Officials are asking home gardeners to check tomato plants for a harmful fungus, blight,  that can spread to commercial crops and cause an incredible amount of damage.
In Ohio a small handful of operations have seen a highly contagious fungus on tomato crops.  If the fungus continues to spread the $79 million crop is at great risk. Many are unaware that Ohio is the third highest tomato producing state.
The blight fungus can also be harmful to potatoes.  According to Sally Miller at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the disease is the same fungus that appeared in the 1840s and destroyed the Irish potato crops.
“It’s a big deal because this disease is likely to affect a lot of home gardens,” she said. “If gardeners don’t control it well, a lot of spores may be floating around.”
One thing Ohio has going for the fight against the blight fungus is warm weather, the fungus grows best in the cold.
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