Liz

I'd call them and tell them that the seeds are not Beefy Boys and email them a picture of the fruit. Occasionally a wrong seed or two will end up in a packet of seeds, but if you planted several that all have the ribbed characteristic, you can probably be certain that all the seeds are the wrong kind. Ask them to replace the packet they sent with Beefy Boys -- most seed companies will do that if you ask nicely! They might also be able to tell you what they did mistakenly put in the packet if they don't sell a lot of ribbed tomatoes.

After reading about their ribbed tomatoes I think it was a good mistake. Most people on here don't have great things to say about beefy boys. The ribbed ones sound great and are much more expensive seeds. I only planted one plant. I thought the first tomato was maybe a fluke but the 2nd one is coming in ribbed even more than the first. I will contact them. The seedlings looked exactly the same from the packet. They grew bigger and better than the rest of my seedlings. I only planted one and gave the other to my dad but his has barely grown due to the rain- I have an overhang it saved most of my plants.

It has no diseases so I'm pretty sure it's a hybrid. All my heirlooms are doing poorly due to the weather.

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Liz, at thsi time of the season I'm assuming you're talking about foliage diseases b'c the systemic diseases in a zone 6 would probably not be showing up yet.

The resistances bred into most hybrids are systemic diseases such as Verticillium, Fusarium, etc., but not Foliage diseases such as Early Blight ( A. solani), Septoria Leaf Spot, Bacterial Spec and Bacterial Spot.

No variety, hybrid or OP has disease resistance to the common foliage diseases which are the most frequent diseases of tomatoes, There are a couple of varieties that have some resistance to Early Blight but they are of use only for a large scale commercial farmer.

How are your heirlooms doing poorly? And how many heirlooms have you grown in the past as opposed to hybrid varieties, in terms of comparison?

Carolyn

All my heirlooms are doing poorly due to the weather.

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Liz, in reading some of your other posts here this AM I see you're growing Eva Purple Ball and Yellow Submarine but now you're saying that you sprayed something that altered the leaves and you now think they have TMV.

In the Yellow Submarine thread I spoke to the possibility, or not, of TMV which would relate to any variety you were growing, hybrid or heirloom.

And I hope that helped in that other thread and I did ask what it was that you sprayed.( smile)

Carolyn

Lots of possible explanations for appearance difference in only 1 plant - weather being 1 of them. 5-10 plants from the packet of seeds that appeared different would be grounds for a complaint. But not just 1 plant. ;)

Dave

Dave I'm not one to complain about a pack of $2 seeds. Someone else suggested it. I can't tell if all the seeds are different or not.

Caroline - I was infested with aphids. I sprayed with a stupid homemade organic spray with oil and dishsoap- the oil made the leaves translucent and ruined many - I will never do this again. I'm sure it didn't kill the plant - I just sprayed this week. I've already gone through 3 Safer bottles and it was costing me a fortune. Green thumb will be sprayed for now on. It worked! After I sprayed I saw a ton of leaves light and dark green. Not necessarily TMV but could be since we have people smoking on the balcony. I'm going over to read your other post - haven't gotten there yet. My Eva has small skinny, stunted growth which is a symptom and some mottled leaves. My fruit on the YS is striated and has diff light and dark on them. Inside the fruit is perfect. I picked one off and cut it in half just to check for problems. I know any plant can get TMV but I have planted resistant varieties and they show no signs of any disease. Actually my cherokee purple sitting in the corner of my balcony is the only heirloom growing nicely - I'm just getting some small fruits -hope they aren't catfaced. I have never grown heirlooms on my balcony and we have only grown CP out at my parents house in Eastern LI. THis year we have lots of more heirlooms out there - season stinks out there too. My cherry sweetie is supposed to have resistance to septoria and mosaic virus. It's also growing fine - it's OP but not heirloom

I sprayed with a stupid homemade organic spray with oil and dishsoap- the oil made the leaves translucent and ruined many

Just to clarify - homemade soap (not antibacterial dish detergent) and oil spray, mixed in the proper proportions and applied properly has worked well for me and many others for years.

1 T soap, 1 t. oil per gallon of water lightly misted on the aphids and not drenching the plants and not sprayed in the direct sun or the heat of the day normally poses no problems at all and is an effective aphid control.

Could you tell us the mixture you used and how it was applied that caused it to damage your plants?

Dave

For homemade soap sprays, they always emphasize that we should use simple dishwashing liquid and not dishwashing detergent.

Why is detergent a problem? Is it undesirable environmentally, or bad for the plant, or something else?

I don't know if using detergent would affect the leaves. If not, I'd guess that liz's spray hurt the leaves either because the oil and water didn't mix, or because too much oil was used (or too little dishwashing liquid) in the mixture, or because the wet leaves sunburned.

Dave I probably found the worst recipe on the web. I literally fried some of my leaves. Anyone up for some sauteed tomato leaf stew? At least it didn't kill the plant it just looks ugly. The new growth is fine as are the fruits.
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/homemade-aphid-control-a-natural-way-to-kill-aphids.htm

"Not necessarily TMV but could be since we have people smoking on the balcony."

Impossible.

"Not necessarily TMV but could be since we have people smoking on the balcony."
Impossible.

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Trudi, liz has started several threads and in her Yellow Submarine thread there's a much larger discussion of TMV, tobacco, CMV and more.

And yes, most concluded that it's impossible as you did in this thread.

it can get confusing when the same topics for the same person are being discussed in more than one thread, that I know.

Carolyn

Liz, I too am wondering if I got wrong seeds from Park. How big is your Cherokee Purple? I thought it was supposed to be an indeterminate plant, was I wrong? It's in this HUGE tomato cage, and it's only 3 feet tall, if that. I could have easily put it in a pot on the balcony, instead of in the garden. Even my Costoluto Genovese is not as tall as I thought it would get. It's probably the weather, it's been very cold and wet here this summer. I also got some yellow banana pepper seeds from them for free. One plant has never grown more than 6 inches tall. The other is similar to all the baby belles I planted, and I thought large peppers grew on taller plants. Again, could be the weather. The leafy veggies and the beans love it, at least.

Why is detergent a problem? Is it undesirable environmentally, or bad for the plant, or something else?

It is a plant thing. Detergents contain surfactants, emulsifiers, and drying agents such as alcohol. Plus many detergents are also now loaded with antibacterial agents. If used they not only kill beneficial bacteria but have a greater potential for leaf surface damage.

The goal with this spray as with any pesticide is to spray the bugs, not the plant. Lift the leaf and lightly mist the aphids on the underside as well as those on the stem. There is no need to blanket spray the whole plant and it should be avoided.

Murphy's Oil Soap, commonly available in most stores, works well as it already contains the oil. ;) 1 T of it to 1 gallon of water.

Dave

msaunt my cherokee is at least 6 feet tall -it's doing great and have my first five little tomatoes - although we had a storm last night and I'm hoping they didn't break off. They sent me the seed as a freebee. Glad I planted it.

Darn, I have some green ones on there, I bet they turn out red! It's probably the Container tomato variety. I gave my extra plants to my coworkers, I'll tell them they 'owe' me Cherokee Purples!

I use earthboxes- my cherokee is in a container along with sweetie cherries - they are both just so big. They got a bit of a prune yesterday from the storm.