pulling out plants?

19 years ago

All five varieties of tomatoes I planted have something wrong with them. Two varieties (both indeterminates) had early blight which seems to have slowed, but they also have small, distorted leaves as in a virus. Their yields are also very low. One determinate variety has very curled leaves which didn't stop it's production of fruit. However, it now has discolored leaves and something that looks like a blight. The last two are better-looking but they also have somewhat stunted distorted leaves. These varieties have a lot of fruit on them which is now ripening. Since they are determinates. I was going to let them stay until the fruit ripens or they die off, whichever comes first. All the plants are mulched with straw and watered from below with soaker hoses or by hand.

The variety with the heavily curled leaves and blighted spots I think I need to pull out and take out all the straw mulch too, burning or disposing of the whole mess. There are only 7 plants, but they still have a lot of fruit on them. Is it recommended to take out diseased plants that have still have a lot of ripening fruit? I really hate to do it, but I also don't want to spread more disease around the garden - more than is already there. I have not quite determined what is wrong with these plants that caused the early curling, though I am assuming it is a virus. I have posted some photos of the worst plants.

Is this a mosaic virus with secondary bacterial or fungal disease?

This variety has small distorted leaves now with fine brown specks on them:

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

digdirt2
19 years ago
First, we need to keep in mind that some varieties naturally roll their leaves.

Second, leaf roll (as in your first 2 pictures) is a physiological response to stress not a disease. So you need to identify the stressing factor. Weather especially high heat or heavy rain is one cause, inconsistent moisture levels in the soil from watering practices is another, excess use of nitrogen fertilizer is another, shallow watering rather than less frequent deep watering is yet another cause. So a Google or GW search for "tomato leaf roll" to learn more about it.

The 1st picture shows some bacterial spot but nothing major and both the 2nd and 3rd pictures show some nutrient deficiency symptoms- predominately iron and phosphorus, but nothing that will kill the plant anytime soon. What and how much have you been feeding them?

Bottom line, IMO none of these plants need to be pulled for any reason. This late in the season some plant problems are to be expected especially with determinates and are no real cause for alarm. If you have not fed them lately a 1/2 strength dose of a very low N fertilizer will see them thru to the end of the season and focus on less frequent but very deep watering. Let the fruit ripen normally and enjoy your tomatoes. ;)

Dave
liv2learn
Original Author
19 years ago
The six plants of one variety (top photos) are declining fast. I left them in the ground to allow some fruit to ripen, but much of the fruit is split. This only happened on this one variety - the one with the extreme leaf curl. All the other plants did not experience splitting. Only now, late in the season, are the other two determinates showing some advancing bacterial spotting, so I am not as concerned there.

The indeterminates picked up somewhat when the temperatures came down. However, now they are getting some late season yellow/brown leaves and spotting. I am just picking off diseased branches at this point since our season (in MA) won't last much longer.

The one indeterminate variety which did far less than expected was the Riesentraube. These plants did not grow very much; they produced a number of flowers, but very little fruit. They were the fastest growers from seed but they produced the fewest tomatoes. I expected bunches of grape-like fruit and I got one here-one there. Something went amiss with these plants.

Live and learn for next year. :-)
Related Professionals
Washington Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Amherst Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Boise Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Gaithersburg Landscape Contractors · Longview Landscape Contractors · San Antonio Landscape Contractors · Torrington Landscape Contractors · Augusta Landscape Contractors · Winona Landscape Contractors · Eau Claire Landscape Contractors · Palm Desert Landscape Contractors · Olympia Landscape Contractors · Cape Coral Home Additions · Aurora Home Additions · Scranton Home Additions