Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A highly destructive disease of solanaceous plants, especially potatoes and tomatoes, caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans, appearing in wet weather often late in the growing season, and characterized by decay of the foliage and tubers or fruits.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun blight in which symptoms appear late in the growing season especially a disease of solanaceous plants caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans

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  • First the bananapocalypse, now this. This is awful:

    “A highly contagious fungus that destroys tomato plants has quickly spread to nearly every state in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, and the weather over the next week may determine whether the outbreak abates or whether tomato crops are ruined, according to federal and state agriculture officials.

    The spores of the fungus, called late blight, are often present in the soil, and small outbreaks are not uncommon in August and September. But the cool, wet weather in June and the aggressively infectious nature of the pathogen have combined to produce what Martin A. Draper, a senior plant pathologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, described as an “explosive” rate of infection.”

    The New York Times, Outbreak of Fungus Threatens Tomato Crop, by Julia Moskin, July 17, 2009

    July 18, 2009

  • Noooooooo!!

    July 18, 2009

  • Ack!

    July 18, 2009

  • Not the tomatooooooooeees!

    July 18, 2009

  • Destroyed my son's prodigious crop (Ithaca, NY) in about 2 days. Dreadful.

    July 18, 2009

  • Oh, no. That's awful, skip. Did he know about the blight before it happened?

    July 18, 2009

  • He did, and there was absolutely nothing that could be done. Now he's worried about the potatoes, which are also susceptible.

    July 19, 2009

  • That must have made it even worse, feeling helpless like that. Let's hope the potatoes survive. *green thumbs crossed*

    July 19, 2009

  • Late blight timed its attacks to co-incide with swine flu...I'll bet you anything.

    July 19, 2009