Just before the tomato, I got from Gede, started to become red and ripe the leafs of the plant turned brown and dry and the skin of the fruits developed growing brown dots and finally fell down rotten. The same happened to the chillies that stood next to the tomato, except that the leaves stayed green. Now there is only the eggplant left in the bed and the leaves don't look very healthy. But the fruits still grow and look ok, so I decided to leave the plant and watch it. As I have once read about tomato blight in a gardening book I started to research about it in the Internet and learned that:
- early tomato blight is caused by the fungus Alternaria solani which is hosted by plants of the solanaceae family (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplants)
- the fungus needs water to multiply
- the fungus will survive if it has a host
So planting tomatoes together with chillies and eggplant and showering the plants from top was creating the best conditions for the fungi to thrive. I did not find a better solution than to throw the plants out, let them dry and burn them and then not plant any plant of the solanaceae familiy for 3 to 4 years at the same place.
I asked my neighbours how their chillies are doing and found out that quite some have the same problem.
I wonder what your experiences are and what advice you can give.
You already found the answer;-) mixed culture or intercropping is essential. And you got the Neem already. I had fungus problems with my seedling pots, in particular the lemon balm. Leaves got whitish and started falling down. 2 sprays of Neem and accurate removal of the sick leaves did the job. Visit and have a close look at your plants every day if possible and spray at the first sight of blight.
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