Aggressive blight problem: which tools disinfect v buy new

Nashville, TN

I live in Nashville and have had problems for two years with aggressive blight that decimated my tomato plants, caused spotting on my beet leaves, and caused some problems on my watermelon as well (leaves spotted, fruit rotted on vine).

We are moving to a new state. Needless to say I am eager to leave this blight (fungus? disease?) behind. I read up on how to disinfect tools and have been aggressively disinfecting all morning. I'm hoping some of you can advise me on what to keep (disinfect), and what to toss and buy new.

Disinfecting regime: 3-5 minute soak in a bucket with 1:5 chlorine bleach
For parts/pieces that don't fit to be immersed in bucket: 3x wipe down with chlorine bleach solution, sun dry in between. Spray with lysol.

I have:
Large garden shovel
Small hand trowel
Small hand garden claw (plastic)
Large leaf rake (plastic)
6 pieces of metal electrical piping--hollow (from a SFG trellis)
metal corner pieces from SFG trellis
2 pieces iron rebar (to secure SFG trellis into ground)

But I also have things like a hammock stand (metal) and a plastic kids play area.

Am I going overboard crazy about trying to disinfect to prevent spores and disease from transferring? or am I not crazy enough?

Santa Ana, CA(Zone 10b)

I may be a bit paranoid, but in my opinion, better safe than sorry! I think it depends on which state you're moving to though. Some spores can't live through hard winters.

Nashville, TN

Ahh! moving to Indiana. Northern Indiana. Zone 5. Would that winter be harsh enough?

Cause I started getting paranoid too, but then there was no end to what I thought I might have to disinfect, in part because I dont understand how these problematic spores transfer and survive. Anything thats been outside in contact with air (eg all the porch furniture too?) or just things in direct contact with soil (including all our shoes?).

We have a medium plastic play slide for my son that was out in the yard. I was busy scrubbing it down with bleach but then while I was on a break the movers put it in the truck and I hadn't totally 100% covered all surfaces. Do I need to throw that out? just put it in the driveway and go at it with bleach again? Ditto for the hammock stand?

Dublin, CA(Zone 9a)

Here's an article on late blight from Purdue that you may find helpful: http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/BP/BP-80-W.pdfIt's also good to practice crop rotation with things like tomatoes vs planting them in the same spot every year--if you always plant them in the same spot you're going to increase your chances of them getting some disease--I don't think this is as critical for late blight but tomatoes are susceptible to a ton of other diseases too. It's never a bad idea to disinfect your garden tools, but I wouldn't worry too much about things like the hammock and kids' slide--those sort of pathogens won't survive for long on them unless maybe you've got a thick layer of dirt all over them.

Nashville, TN

It was definitely not late blight. On mine, the spots began appearing in June, they where a speckling of yellow and formed into necrotic centers on the leaves surrounded by yellow speckling. It never seemed to really affect the fruit of the cherry tomatoes at least, though the watermelons did go mushy. but I'm glad to know that mostly the blight forms don't over winter in IN and that I probably dont have to go crazy about disinfecting everything that has ever passed through the air at my house (which was what I was heading towards!!)

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