| 8/12/2008 8:02:26 AM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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kickincountry
Minneapolis, MN
age: 90
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It started on one plant and has spread to three now...It looks like scabs or something on the tomato's...Any advise on what it is or what i can do?
Janell...
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| 8/12/2008 12:51:36 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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whalemstr
Corning, CA
age: 51
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scabs?
like brown spots or is it like the bottom of the fruit is turning black or?
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| 8/12/2008 1:06:44 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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kickincountry
Minneapolis, MN
age: 90
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Scabs my be the wrong word...But the closest thing i can come up with to explain it...Maybe worm tracks?
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| 8/12/2008 3:59:52 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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trgtno7
Festus, MO
age: 67
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Did they split from rain after they started ripening? You may hahe to only use those VFN resistant.
Off topic: the last three years I have been using red plastic under the plants and I get way too many tomatoes now. I bought it at Wally World but next year I'll get it from Gardens Alive.
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| 8/12/2008 4:49:12 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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kickincountry
Minneapolis, MN
age: 90
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I planted late...They are still green...
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| 8/13/2008 1:31:10 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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sitiniraq
Montgomery, TX
age: 49
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Tomatoes are prone to numerous plant diseases, more than any other vegetable, but only a few insect pests. Luckily for the gardener, most diseases, with only the exception of a few, can either be prevented or controlled. This year, several tomato diseases have sprung up and are becoming a major problem for many gardeners. The ones seen thus far and also may be in your garden include early blight, tomato spotted wilt virus, and bacterial wilt.
Early Blight
Early blight is the first disease that attacks tomato plants each year. As its name states, this fungal disease appears early in the growing season on the older lower leaves and causes them to brown and yellow. It slowly spreads and moves up the plant onto the rest of the leaves. In addition to moving up the individual tomato plant, early blight will also spread to other existing tomato plants in the garden. A severe case of early blight will stunt plant growth and limit much of the fruit production.
The best way to deal with early blight is to prepare and control it early. One cultural method is to make sure mulch has been placed around the plants throughout the garden. Since early blight is a fungal disease and spreads through spores, mulch will help limit the amount of water and spores that is splattered up on the plant during rainfall and overhead irrigation.
If you water your tomato plants, it is best to put the water around the base of the plants near the ground rather than sprinkling overhead. Excess water on the leaves combined with high humidity could help trigger fungal growth.
Lastly, at the first noticeable sign of early blight, pick off the affected leaves and begin your fungicide spray program. Fungicides such as chlorothalonil, maneb, mancozeb, and zineb are recommended for control of early blight as well as other vegetable fungal diseases. If early blight has been a problem in the past, more than likely it will re-appear each season. Once the young tomato plants are about a foot tall, there is nothing wrong with applying a fungicide even before there are any presence of the disease.
Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
The most serious disease found on numerous tomatoes this year is Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV). Plants that are infected with TSWV are stunted, may wilt, and often die. Initially, leaves in the terminal portion of the plant stop growing, become distorted, and turn pale green. In young leaves, veins thicken and turn purple, causing the leaves to appear bronze. Dark purplish-gray ring spots frequently occur on infected leaves. Stems of infected plants often have purplish brown streaks. Infected fruit may exhibit numerous ringspots and blotches and may become distorted if infected when immature.
TSWV is usually spread by thrips and aphids. Currently, there is no effective way to control TSWV. Controlling thrips and aphids to prevent and reduce spread of TSWV is the only strategy. Spray tomatoes with an insecticide, such as malathion, neem, or insecticidal soap, to suppress insect populations and spread of TSWV. At the first sign of TSWV, always remove and destroy all infected plants as soon as symptoms appear. Leaving an infected plant can serve as a new source for the disease and will only aid in the spread of it. Sacrificing one or a few may help save the others.
Bacterial Wilt
Another bad tomato disease is bacterial wilt, which is caused by the soilborne bacterium. Bacterial wilt attacks plants in the Solanaceae family, which includes peppers, potatoes, and eggplant. A characteristic of this disease, which sets it apart from other wilt diseases, is that plants wilt and die rapidly without yellowing or spotting of the foliage. Bacteria cause wilt by invading and gradually blocking the vascular tissue (the food- and water-conducting vessels just beneath the epidermis).
To identify bacterial wilt, cut and peel back a section of the epidermis and cortical tissue (bark) just above the soil line. In the early stages of bacterial wilt, the pith (center of the stem) will appear water soaked; later, the pith will turn brown and sometimes become hollow. The discoloration of the pith distinguishes this disease from Fusarium and Verticillium wilt.
Another relatively easy diagnostic technique is to cut a portion of the affected stem and place it in a clear-sided glass container filled with water. Watch for a white, milky ooze streaming out of the cut end of the discolored vascular tissue. The white, milky ooze is diagnostic for this disease.
There is no cure once tomatoes get bacteria wilt. You have to pull them up and get rid of them. The only thing a gardener can do is not grow susceptible crops (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant) in the same area each year. Rotating crops will help reduce the occurrence of bacterial wilt.
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| 8/13/2008 1:52:01 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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kickincountry
Minneapolis, MN
age: 90
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sitiniraq...Thank you very much for the info...
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| 8/13/2008 7:06:33 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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trgtno7
Festus, MO
age: 67
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Try GOOGLING Cornell Tomato Anthracnose. Remove all dead folage from the area where you grow tomatoes this fall.
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| 8/14/2008 8:03:22 AM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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suzydoll
Ravenna, TX
age: 63 online now!
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Good Morning All! This is my first visit to Gardening. I also have had a horrible experience this year with my tomato plants. I did three large pots of patio tomatoes. The potted tomatoes are sitting in the yard, full sun. In planting I chose good pots, Miracle Grow Potting soil with fertilizer and plants that looked healthy and sturdy. Put them in pots about 3 months ago and they have produced only about 4 good tomatoes thus far.
I went out to water two mornings ago and all the leaves were stripped from the plants. Do know that there is a worm that will do this. The plants or rather the stems that remain with one lonely tomato still looks healthy.
Also I did two green bell pepper potted plants. They look healthy enough but in 3 months time have only produced one pepper thus far.
Any suggestions or help?
Suzy
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| 8/14/2008 5:23:17 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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sun_shine51
Shreveport, LA
age: 57
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Did they split from rain after they started ripening? You may hahe to only use those VFN resistant.
Off topic: the last three years I have been using red plastic under the plants and I get way too many tomatoes now. I bought it at Wally World but next year I'll get it from Gardens Alive.
what kind of red plastic-like garbage bags
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| 8/15/2008 6:55:41 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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alicekathleen
Sacramento, CA
age: 63
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My tomatoes too are going down. Lost all of 2006 to early blight. I will not buy plants from Home Depot any longer!
As for the ones in containers, not sure. I did tomatoes in containers (clay) one year, cherry tomatoes. Gardening
for veggies is such a mixture of luck, experience, weather! I have seen cherry tomatoes just against buildings
ignored and not tended, and loaded with fruit. Beats me! I do believe mine do best if I have good support and
I have noticed that 6 hours of sun gives plenty of fruit on a group that I planted in a different section of the yard,
whereas my full sun garden is looking yellowish and drooping, curling. Fungus is my guess, hard to get rid of it, too.
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| 8/17/2008 5:57:17 AM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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trgtno7
Festus, MO
age: 67
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The red plastic Wal-mart sells s the same materal only red sheets 2'X2' Gardens Alive has 3' wide rolls 25' long with pin holes to let water through. I've used this 4 years and get more tomatoes. Cornell U researchers claim 40% increase.
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| 8/26/2008 11:07:33 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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lyrea
El Paso, TX
age: 44
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Tomato yellow leaf curl treatment... lost all to this ,, any cure ,,, or way to prevent.. comes from a fly as close as i can figure and only effected the celebrity., not cherry
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| 8/27/2008 2:04:01 PM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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traveljunkie
Pittsburgh, PA
age: 38
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I'm having problems with my tomatoes, as well. Mine are ripening but are spotted brown at the bottem of the tomato. One even turned black. I used organic soil & fertilizer. The leaves look fine. Any idea what that is?
Thanks for posting this topic! I'm afraid to eat my tomatoes and not sure I can salvage the tomatoes at this point. There are many growing and ripening but none without worm looking holes or the brown spotty stuff on the bottem.
My green peppers, jalepenos and basil are growing well! Thank goodness. =)
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| 8/28/2008 6:39:46 AM |
Help!!! Somethings wrong with my tomato plants... |
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kickincountry
Minneapolis, MN
age: 90
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My cherry tomato's are great...A some of the regular plants are fine...I don't understand it...Might just get them from friends next year...
My cucumbers are not doing well at all...I have one cucumber going on the vines...
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