Please help save my tomatoes!!

17 years ago

Can someone please help me figure out whatÂs wrong with my tomatoes? TheyÂve lost all the leaves on the bottoms, and the tops are now turning brown, too. (Sorry no pix yetÂworking on that. So IÂve tried to be organized with my info.)

IÂve spent hours poring over the useful answers here and looking at the diagnostic photos, and still canÂt figure out whatÂs wrong. I do NOT think itÂs late blight, for reasons explained below.

PLANTS. 1 Windowbox Roma, 1 Champion

WHERE: Boston area (Cambridge)

PLANTING LOCATION: New, well-drained plastic containers on somewhat-protected 4th floor deck. Plenty of sun except in late afternoon. Tomatoes have done well here in previous years.

SOIL: Miracle Gro Organic Potting Mix

FERTILIZER: Tomato Tone, as directed on package

WATERING: As needed to keep more or less consistently moist but not wet. I water till excess floods out the bottom (these pots have drainage racks built in).

ANTIFUNGALS: Daconil alternated with a copper/pesticide powder, each 1 x/week and I try to retreat after a rain. I also try to nip off affected leaves but canÂt always keep up.

WEATHER: Very hot and humid this week. Mostly clear but rain coming for a few days.

OVERALL HEALTH: Great. Meaning, leaves that are unaffected look perfect. Fruits look perfect and plentiful.

SYMPTOMS: Brown spots appear on leaves, surrounded by yellow areas. These spread, and the leaf browns, crumples, and falls off. Side stems also affected, but mostly after the leaves have died. After stems yellow, they break off easily. Main stems seem OK. Problem is worse on bottom of plant, which is now mostly defoliated. Starting to spread to tops and new leaves. Seems to spread faster in rain.

DURATION: This spreads steadily but not super-fast. The plants have had these symptoms for a month or so.

"TESTS": I put an affected leaf with a damp paper towel into a plastic baggy. It browned and yellowed, but it took a week for the entire leaf to be "consumed." No grey areas, no fur, nothing special on the underside.

I like to let the fruit ripen on the vine; they taste much better. But IÂm getting worried that the plants donÂt have enough leaves to keep going.

I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks so much!

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Comments (7)

korney19
17 years ago
Sounds like Early Blight if the spot are not small like BB's. Can you post a pic?
bcday
17 years ago
I'm with Korney, if the spots are large it sounds like Early Blight (Early Blight is NOT the same as Late Blight).

If the spots are small, it could be Septoria, Bacterial Speck, or Bacterial Spot.

Are there any spots on the fruit? That would help narrow it down.
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marcolo
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for replying.

There are no spots on the fruit.

The leaf spots do start small, but to my eye, they do not look like the multiple speckled spots scattered across the leaf that I see in the Speck photos.

Question is, with Daconil and copper already part of the regimen, what else can I do?
bcday
17 years ago
I would guess that you are fighting Septoria.

Early Blight, Bacterial Speck, and Bacterial Spot would all cause spots on the fruit. Septoria hardly ever affects the fruit.

Also, Septoria spots have the yellowing around them and they do start small but then grow larger as well as melding together as more spots appear. And Septoria will eventually defoliate the plant if not brought under control, which can be difficult to do once it gets a good start.

As far as what to do, it sounds very much like you are already doing as much as you can. The two most effective treatments are to remove infected leaves as soon as you see them, even leaves that only have a couple of small spots, and spray with Daconil. When spraying, make sure that you get the undersides of the leaves thoroughly covered with the spray.

Septoria grows and spreads most rapidly in damp conditions, so anything you can do to keep the foliage dry and avoid handling the plants when they are wet will help too.

Cleaning up all the aboveground plant parts at the end of the season and disposing of them in the trash (landfill) will help to keep the Septoria from carrying over to next year's plants. It won't be a 100% guarantee by any means but it will help keep the disease from getting a running start.
struwwelpeter
17 years ago
Personally, I would have trepidations for spraying weekly with anything. Thusly, I suspect that you are killing your tomato plants with copper fungicide.
bcday
17 years ago
Copper isn't especially effective against Septoria anyway, but there was some question as to whether this was a bacterial or fungal disease. Copper would be the most effective treatment available to the home gardener for Bacterial Speck or Bacterial Spot.

If you aren't sure whether you are dealing with a fungal or bacterial infection you might wish to cover your bases, so I can see trying both copper and Daconil until you get a diagnosis.

And in the case of a really fast-moving fungal disease that can reproduce in less than a week, more frequent Daconil treatments than weekly are not unusual.
marcolo
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks to all of you for all of your replies. Still working on the photos (don't ask!)