different opinions on the frequency of feeds – some say every couple of weeks, some say more often, some say less. Here’s a secret from Grandad though – he cheats by adding a sprinkle of multipurpose solid fertiliser once the truss has formed in order to reduce the work.

Does your clever Grandad have any other tips he can share with us?

Grandad says nip out any side shoots that grow between main stem and side branches on cordon varieties to ensure growth goes to fruits. Obviously don’t do that on bush varieties. If you are lazy and leave doing this until the side shoots are about 4-5 inches you can actually turn them into new plants. Place the removed shoots in plain water on your window sill for 1-2 weeks until good roots form then you can pot it into compost. But you can only do this early in season (or if you have a heated greenhouse) otherwise won’t have enough time for tomatoes to form and ripen.

Euan knows it’s very important to keep your (98!) tomato plants  well watered!

Any other top tips for tasty tomatoes Euan?

Well, most people store their tomatoes in the fridge which they shouldn’t. They taste much better if they are kept at room temperature. Or even better, keep them on the vine until you need them and eat them straight from the plant.

Also, my mummy knows a thing or two about tomatoes and cooking. Because we live in Scotland where it isn’t always as hot and sunny as
we would like, sometimes tomatoes don’t get as ripe as we would like. However, don’t despair! Nothing gets wasted in our house so Mummy just turns under-ripe tomatoes into some tasty green tomato chutney instead. Here is her very own recipe which she has kindly shared with you all!

Euan’s Mummy’s Gorgeous Green Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:

The end result – a jar of lovely green tomato chutney. Do we really have to wait 2-3 months Auntie Alison?!?

So there you go, Euan and I have hopefully answered all your tomato questions. If you need any more advice whether it’s on tomatoes o
gardening in general please get in touch and we will be happy to help! If you have enjoyed this chutney recipe, read about our yummy Rhubarb Chutney recipe.