Late blight has been confirmed for the first time in New England, on tomato from a backyard garden in Cheshire CT (New Haven County) this morning, 17 June 2010.  The tomato plants were grown from seed, but could have been infected from nearby greenhouse, bedding plants or market farms.

Cooler, moist conditions over the past week produced favorable conditions according to the late blight forecasting models and added cumulative SV.  The 18 SV thresholds for starting preventative fungicides has been reached in Connecticut Valley, eastern and southeastern MA, although north central and Berkshire locations are lower, from 6-11 SV.  If there is other infected plant material out there, it could produce spores in the next week. Given a confirmed case in New England AND threshold SV across MS, protective fungicides are warranted.  Continue to watch for and rogue out potato volunteers as your personal contribution to a successful New England tomato crop for 2010 and continue to scout potato and tomato fields for symptoms.