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2ajsmama

Pretty sure this is herbicide damage - looking for confirmation

2ajsmama
9 years ago

2,4D? I just can't figure out how it happened. Plant looked fine on Monday. I went away and got stuck a day longer b/c of Arthur. This plant (Dr. Carolyn or Green Doctor, I forget) is one of 6 planted along with my other cherry tomatoes in a 100ft long row, app. 2ft apart. This is the 18th plant in the row (counting from north end) of about 50 plants, 1000ft from my house, surrounded by woods. Prevailing winds from northwest (at least today), no neighbors within 1500ft that direction, over 1/2 mile any other direction. This is the only plant affected, and it's all the new growth. Older leaflets look fine. Has been in the ground app. 1 month.

Mulched with shredded leaves, but so were other plants. I used some of my dad's grass clippings around some plants that looked like they needed an N boost but this wasn't one of them. All those plants look fine (he doesn't use weed & feed, I can ask if he used Roundup to kill some poison ivy but this looks more like 2,4D damage to me - at least what I've seen online, this forum and extension sites, I've never experienced this before due to our remoteness).

Is it possible for 1 plant out of over 250 (counting bean plants which look fine too) to be affected by drift when I have a large buffer of trees all around? Or is this from something else?

I'm hoping the plant outgrows the damage, if it's not repeated.

Comments (10)

  • hoosier40 6a Southern IN
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Looks like just a little leaf curl. Don't see any twisting of the stem. Probably just stress, I've had a few look like that and they came out of it fairly quickly.

  • 2ajsmama
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Closeup - I only picked the 1 leaflet and 1 normal one for comparison, but I've got the growing tip and at least 1 more sucker that look like that on a fairly small plant. Didn't take my phone out back just now when I went to weave/tie things up.

    Sorry the closeup is blurry

  • 2ajsmama
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Maybe a better pic - not just leaf curl, it's twisted and lots of half-formed leaves.

  • hoosier40 6a Southern IN
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OK, yeah I can see a little bit of curl on the stem there. Doesn't look very severe if that's what it is, my guess is that it's not fatal and will recover. Like you said though, where did it come from? Something coming from a 1/4 mile away would likely effect more than that one plant. Could be something that mimics herbicide damage but I would not have a guess on that.

  • seysonn
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    From your physical descriptions, ( this particular plant being in the middle of so many other plants) I seriously doubt that it is a herbicide damage.
    Leaf rolling/curling can be due to various reasons : Too much water can be one of them. Some varieties are extra sensitive to this cause.
    JMO

  • 2ajsmama
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It does sound strange to have this one plant be affected, but I do have 5 others of same variety right next to it, another in the the house garden and none of them are looking like this even though we had almost 3" of rain this week.

    I will try to get out back with the camera and take a picture of the plant and its neighbor.

    I'm wondering since this is a cherry tomato (wish I remembered which "doctor", I figured I'd know from color so just planted alternating colors, I know which reds are the GD and which are SS100, Camp Joy is farther south, yellows I only have 2 Ester Hess - marked - Galinas is PL, Dr. C is not) whether I should replace but I don't know which to replace it with, I have 1 Green Dr left in 6 pack and 1 Dr. C that looks good (put in garage this week to protect from storms and DH didn't water so the other isn't looking good). But those may be stunted from being rootbound so long, and I do have 6 others of this variety (5 next to this 1 and 1 in house garden) so guess I can wait to see if it recovers.

    Just bugging me not knowing what/where this came from, worrying now that entire crop of tomatoes and beans may be at risk (if not this year then in future) if a neighbor is spraying and it's drifting out to my "back 40". Farmer to east of us just sold a large parcel of his land (I don't know how much, know it included barn) supposedly to 1 person who is building there, but has more acreage for sale sharing a property line with us.

    More land (60 acres) for sale on our road, the owner's DD (and SIL?) were walking it the other day, got lost, called police who sent 4 cruisers "listen for sirens" they told them on cell phone. They came out by my garage, cruiser came down driveway, I went out to find middle-aged couple (woman younger than me but man looked older) standing in my driveway. They said they'd seen a roof and headed toward it, police came to meet them (3 other cruisers in cul de sac where my cousins were shooting hoops). They refused lemonade and water, decided to walk back to their car 1/2 mile up the road rather than take ride in cruiser. I think they were embarrassed.

    But DH and I are wondering what else is going to change as land gets sold around us - more herbicide drift, more wildlife being driven our way, more "lost hikers" (lady wasn't dressed for woods, had low hiking-type shoes w/ lug soles on but short socks, capris - hope she checked for ticks). Just glad they didn't run into the mama bear with twin cubs the neighbors up that way have seen.

    People didn't have map with them or they would have known that once they went behind a couple houses to south of their ROW they were off her mom's property (grandpa's old farm subdivided years ago). Of course, they didn't figure out that if they went in the ROW and headed south (to the right) that if they turned right again (west) they would have come back to road, I guess they wandered east a little and lost sight of the houses/road, probably looking for the marker. Good thing they didn't head straight back (for longer or at all) east or they might have ended up at that other farm miles away, been really lost as there are 100's of acres back there. I don't know how much is wooded (most of our 96 acres) but a lot. With at least 3 adult bears (tagged) we've individually ID'd plus some juveniles from the past years' cubs. Not to mention coyotes who are getting upset from the construction since I've heard them during the day.

  • sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If it has healthy neighbors i would rule out herbicide drift. I always seem to have one or two troubled plants. And why i grow so many...
    Not just tomatoes. As every season is so different. Best sugar snap and snow peas in years.
    No fruit at all on my many trees...crates of fruit last year.

    I do try and find the cause when that happens. But it could be a specific soil issue at the source. That one spot. Or a somewhat healthy looking seedling/transplant that had early issues not noticed.
    Early spring i come across bear, deer and probably coyote scat and nests of bunny and field mice. I do a good fall clean-up but have to do a bit in the spring as well. Something just might have hit that spot and over-fertilized or contaminated that planting hole.
    Or that handful of mulch.

    Just a thought on single plant issues. Even root damage early on...

  • 2ajsmama
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmm, DH had covered the bed with shredded leaves and burlap in the fall, and it's fenced so no large animals got in there, he put composted manure on for me this spring but didn't pull back the leave first so I did and then asked him to put more compost on. So maybe that 1 spot had too many leaves but I would think the leaves would be light green, not twisted.

    Then again who knows about the 1 handful of leaves I mulched with, out of all the bags he shredded? Though they all came either from our property or the church (which doesn't use herbicides).

    Today the wind seemed to be coming from the south (though when I walked back to the house it was from the northwest) so I'll ask my uncle and cousin if they've used anything. But my uncle uses his grass clippings (he has huge lawn that used to be pasture behind his DD's barn) in his garden so I don't think he uses herbicides.

  • 2ajsmama
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Closeup maybe better pic

  • 2ajsmama
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Healthy neighbor 2 ft away, same variety