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juliboggs

Aphids on tomatoes? Or other pest?

9 years ago

Every year a new pest for me to discover! This year a few of my plants seem to be suffering the same fate. On the tomatoes the bottom leaves are turning yellow and wilting. The bottom of the leaves have some white seed-like bits attached, but no major groupings. Are these aphids? Or could there be a variety of problems? The topsides of the leaves also display a sort of black dusting though very sparse.

Thanks for your insights!

Comments (9)

  • 9 years ago

    Thanks! I'm definitely trying to find these tomatoes happy watering place. I added some nutrient spikes today and will back off the watering and see what happens.

    Neem oil is on the way! Looking at the mint next to the tomatoes I've noticed another problem- it's teeming with something so I'm hoping neem oil will cure it all. Here's the mint leaf I picked off

  • 9 years ago

    I'm concerned that you may have psyllids.

    Can you post a photo of the top of the plant, including newer growth?

    juliboggs thanked gorbelly
  • 9 years ago

    Another possibility is whitefly larvae/whitefly scale.

    I would spray with neem oil, insecticidal soap, or horticultural oil

    juliboggs thanked gorbelly
  • 9 years ago

    If the photo color is at all accurate I'm afraid the fully yellow plant in the photo is well beyond saving.

    It would seem you have a really bad infestation of aphids and have had for some time given the damage. And controlling them now will be a real challenge. Under normal circumstances they can just be hosed off the plant with plain water but it is too late for that now. I would mix up 1 tsp of dish soap in 1 quart of water and spray the aphids with a squirt bottle until the Neem arrives.

    Also tomato plants in containers require regular feeding every 7-10 day and any "spikes" are far from ideal for tomato plants under any conditions as it is a very slow release fertilizer. That plant needs a very quick fix if it is to recover at all. If you have some Miracle Grow or similar water soluble fertilizer available try giving it a dose of that.

    Dave


    juliboggs thanked digdirt2
  • 9 years ago

    OMG, if you're just using fertilizer spikes now and haven't fertilized previously, the plant is starving. Agree with Dave that quick-acting liquid fertilizer like Miracle Grow is necessary at this point, and even then you may lose the plant. Fertilizer spikes are kind of useless, IMO. Even for in-ground plants, they're far, far from ideal.

    juliboggs thanked gorbelly
  • 9 years ago

    The yellow plant looks like possible fusarium wilt. I'd remove all the yellow foliage, and like was just mentioned, liquid /water soluble fertilizer , and keep the container soil moist at all times.

    juliboggs thanked edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
  • 9 years ago

    Thanks for all of your advice, friends. I've given the tomatoes miracle grow and will keep them going weekly on that. I've also sprayed the area herbs with the neem oil/ soapy mixture and will continue with that regularly. Hoping I can get everyone healthy and green soon.

  • 9 years ago

    If the plants start to recover, make sure you move forward with a fertilizer that is a tomato formula, not just plain Miracle Gro. Miracle Gro has a tomato-specific formula also. Fruiting plants need calcium and other micronutrients and a ratio of N that is lower than regular MG. The extra N right now is appropriate because the plant is so starved, but if it survives, you'll want to switch.

    juliboggs thanked gorbelly