Grrr... I broke my tomatos! Can anyone offer advice?

9 years ago

OK, so this is my first year trying to grow anything and I've got some hot peppers & tomatoes going. They're in containers (big plastic bins) with holes in the bottom filled with soilless potting mix. The bins are raised up and water can drain well. I started watering by hand and now have a soaker hose that I turn on briefly once a day when it doesn't rain. There have been a few instances where the plants have been watered an then it rained, and a week or so where we got a **lot** of rain.

OK, so all things considered my tomatoes started out great. Then one day I looked at them and my first thought was "Oh my! My tomatoes have contracted leprosy!". My second thought was "Wait... plants can't get leprosy." but that leaves me with the question of why my darling tomatoes look like they were on the losing end of a zombie apocalypse. Many of them, especially the more ripe ones, are showing dark / soft spots that are almost like bruises and are splitting. The splits are usually vertical, though sometimes there will be horizontal or irregular splits across a bruise. The wost one had the "bruise" turn into a large open wet sore. I found, and promptly deported, a few caterpillars, but I don't think that's related to this busing / splitting issue.

So, yeah... my tomatoes are pretty gross. I know I may not be able to save this particular batch but if I can do better for the new ones coming in & not yet up to mature size, or if I can learn from this for next year I'd love any advice on what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks!

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Comments (5)

lgteacher
9 years ago
It may be from the rain. If you look at the link below, you can see photos of tomato problems with the cause and possible remedy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato problem solver
seysonn
9 years ago
Can you post a picture of the whole plant ?

Probably they got some mold disease.
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digdirt2
9 years ago
The way you are watering them - "now have a soaker hose that I turn on briefly once a day" is contributing to the problem.

But a disease issue of the plant as a whole is the primary cause. The link supplied above covers all the possible disease causes. Regular application of fungicides are the control for most all of them.

The last picture also shows the bore hole damage from a tomato fruitworm.

Dave
Cliff Pruitt
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all for the replies. I had a full weekend of painting the house so I wasn't able to get a picture of the leaves yet, but they are definitely spotting / browning / yellowing. Of the issues listed with the Tomato Problem Solver linked above, the Sour Rot from some sort of fungus seems to most resemble the splitting in my tomatoes.

In terms of followup questions, I have a few:

1. Will using a fungicide at this point do anything for me? I've read that all fungicides are preventative and will not rid a plant of fungus after it's established. Will a fungicide allow any of the fruit to come to maturity or is this years crop kind of a lost cause?

2. DigDirt mentioned that the soaker hose was contributing to the problem. I'd originally started by hand watering the plants and set up the soaker hose so that a relative could easily water them while I was away on vacation. I continued using it afterward just for the convenience. Can anyone help me further my understanding with some info on how the soaker host contributes to the problem and what method of watering is preferred? For next year I'm considering setting up a drip irrigation system. Is that a bad idea as well? I know it's very different than a soaker hose but I don't want to spend the time and money if it's asking for problems.

3. I did find a fruitworm on the plant but, being inexperienced, I thought it was just a small caterpillar of some sort. Should I consider spraying my plants with pesticide as well?

With regard to fungicide / pesticide, what are the mildest options I have available? I'm not much into organic food specifically, but I'd like to use as little as possible (mostly to give my wife warm fuzzies).

Side note, the guy we pay to cut our lawn thought he'd be "helpful" and move all of our potted vegetable plants to mow. The result was not good so some of my tomatoes may have more serious health issues than before. Guess I'll consider it a "learning season" and prepare for next year. :-)
seysonn
9 years ago
I got a somewhat similar problem last year . I researched it and to the best of my findings it was called : GREY MOLD disease.

Look at this picture. It is similar to BER but it is not BER.