Seeds

[ksmith]

I'll be planting seeds in starter trays in a month, so I needed to figure out which seeds to plant. Tomatoes are a given. Bell peppers. Arugula and mesclun are a strong possibility. Basil is a given, along with tarragon. The thyme looks to have survived the winter indoors, which was nice. That's one herb taken care of.

Anyway, tomatoes. I have to be concerned about early blight, which showed up in the volunteer Romas last year and spread to Black Crim, Cherokee Purple, and Brandywine. I did harvest a decent number of tomatoes, but I had to watch the plants very closely, pull yellowing leaves, spray copper solution, and do whatever else I could to keep the crud from creeping. I can't plant in a different area, which is the first thing they tell you to do to reduce the chance of blight. I have a raised bed in the sunniest spot on the backyard, and it needs to stay where it is. I can replace the dirt, I guess. But the spores are airborne, which means I can be as careful as possible, and something could still blow over from a neighbor's yard.

So. This year, I made a point of hunting for varieties that were blight-resistant. According to this chart, there are a few possibilities, all of which are new to me. I ordered a couple, along with some non-resistant varieties which may or may not work out:

Mountain Fresh Plus (Early blight resistant)
Aunt Ginny's Purple (heirloom, supposed to be tasty)
Tommy Toe (Early blight resistant)
Siberian (cold tolerant variety)

I also ordered chocolate and purple sweet peppers in addition to my favorite reds.

Comments

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

So one of the things that helps spread blight is watering from above (sprinkling) or rain. What can help is to layer newspaper around the plants when you put them in. Then put down mulch on the paper. The paper will break down and help the soil and can be rototilled. But it really helps keep the blight from bouncing up out of the soil. It worked pretty well for me when I had the issue in Indiana. The newspaper also keeps weeds way down. Added bonus.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Articles that I read mentioned hardwood bark mulch, but not newspaper. I had planned on mulching, and will add the newspaper.