Tomatoes

[dooleysm]

My tomato plants are getting decimated by something that is causing the leaves to shrivel and die. After some web research I think I have Septoria Leaf Spot. I've read up on it on the web and am going to take some leaves to the nursery tomorrow to see what they suggest. I was wondering if any of you had done battle with this disease and if you have any tips, tactics, or suggestions.

I'm going to be pretty depressed all year long if I don't get my annual dose of summertime tomatoes this year.

 

[polo1665]

My tomato plants are getting decimated by something that is causing the leaves to shrivel and die. After some web research I think I have Septoria Leaf Spot. I've read up on it on the web and am going to take some leaves to the nursery tomorrow to see what they suggest. I was wondering if any of you had done battle with this disease and if you have any tips, tactics, or suggestions.

I'm going to be pretty depressed all year long if I don't get my annual dose of summertime tomatoes this year.

It's not late blight is it? They are having trouble with it here in Ohio. Don't know if it is as far west as Indiana. Here's some info and links to photos.
Late Blight Alert for Tomato and Potato
I'm watching my plants closely, haven't seen any sign yet.

Mark

 

[dooleysm]

I don't think so, as the tomatoes have been unaffected. So far I can only tell it on the leaves, which are dying in droves. Several of my plants have lost up to 90% of their foliage I'm worried that even if I get whatever it is under control, it'll be too late for this year's crop.

I assumed the yellowing leaves were from too much water, as we've had a ton of it this year so far, but it's really gotten out of hand fast. I was away from home most of the weekend and when I was out in the garden Sunday night I was just amazed at how poorly my plants were doing. They've gotten bad fast and have me concerned. I think it's too late to replant now and we usually can loads of tomatoes, juice, salsa, and spaghetti sauce. If things don't improve, we won't have enough to can anything.

 

[dooleysm]

Though like I said initially, I'm not certain of my diagnosis. I'm taking off work tomorrow and will be in town, so I plan to bring along a couple samples to the local nurseries to see what they think.

 

[polo1665]

I thought the blight thing was doubtful as they have said that Ohio was as far west as it was expected, but I thought I would pass along the info anyway. I wish you luck with your problem. I know how disappointing a this sort of thing can be. Please be sure to post if you find out what it is you have there.

Mark

 

[Chuck52]

It's probably one of the fungal diseases. If you have enough time before harvest, there's a fungicide that will probably stop it .... Daconil I think. It's systemic, however, and has a fairly long wait time before harvesting. Neem oil might do some good and is probably less toxic. I say "probably" because I don't think Neem has been adequately studied. Since it's a "natural product", it has gotten by with lots of folks who want to be organic. I used to study natural products and I worked with some that you really wouldn't want to get on you, much less eat.

Chuck

 

[dooleysm]

I'm harvesting ripe tomatoes right now, a pretty good crop even. It's just that the foliage is disappearing at an alarming rate and I don't think I'll continue to get good tomatoes if the situation continues. It's happening FAST. I guess due in no small part to how wet it's been.

 

[schmism]

i just sprayed mine for Septoria Leaf Spot which starts in early july. we are right at the right time. The plant is affected but not the fruits. Ulitimatly it affects the "fruits" as the plant cant support fruit anymore, but other than that the toms themselves are unaffected.

I sprayed with fungicide yesterday. rain today and tomarrow so perfect timming.

 

[jinman]

Shawn, if you don't already have this link, it's pretty good with photos of tomato problems identified by leaves. Septoria Leaf Spot is shown.

Tomato problems - leaves

 

[Stimw]

I would reccomend that you put your sample leaves in a ziplock bag and wash your hands and clean the outside of the bag before going anywhere with it. Just simple caution you might not think about.
I lost my entire tomato crop this year after 25-30 inches of rain in less than a month!
I bought tomatoes at the flea market Sunday and several booths had signs Ohio Tomatoes. They looked great, tasted good BUT are hard! They are like slicing a cucumber or potato!

 

[bhostasa]

Sounds like blight to me. I had the same thing two summers ago. It was really dry here for several weeks and I was watering almost nightly. I starting seeing some yellow/black spots like you're talking about and did some reading.

I found out that when you water late in the evening and splash dirt up on the leaves of your plants (I was using a garden hose then) it can start a fungus on your tomoatoes. If that is what you have, you need to remove any branch, leaf, etc. that has the spots and throw them away. You're not supposed to leave them anywhere near your garden as it is an airborn fungus and it can still reach your plants.

The good news is that the blight won't really affect your tomatoes. It just makes the plants look like crap. I'm not sure if this is completely accurate or not but my grandpa (who is 93 and still has a garden) told me to add some lime to the soil when I tilled it up each spring. I have to say that it has really helped.

Good luck!

 

[TBDonnelly]

Downy/powdery mildew disease (fungus) is prevelent in my area. It starts near the bottom of the plant and quickly travels up thru the plant. High humidity levels & watering at night contribute to the problem. An anti-fungal program needs to be started early on because once the fungus engulfs the entire plant it's to late. The plants need spraying every 7-14 days to control the fungus. While the fungicides control the problem they don't permanently eliminate the fungus. From my experiences, your mileage may vary.

Don

 

[easygo]

I had the leaf spots last year on my tomatoes. It started on a single plant and eventually spread onto all the others. By the time I realized what was going on it was too late. Luckily the harvest was still good especially on the early varieties. The late ones didn't do quite that well. I was told that if the problem is noticed early on I can just cut off the affected side-shoots from the plant and bury them in the woods. Whatever the problem I was told not to compost the clipped off part of the plant.

 

[polo1665]

Though like I said initially, I'm not certain of my diagnosis. I'm taking off work tomorrow and will be in town, so I plan to bring along a couple samples to the local nurseries to see what they think.

Did you find anything out today?

Mark

 

[dooleysm]

The folks at the nursery agreed that it was a fungus. They claim to have had loads of people come in with similar problems this year. They were sold out of their most popular fungicide, and in fact it was on backorder at their supplier. We've had an abnormally wet, cool, and cloudy spring/summer here in my area (southern Indiana).

She said to continue removing the affected leaves and sold me a fungicide called Mancowzeb. Apply every 7-10 days. The downer is that you have to wait 5 days between application and tomato harvest. So, I picked all the tomatoes that had any red at all, and sprayed yesterday afternoon.

She also recommended against using grass clippings or straw as mulch. In a wet year like this it makes sense, but normally by this time of year we are aching for water. I just emptied 3/4" out of my rain gauge yesterday evening though. We've had way too much water this year. I've had to replant beans 3 times and corn twice. My first plantings were simply washed away.

 

[polo1665]

The folks at the nursery agreed that it was a fungus. They claim to have had loads of people come in with similar problems this year. They were sold out of their most popular fungicide, and in fact it was on backorder at their supplier. We've had an abnormally wet, cool, and cloudy spring/summer here in my area (southern Indiana).

She said to continue removing the affected leaves and sold me a fungicide called Mancowzeb. Apply every 7-10 days. The downer is that you have to wait 5 days between application and tomato harvest. So, I picked all the tomatoes that had any red at all, and sprayed yesterday afternoon.

She also recommended against using grass clippings or straw as mulch. In a wet year like this it makes sense, but normally by this time of year we are aching for water. I just emptied 3/4" out of my rain gauge yesterday evening though. We've had way too much water this year. I've had to replant beans 3 times and corn twice. My first plantings were simply washed away.

Amazing, we really are not that far from you and we could really use some rain. I hope the fungicide works out for you. Good luck.

Mark

 

[dooleysm]

The past 2 summers have been very odd. Last summer was without question the most enjoyable temperatures we've ever had in my 30 years. Very low humidity and many days in the 70's and low 80's all summer long. Normally we are baking by July with temps in the high 80's and 90's and occassional 100's in August and high humidity all summer.

This year we've had cooler temps as well, along with an endless onslaught of rain. My lawn is usually browning up nicely by this time, but we're still mowing twice a week.

 

[polo1665]

We are enjoying the weather you had last year, I guess. Today will be one of the warmest days so far, supposed to hit 85 degrees. Back down to 70 by Saturday. Hardly ever gets out of the 50's for night time temps. The garden is growing very well though and that's good enough for me.

Mark

 

[TBDonnelly]

Some fungicide options:

GreenCure fungicide for curing and preventing powdery mildew, blights, molds and other plant diseases

Milstop is a commercial version of greencure and is sold in larger quantities:

MilStop Product Information


Orthoï½® Max&#153 Garden Disease Control - Scotts Miracle-Gro

Skim milk has also been used:

Milk as a Garden Fungicide for Powdery Mildew, Botrytis, and Black Spots | Suite101.com


Daconil Fungicide Pint Concentrate at YardLover.com


Don

 

[PA hayseed]

I did a thread search and came across this. I am about to turn over my garden. i lost almost all my tomatoes to blight this year, everyone in my area got hit hard. Way too wet, not enough sun, and colder than usual.

My question is this, I pulled everything out of the ground and let it dry out on the surface (about 30 days). Is it going to be ok to till it all and let it sit til next year? I will probably lime the garden before tilling, as I have heard that lime and copper dust seems to keep the fungus in check.

Any ideas or suggestions? I normally plant at least 40 tomato plants and can't see wasting all that time and money again next year.