16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Hi Fusion Power, are you looking at my pictures or of Jadie's picture that is actually a photo of Botrytis a.k.a. gray mold?? My last photo shows a speck of very white mold (even more white in person). My first pic is of a very dark grey blemished leaf. Please let me know if you still think so.
Also, do you have any suggestions on how one can know the difference between Gray Mold and L.B. when evaluating plants? Thanks, Fusion Power!
Hi Jadie, I will keep an eye on my plants (can't even keep myself away from them now) and be back to let you know if I'm able to come to a solid conclusion/or not. I never thought I'd be muttering 'I hope this is Botrytis'...!
It's hard to tell. But I think it would have progressed quickly - by now your plant would be dying if it is really LB. I haven't seen gray mold on tomatoes before, but I've got some on my strawberries and it looks like the fruit/stems are covered with fine gray dust, as soon as you touch them you see the spores floating away. I don't see that in your pictures.
So tell us how are your plants today? Any stem lesions? A picture of the plant(s) and not just individual leaves would help.
I agree with Donna. As long as the soil mix is balanced, it's probably timing. My Cherokee purples have tons of fruit and blooms, but my Green Zebra didn't for a long time. Now, my GZ is all of a sudden starting to show a whole bunch of flowers. Oh, and nitrogen is not good before the first fruit set usually, indeed...
Joe Bratka bred both Snow White and Super Snow White, which aren't all that different and yes they should be small ivory colored cherries, sometimes pale yellow.
The question I have is where did you get your seeds, did you purchse them or trade for them?
That being said, you're in NJ where there has been lots and lots of rain, same as here in upper NYS where i am and it would be common to see some varieties have larger fruit sizes under those conditions.
Carolyn
C...lots of diverse comments here...I will not address my opinion on the "best" way to grow tomatoes. As to your specific problem...I think you probably answered your own question regarding the rain. Containers (depending on mix) will usually drain water faster. Thus, the containers are healthier now..with more aeration in the soil (very important). All should stabilize soon. Pray for sun.
I suspect is is differences in the soil and not the beds/container.
I also suggest you remove the wood chips. They do pull out nitrogen. Since your plants are yellow - I think you may have low nitrogen.
BTW - I have also had non stop rain and temps bellow 70 and my tomoatoes in raised beds look like your plants in the container. This is a new house for us and I am using two raised beds that the previous owner left and one I built myself. I did not know what shape the soil was in (though she was an awesome gardner - and it looked great). I filled my new bed with 2/3 ordinary soil and 1/3 compost and manure mix from Home Depot. I only fertilized about two weeks after planting because the weather has been so bad and cool.
This post was edited by Timmytoo on Sat, Jun 15, 13 at 12:52
Thanks solanaceae! Your fact-based answer really helped me when considering spacing. I'll have to use stakes due to space issues, but regardless of the type of support thanks for concisely answering the issue of spacing!
I could only space them at 18", but feel better knowing that will work well.
To be able to suggest what might be wrong with your plant, it would be helpful to know more about the environment it is in. So, here are the "usual" questions:
Is the plant in the ground or in a container?
If in a container, what growing medium are you using? How large is the container? Is it self-watering or do you manually water it? Is the container in full sun, part sun or shade?
For both container plants and inground plants, it would be helpful to know these things as well: How often do you water? Have you checked the moisture of the growing medium or soil 3-5" below the surface? Is it dry, just right, or soggy? Are you feeding the plant? How often? What are the NPK values of any fertilizers you are using to feed it? What has the weather been like in your area?
If the plant is in the ground: Have you used any amendments? Do you mulch? If so, with what and how much (how deep)? Are there any other plants near the problem plant that are showing similar issues?
Can you post pictures?
The more information you can give us, the better the chances that someone can give you an accurate diagnosis.
Betsy
Do you guys think that compost tea would help the soil (in the fall once I harvest what I can). I also love the top to bottom fix, which I will do! IT's a great solution.
Also I've transplanted some of the plants into containers. I hope they make it.
I did a basic soil test and it read the soil at 6.5. I will have to get a more comprehensive one done but for now it's what i have.
Phytophthora. Search it up. It's a horrible viral condition that occurs when you have poor drainage as you do. I built my raised bed where water collects and found out that some of my plants were extremely stunted, yellow and diseased. I pulled one up and the roots were brown and very unhealthy. If you pull one out and look at the roots, you'll definitely be able to tell. But judging from your first picture of the tomato, phytophthora is definitely a possibility.
I'm in hot, humid Georgia and have a Green Zebra that is thriving in my amended clay soil (in ground). It is just starting to flower and set fruit-shows no sign of disease. I don't know much about your soil there though or your composting habits...??
In any case, mine is doing really well in the ground so far. I actually wish I planted more of them.
Oh, and nitrogen fertilizer is usually a bad idea before you get your first fruit set. A lot of tomato experts say to fertilize mid-season after you've gotten a bit of fruit to spur on more growth.
Hope this helps.
Looks like bacterial speck to me. Check out this link:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/tomato-problem-solver/leaves/bacterial-speck/
Transplant/root shock will hold them back for a while, it depends on how bad the root structure was. Another sign of transplants with bad root structure is having plants wilt in the heat of the day, then perking back up at night.
But i agree with what everyone posted above, lack of oxygen flow in a compacted potting medium will stop plants from growing. It needs to be a potting type mix. They may linger in their stunted form for a while, put out a few "survival" tomatoes, then yellow up and die a few weeks ahead of your other tomato plants.
Hopefully that's not the case, but two weeks without growing is a long time imho.
Need to see pictures before we can comment on rolled leaves which have numerous potential causes.
Appears to be multiple cultural problems. Not fusarium.
- Perhaps short of water. How do you decide to water? Then what system (hand; drip; sprinkler) do you use and for how long?
- Some of the close-up leaf images show circular fungal lesions. If you're watering from overhead, stop!
- the small round blemishes on the fruit remind me of feeding damage from a sucking insect, perhaps stink bugs.
To determine if a plant is resistant to disease, look at the capital letters (VFFNT) which follow its name:
V = verticillium
FF = 2 different strains of fusarium
N = root knot nematodes
T = tobacco mosaic virus