My tomatoes have caught a case of early blight. Is it safe to eat the them? The fruit themselves look fine, but I don't want to feed my family anything that's potentially dangerous.
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2 Answers
Disclaimer: I haven't found any scientific studies confirming the following information. However, years of personal experience with this disease, and the reports of everyone who has done this, suggest that the following information is correct:
Early blight is a localized disease, which means it is not translocated in the plant, but affects only the areas where it has spread externally. The fungus can attack the fruit, in which case the fruit is generally inedible, and is disposed of.
The parts of the plant that aren't affected should grow naturally, unless a blight spot attacks the lower main stem, in which case you may see stunted growth, and this will affect fruit production/quality.
If there aren't any infections in the fruits themselves, they can be used as normal, because the fungus doesn't translocate, or enter the fruit internally.
answered Aug 2, 2014 at 19:40
I just wanted to come back and add my personal experience and anecdotal evidence.
Yes, it is safe to eat the fruit of plants infected with early blight. We've eaten many of the tomatoes from these plants. We simply threw away any that were squishy and undesirable (which we would have done anyway) and have eaten the rest without any ill effects what so ever.
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Yeah, same here. did you get the disease under control, or was it too far along? Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 15:18
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1Well, under control may be a strong term for it, but I didn't lose everything @J.Musser. I'm left with one plant that's still fruiting and one that started to regrow near the bottom. I don't expect any more new fruit this year. Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 15:36
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2:( Well, at least you got something, which is better than what would have happened if your plants had contracted late blight. Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 15:50