Bill,

You've done an excellent job of trying to figure out what's going on and I'm not that sure I can go that much further.

But lets back up here and look at the leaf progression again.

No wilting, so presumably not a systemic disease , which knocks out Bacterial Wilt, Southern Wilt, Fusarium, Verticilliium, Root Knot Nematodes, and the like.

No distorted leaves or petioles bending down or twisted foliage which knocks out several viral diseases and possible herbicide drift and Late Blight.

Which leaves us pretty much with a foliage disease.

Correct?

When spots first appear, how big are they and what is their shape and I assume at this point the rest of the leaf is green.

Many individual spots?

Any yellowing around those spots?

Then the spots merge together and the leaf turns to brown.

Right?

Then the branch on which these affected leaves exist drop off from the main stem, starting at the bottom.

YOu refer to a grayish green at one point, which makes me think possibly Gray Mold, possibly Powdery Mildew.

Is this one plant or ALL the plants you're raising? That makes a difference in trying to figure out what's going on.

Carolyn

Carolyn, Thanks very much for your reply. I may have more than one thing going on here. When first noticed there is one spot varying from the size of the end of my little finger to end of my thumb. When I next examine them there may be more spots or the whole leaf may be involved. If I don't remove the branch the problem spreads to all leaves on that branch. No yellow banding that I can see. The branch does not fall off. It just withers and hangs there until I remove it. Problem is just with the Black Cherry. I have several other varieties close by.
This morning I found two leaves with many small (pencil lead size) spots the same color as the larger spots. Closer examination revealed a small hole in center of each spot. Looks like the picture of Bacterial Speck except for the color of the spot, no yellow banding and the hole. Would something like Maneb be in order? Or could I have an insect problem that I can't see?
Ate the first ripe Black Cherry yesterday and it's sure worth saving:).
Thanks much,
Bill

Hi Bill,
I have the same problem with my black cherry tomato. The leaves are discoloring, but otherwise the plant is super healthy. It is rusty with a few very small brown spots. My plant is planted in a brand new pot, with potting soil. I enriched the soil with Osmocote when I planted it, but believe it may need some nutients. Did anything that you tried bring results? This is my only tomato plant, and I have treated it like a child! It's getting sick, and I need HELP!
Thanks for anything,
Joani

any chance of posting pictures?