Greetings, everyone,

A friend told me that she would avoid late blight next year by removing 6"-10" of soil from her containers and replacing it with new soil. Does anyone know if this is true? It seems to me that the kind of late blight that overwinters would be in the soil and not just on top, but I may be wrong.

Thanks,

Seaturtle

uhhh oh is this a reminder of next years planting me I am going to plank a beef stake tomatoe and  earlygirl one so at least cherry ones and then have at least 4 plants next year and a havest of green beans

seaturtle:

A friend told me that she would avoid late blight next year by removing 6"-10" of soil from her containers and replacing it with new soil. Does anyone know if this is true?

I were using containers, I'd replace all of it. In a garden, removing that much soil would probably work, but I wouldn't trust a container. I think you're not supposed to plant tomatoes or anything in the nightshade family in the soil for three years after the late blight, so for people who use containers, it would be easier to start fresh and those who have ground gardens, rotating crops (which should be done anyway) should solve the problem for next year. 

mine would be in a hot house kind from the store sooo don't know cheap is looking into it and it keep her busy and off the computer until money going threw her books she will do beef stake as a experament trying this...

I agree with Pat.  Rotating crops can solve a lot of problems.  This year I am "pit composting", where I dig a hole & bury the peelings, etc instead of composting on top of the soil.  I usually layer manure with grass clipping & leaves as an overwinter mulch, but with all the beetle problems this year, the mulch is being turning into the soil to let the worms break it down over the winter. I will turn the garden a couple of times during breaks in the weather, to let all the beetle eggs have their turn to freeze.

 Local garden expert wrote in local newspaper about the blight. He said the most important thing for next year is good drainage for tomatoes. Keep the plants dry as possible. So if in pots, raise the pots , bank the soil for drainage when it rains. In the garden, hill the soil before planting....like we do potatoes. I think that it is worth a try to do this. Babs

zohnerfarms:

This year I am "pit composting",

Today I went to 4 stores (Kmart, CAL, Laura Kay's Nursery, & WalMart) looking for RoundUp or generic equivalent.  CAl was the only place that had it, but I don't need a container so big it costs $108!!  I was planning to spray the grass that has crept into the garden from the pasture on the other side of the fence.  It is the kind of grass with the barbed-wire type roots that grow through potatoes, etc.  Since I can't find Round-Up in a reasonably-sized container, plan B is to dig out the grass & roots with the shovel & pitchfork. I started today & topped off the garbage can that will be picked up tomorrow.  As long as I am digging out the grass & tunring over the soil, I figure I might as well dig in some grass clippings & leaves at the same time.

on rotating crops....

dh and I would really like to cover crop our garden area and let it stand vacant for a year. The weeds were the worse Ive ever seen this year and they were weeds that we have never had before, which is very weird!

The problem is where to move our garden to next year? We are in the pines with sandy soil. Weve spent 6 yrs building up the garden soil with manure and compost, now we will have to plant around trees again in the sand? The goats were supposed to be gone, but they havent been picked up yet, or I was thinking about tilling a small garden where their penned 'pasture' area is. But just in case they don't leave and Im forced to feed them thru winter, I need to find a spot nearby....so that water will reach it.

It will be a much smaller garden to say the least, wherever we put it.

Maybe I can still grow the corn in one part of the old garden, and save the other smaller plants for the 'new' garden area.

But the weeds were impossible to deal with....I really hope leaving it fallow for a year helps.