More on Tomato/Potato blight

More insight on how bad it’s getting as reported in today’s NYTimes.com and from an upstate NY paper, The Albany Times Union.

Irish Blight hitting Northeast

Ok, I can’t blame my people for it, but according to Cornell University, the Late Blight fungus, which destroyed Irish potato crops in the 1840’s, has been seen in many areas of the Northeast, including nearby in Rhode Island.

Symptoms, from Science Daily include:

Large (at least nickel-sized) olive-green to brown spots on leaves with slightly fuzzy white fungal growth on the underside when conditions have been humid (early morning or after rain). Sometimes the border of the spot is yellow or has a water-soaked appearance. Spots begin tiny, irregularly shaped and brown. Firm, brown spots develop on tomato fruit.

So far, there are no reported widespread cases in Maine, though Maine is mentioned in the article. Hopefully it stays that way.