Late Blight Still Killing Tomato Plants in the Northeast
Concerns about late blight continue in the Northeast. The plant disease is the same one that caused the potato famine in the 1840s. Reuters reports that the airborne disease spread by spores continues to kill tomato plans in the Northeast. Plants have been pulled from major retailers in an attempt to slow the spread of late blight. These stores include Wal-mart, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart and Lowe's.
"Late blight has never occurred this early and this widespread in the United States," said Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at Cornell University's extension center in Riverhead, New York.
She said the fungal disease, spread by spores carried in the air, has made its way into the garden centers of large retail chains in the Northeastern United States.
"Wal-mart, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart and Lowe's are some of the stores the plants have been seen in," McGrath said in a telephone interview.
The article says many organic farms and home gardners are also at risk. The article says many organic farms won't use fungicide sprays which can kill blight. Steve Funk show how the late blight is killing tomatoes for the Lancaster Online. Take a look:
