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Shiny discoloration on tomatoes

lam13
11 years ago

I posted this in the Growing Tomatoes forum, but haven't had any response. Maybe someone here can help. My italian giant beefsteak has been a late performer. I am just now getting fruit (planted in late April) and it has several blotchy spots. They are almost a shiny, iridescent dark color, not quite black, with no real indication they have penetrated the skin. The fruit is also ripening unevenly. I noticed a similar problem on one my cherokee purples - and it is planted in a different part of the garden. I did notice today that the cherokee purple had some pitting. We have had drought conditions until the last week or two where we have had flashes of rain/heavy storms. I have a feeling that could be the culprit, but am not sure of the resulting problem. Does this look to be bacterial or fungal? Safe to eat? Thanks for your help!

Comments (9)

  • Aindra
    11 years ago

    While I personally never saw that but I searched the internet and it looks like Mosaic Virus.

    http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/80345/enlarge

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mosaic Virus

  • lam13
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hmmm, that may be it. Here is a picture of the leaves. The one on the left is from the bottom of the plant and the one on the right is from the top. I noticed the leaves were getting splotchy and thought it was blight. I sprayed with Serenade after cutting off as much of the affected area as possible. It's on my watermelon and several of the tomatoes, but these were the first fruits that were affected on any of the plants. Are they still OK to eat? From what I have seen on searches, it looks like they should still be edible.

    I swear, I have battled every bug and disease out there this year! Haha. I have managed to enjoy it in spite of the problems though. So much fun to see a garden grow.

  • jean001a
    11 years ago

    In my opinion, tomato images don';t match the virused ones.
    Leaves aren't virused.

    Are all the tomatoes affected? Or only some?

    Please post an image of the entire plant.

  • Aindra
    11 years ago

    Yes, your leaves are too different to be mosaic virus. They're usually yellow or bronized. I provided the link about the affected leaves if you'd like to read about that.

    I'm sorry that I couldn't be much help here.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mosaic virus yellow leaves

  • lam13
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I agree the leaves don't really look like mosaic. Most of the leaves on the plant look healthy enough, but there are some with the above gold/dark splotches which I thought was blight. I just keep cutting those off as best I can. Here is a picture of the whole plant - not sure if it will be helpful as it's sort of grown wild - and a stem where an affected tomato is growing.

  • Aindra
    11 years ago

    Do you have stink bugs or left-footed nymphs around your area? They can cause discolored spots on the tomatoes (you can check it out by image-googling stink bugs tomatoes) Though these images tend to look more severe.

    Your leaves look like late blight so maybe your poor tomato's suffering more than one ailment.

    (I'm no expert so don't put 100% trust in me. Ahem.)

    Here is a link that might be useful: Stink Bugs

  • lam13
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    The stink bug pictures really match up with the gold spots and discoloration on the fruit. I have seen them and knocked a few off into some soapy water, but that was mostly on the melons. I hope that's all it is and not blight. But, I have a feeling you are right and it may be both. Ugh.

    Thanks so much! I never would have thought stink bugs would cause that sort of damage. Learning something new everyday with this garden! :)

  • jean001a
    11 years ago

    Your recent image of the tomato still on the plant suggests something sprayed on the plants. Or perhaps overspray from something else?

    I don't see any sign of blight.

    At this time, do you see any of the spots enlarging? Or are more showing up?

  • lam13
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    The only thing I have sprayed on the plant is Serenade for what I thought was blight. (I actually purchased it for the powdery mildew on my cukes and melons, but it said it would work for blight as well.) I don't use any other chemicals on the garden, except for Neem oil, but I haven't had to use that for well over a month.

    I just went out and really looked around at the base of the plant and pulled off lots of splotchy leaves. I noticed one of the main stems has what looks like a canker and one of the upper stems has a split. Here are some additional pics:


    I don't know if these may be helpful. I'm hoping the plants all hold out until we get the remaining tomatoes. But depending on what it is, I may have a problem for next year...