Plant experts urge LIers to check tomatoes for blight

Plant experts are urging Long Island gardeners to check their tomatoes for late blight after the second local case this year was confirmed in Bridgehampton earlier this week.

The fungus-like pathogen devastated many Long Island tomato crops last year, exacerbated by a cool, wet summer that helped the spores spread. Telltale signs of late blight include spotted leaves, dark lesions and rotted fruit.

This year the first local case was confirmed in June at a community garden in Setauket. Those plants were destroyed before the pathogen could spread, said Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at Cornell University's Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center in Riverhead.

This time around McGrath is worried that rain predicted for Sunday could help spread spores from other infected plants that have not yet been diagnosed. The Bridgehampton case was confirmed Tuesday.

"It's possible that it's the only location on Long Island," she said. "But it's unlikely . . . During the rain it's going to move around."

Because infected plants can release up to a million spores a day, it is important to identify and - if confirmed - destroy plants that show signs of late blight. Experts advise sealing infected plants in garbage bags and leaving them out in the sun for a few days to kill the pathogen.

For more information, call the Cornell Cooperative Extension at 631-727-3595. To see photos and other tips on late blight, go to www.hort

.cornell.edu/lateblight.