Is this tomatoe blight and tips to prevent it happening again

This was my second year growing tomatoes. I love their smell and taste. Before leaving on holiday for a week, I noticed some dark patches on the stems of my tomatoes. I cut away stuff so leaves weren't touching the ground and implemented other advice about caring for tomatoes. I came back to find whole bushes dying as per the photos. I assume this is tomatoe blight?:

The above were bushes planted against a southfacing fence in a northfacing garden. I have now cut them down as there didn't seem any hope.
I have now found some similar dark patches on tomatoes on the westfacing fence

Is there anything I can do now and in the future to prevent this happening?

Many thanks

Matthew

 

Growing outside there is not much more you can do. Blight spreads up from the warm damp south west every year. This website BlightSpy | AHDB forecasts when conditions are good for blight to spread. Drier areas are less prone to blight, try not to wet the leaves as blight spores require a wet surface to infect the plant.
Look for blight resistant varieties of tomato.
Best thing would be to grow in a greenhouse as this definitely delays things. I no longer try and grow outdoors due to blight. In Essex I could get away with it most years.

 

Like Nigel I have found it inevitable that tomatoes outside will get blight they need to be undercover
Better luck next time

 

I've found a way to avoid it.
I wont be growing any next year, its just been too much this year and not worth the hassle anymore.

 

I picked my first ripe Tomato tonight from the Growhouse. My daughter in Scotland has been picking them for a week now and these are outside.

 

Thanks for this. I won't give up just yet. Haven't got room for a greenhouse but will look out for blight resistant tomato varieties. Any recommendations for this?

 

I've had a few tomatoes but not any of the large plum ones I really like, they always come a bit later so were wiped out before thay could even ripen one or two.

All I got was cherry type ones which are ok up to a point but even those got blight with only a quarter of the crop ripe.

I've not spent anything like you on compost FC, but I still think its been a disaster year for more than just tomatoes.

 

Don’t be too disheartened. I can’t even grow spring onions and my tomatoes are never going to ripen this year before the weather turns. That’s great you had success with sweetcorn. There is always next year for us all!

 

I am sorry to hear your health isn’t good. That must be very frustrating.

I know what you mean about the expense. It’s easy to get carried away in the garden Centre and regret it later looking at the receipts! I filled a whole bed (my first perennial bed) with expensive plants last year. I took the little ‘snow flake’ logo to mean they would be fine here in Scotland over winter. They were not ! I lost expensive salvia, alstroemerias, agapanthus and penstemons. Lesson learnt there! I didn’t spend as much this year as punishment, but had some good success with seeds: lupin pixie; Virginia stock, cornflowers, wild seed mix and lavateria. Every cloud has a……