In glaring gaps in garden beds, sow seeds of zinnias or cosmos, which will germinate and grow into tall flowering annuals by July. Both need full sun.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University extension specialists say Indiana tomato growers should inspect their plants for signs of a disease caused by a fungus-like organism.
They said late tomato blight has been spotted in an area of Kentucky bordering southeastern Indiana’s Dearborn, Ohio and Switzerland counties. The airborne disease damaged tomato plants in at least 30 Indiana counties last year.
Late blight attacks a tomato plant’s leaves and stems. Infected plants develop brown lesions with whitish borders and sometimes discolored fruit.
Purdue extension plant pathologist Dan Egel said that once a plant is infected, it takes about a week before symptoms appear to the naked eye.
Last year’s outbreak was the state’s first in over a decade.
