| A potato with late blight. |
It was first spotted in Maryland in early June and by the end of the
month, cases had been reported in Ohio. It grows best in wet, cool
conditions and while this summer has certainly been wet, that wonderful
July and August Kansas heat should hopefully be enough to keep it from
spreading here.
Late blight also
affects tomatoes, which is where the real concern is now. Ohio is the
third-largest tomato producing state (it's the state fruit and tomato
juice is the state beverage) and while the disease has only been
seen in home gardens, there's a big risk it will spread to commercial
farms, especially organic farms which can't use many pesticides.
Since most home gardeners have no experience with
late blight, officials are trying to get the word out about what it
looks like. In potatoes, it causes deep brown, sunken lesions that go
beneath the surface. On green tomatoes, it causes similar lesions that
resemble leather.
Ohio State University has put together a fact sheet
of symptoms. Ask who anyone who has
ever been to one of Ireland's famine museums -- English
or no English, late blight should not be taken lightly.
(Image via Flickr: Ben Millet)
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