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Spray potatoes and outdoor tomatoes with Bordeaux mixture or similar to prevent blightThin heavy crops of apples, pears and plumsTie in new raspberry canes to support wiresCover brassicas with fine netting to prevent cabbage white butterflies laying

tomatoes with Bordeaux mixture to prevent blightThin heavy fruit crops, picking off the smallest. Aim to leave developing fruits about 10-15cm apart along the stems, perhaps thinning congested spurs down to just a single fruitSow seed of herbs now

to my tomatoes, which I grew at home in an attempt to keep them clear of the dreaded tomato blight. No chance! They've succumbed to the horrible fungus yet again. What's worse is that the fruits on 'Marmande' were looking so lovely and swelling so

that the last few fruits reach the table. Unfortunately, this year my outdoor tomatoes have succumbed to blight.There is something vaguely comforting about this time of year – it’s as if we’re ‘all in it together’. We can enjoy some bright warm days but we

's more prone to infection. Spray with myclobutanil.marrows, courgettes, pumpkins, squashsummer, autumn, winterCommon fruit and veg problemsTomato blightGooseberry mildewGrey mould on soft fruitsSooty mould

and are so welcome in these cold, long winter months.Tomatoes have been a total waste of time for the past couple of years due to blight so I'm not bothering any more - I'll grow a couple of plants at home instead!I still haven't mastered the art

, they don't need much space to grow, so you won't need to thin them out. They also grow over a long period, so you can harvest the leaves in winter and early spring.Cut-and-come-again salad leavesBush tomatoes are easier to grow than cordon varieties

, the process is complete.AdamAvoid sickly plants, such as brassicas, if they have clubroot, and blight-ridden potato and tomato plants.Autumn is a good time to either dig your compost into the soil, or spread it on the surface, allowing winter frosts to break

a hot bath and a glass of something restorative.May the caterpillars discover that synchronized swimming is infinitely preferable to cabbage munching.May your tomatoes be strangers to blight.May you always have just the right number of pots to hand