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HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

Posted by SunshineZone7 none (My Page) on
Mon, May 27, 13 at 19:40

This is the top of the plant, the leaves are all curling up :(


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

Aphids on the leaves


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

One more pic, damage on leaves from aphids???


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

I don't think that is an aphid on your plant in the second photo. I have seen bugs like that (some kind of beetle) on a few of my plants this year as well. I don't know what they are. But so far, I haven't seen holes in any leaves they were on. Aphids don't usually cause holes, in my experience.


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

I am pretty sure they are pink aphids after looking at lots of pics on the internet. Some of my other plans have them too but this is the only plant with any holes. I am noticing some of the other plants have some tomato leaf roll going on but not as bad as this one.


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

The majority of the holes in your leaves are all caused by flea beetles. That is the classic so-called shotgun appearance of flea beetle damage and it poses no real threat to the plant. Most of us just ignore them.

As Ohiofem said, that is not an aphid. It is far too large to be an aphid and aphids do not cause holes. They have no chewing mouth parts only a sucking snout, Would need a much closer picture of it to be sure but it looks to me like a very small slug and your leaves do show some minor slug damage.

As to the curling leaves, what if anything has been sprayed on or near the plants? Some it looks like classic herbicide spray damage from drifting spray but if other sprays have been used as well they could be the cause.

Dave


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

Hmmm, well that little guy was the only one on the top of the leaf, there were a bunch of little (smaller than that guy, thought maybe that one was the mom or something) pink aphid looking things on the underside of the leaves. When I look up pink aphids it looks like what I am seeing. They are small, definitely not slugs. Could be something else?

As I look at pictures I am worried it could be herbicide damage. I don't use any herbicides anywhere on our property, but we are in the suburbs and I am sure other people use them unfortunately. My other plants don't look as bad, but the new growth on most of them are thinner/slightly curled.

Oh, I do use the organic "leafgro" compost here in MD. It is tested quarterly at an independent lab so hopefully is not contaminated.

I am going to take better pics of the "aphids" or whatever they are tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies :)


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

Just went outside to see if any night critters were on my plants. Found this guy? What is this?


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

One of the hundreds of Diptera (common flies) one can find in the garden at any time. Looks a deer fly to me.

You asked what is wrong with tomato plant and the answer is some minimal flea leaf beetle damage. You won't ever see them and as I said they pose no threat to the plants. And possibly some herbicide damage that shows in the one photo. Otherwise, nothing else shows in the photos. If you are finding aphids on the undersides of the leaves then you need to squish them or hose them off with water or if you prefer, use some spray on them. But they are not what made the holes in the leaves.

Herbicide damage is common this time of year because so many are indiscriminately treating their yards with no regard for the neighbors. You will have to track down the source of the herbicide and try to find out which one was used. Or you can just monitor the plant and see if it recovers, many do with time. If not it will need to be replaced.

Dave


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RE: HELP. what is wrong with tomato plant?

  • Posted by LKZZ 7b (My Page) on
    Wed, May 29, 13 at 12:32

Aphids have sucking mouth parts used to suck the plant juices. Damage is usually shriveling of leaves.

Beetles have chewing mouth parts that make holes...looks like flea beetle damage where the holes are shown. I would remove critter by hand if possible (toss into bucket of soapy water).

Last picture looks like it could be a type of leaf miner which could be looking to lay its larva. These larva will make paths inside the leaf tissue destroying the tissue. (A leaf miner is a type of diptera [fly]). If you can catch it (in a net) and destroy it - that would be best. Damage is mostly cosmetic and early removal of affected leaf is best.


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