16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
After reading online info I decided to dump the affected plant. I did spray the neighboring plants with copper/lime. Here in Calif...big brother is so intrusive with laws, I never worry about spraying chemicals and ruining the world. Better vegies through science...thanks for advice.
How bad was it? If you are vigilant with the copper fungicide, meaning, that you are out there after every time it rains, you should be fine. Even if a few leaves near the soil start showing symptoms, cutting them and disposing of them should slow it down enough for the plant to take hold and outgrow the disease.
I have had years where the fungi was more virulant than others, but simple practices have always lead to good yields for all my plants. I have ditched one plant over the last 5 years, it was an orange blossom. It was so infected that in the first two weeks I knew it was a lost cause. Other than that, copper spray, keeping the base of the plant mulched and the leaves away from soil splash has done the trick.
This year one plant has been infected. I trimed the branch that showed the symptoms and am keeping a close eye on things. So far not a single other instance.
This post was edited by spicymeatball on Mon, Jun 3, 13 at 1:32
Here you go. You can also find video how-to info on YouTube.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: String tomato discussions
Rhizo I was DESPERATE! I had some kind of blight or fungus that just got worse for the last 3 years. Everything I read said once the spores were in the soil you couldn't get rid of it. I know it was radical. BUT, so far, so good! If its gone then it was worth the expense and trouble!
There is nothing wrong with the plant. It has to do with cold and erratic temps. When the weather regulates the color will return to normal. If you ever noticed geraniums that have been put out too early they do this too. But when the weather regulates they quickly go back to normal. Don't sweat it.
I have a question on when do harvest my Better Bush tomatoes (I'm brand new to gardening anything!)... I added a photo (taken today) of the huge GREEN tomato I have.. it's been huge for about 3 weeks... but it isn't turning red.. when should I pick it?? Something has been nibbling on it.. could that be why it isn't turning red? And also, there are three more tomatoes on the same branch, could this one huge tomato keep them from growing bigger?
The past 2 years have been so terrible weather-wise for my area (eastern Ontario) that we couldn't do anything in the garden (clay loam - impossible with all the heavy rain we're having and takes forever to dry out) so this year I'm doing some container gardening. Just a few hot peppers, spices, and several varieties of tomatoes. I couldn't find single pots of Celebrity at the local nursery and didn't want to waste a whole flat, so chose a single pot each of Ace and Glamour. Afterwards, I read reviews that Ace isn't very highly rated, so will probably check elsewhere for single Celebrity in pots and replace the Ace. I've only got a limited amount of room for containers suitable for tomatoes and peppers, so numbers count. And by the time the weather returns to normal and the garden finally dries out, it will be too late in the summer to bother planting anything. Sigh.
The curled leaves in the final image look crispy.
Are they?
If so, they ran short of water during the day.
During excessive heat, plants can't take up sufficient water to avoid wilting even if the soil/potting mix is thoroughly moist.
Temporary shade (as mentioned in the previous post) during a hot spell slows water use by the plant as well as evaporation from the soil/potting mix.
This post was edited by jean001a on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 2:19
I agree with the heat/wilt diagnosis, though there's no way to be sure.
Herbicide tends to kill entire plants in the sections of a garden closest to the place it drifted from, not just the tops of a few scattered plants.
Cut off the affected parts of the plant. If it is heat/wilt, then you probably have (as suggested) a rooting problem. The plants just aren't getting enough water to their tops. And yes, giving them a little shade can help. But you really shouldn't have to do that with established tomato plants.
Make sure you aren't over-watering or over fertilizing.
Tip dieback can also be caused by diseases, but in the picture the rest of the plants look healthy, so I doubt that's your issue.
Thanks everyone!
These have been growing for about 5 weeks.
tdscpa..........I didn't even notice that the pot only looks half full! I think I'll tell her to transplant 2, maybe three of them, and pull off the lower leaves of all of them, and use lots more soil.
Thanks!
I use a BT spray once a week as soon as I start getting green tomatoes and that seems to prevent the caterpillars from eating them. The first year I grew tomatoes they ate holes in most of them but I've used the BT every year since with no problems. It is an organic pesticide that only works on caterpillars. The kind I buy is a concentrate that you mix with water. There is also a powder but I find it messy-looking and harder to apply than the spray.
SoCal - Depending on where in SoCal you are located that may or may not work. In my neck of the woods, tomato seeds planted now would cook in the high temps of late July and August. I try to start some seeds late June for a Fall crop but sometimes it stays too hot too long and by the time I finally get fruit, they get frost damaged. Either that or they just don't taste good ripening in 50 degree nights.
macbettz,
Why would you recommend all that .... um ... "junk" be put in the bottom of a planting hole?
Eggshells take years to break down enough to supply any calcium to plants. BER (Blossom End Rot) is seldom caused by a lack of calcium in the soil, it is rather an issue of maldistribution of calcium within the rapidly growing plant during the early part of the season and/or an uneven watering pattern. So adding "Calcium & cholate Womens supplements, A whole egg, Eggshells, Tums" and such are likely to only invite critters to dig up your tomatoes.
Discussion of BER (Blossom End Rot)
Aspirin I can almost understand, because salicylic acid can help with rooting cutting of hardwoods, but tomatoes root so easily, that they don't require that kind of help. Ask anyone who has ever broken off a tomato branch and stuck it in the ground and gotten a productive tomato plant as a result.
As for the Epson Salt, most people don't need it: A Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center document about Epsom salt myths that in part states "There are two reports from over 60 years ago on tomato production. When tomatoes are grown on magnesium deficient soil, a foliar application of Epsom salts can relieve magnesium deficiency in tomato plants; no effect on yield was reported. An automatic application of Epsom salts to plants or soils that are not magnesium deficient is a poor management strategy that can injure the plants and contaminate the soil."
So, unless one has a soil test and it is recommended, most of the "junk" you recommend be put into a planting hole is at best, useless, and at worst could be damaging to tomatoes.
Betsy
I have my garden soil tested every spring by the state ag. college soil scientists by way of my "extension" office.
Every year they make suggestions of fertilizer and other soil amendments I need. My soil is naturally alkaline, and high in (P)hosphorus, and has a nearly toxic level of K (potassium).
Every year I have to add (N)itrogen at planting and also side-dressing through the season.
Every second year I am advised to add sulfur to reduce the Ph of my garden soil.
Ideally, I would add the Nitrogen and Sulfur to my garden, then till it in to the top foot before I dug my furrows or built my raised rows. BWAHAAA!
Not going to happen! Kansas weather does not allow "plans" to work. Could not till this year. Rain just before planting time prohibited tilling. Would have to have waited until July to till!
So, I'm planting on last year's raised rows. Scraped a groove, dumped in some Sulfur and Nitrogen, planted onions, spinach, beets, radishes, carrots, lettuce, beans, cucumbers, and melons beside the groove with the amendments.
Just started setting out tomatoes today. Dig a hole with a small trowel, put in the tomato plant, sprinkle some urea (Nitrogen) and Sulfur around the transplant, rake in the dirt. Got 13 tomatoes in (only worked an hour at it), 120 tomatoes and 45 peppers to go.
Thank you. I'm looking forward to them. Actually, now that I count again, there are more like two dozen out there. But the plants are just enormous. These are my only indeterminate small tomatoes this year, so I'm hoping for the best. I've had one-and a-half inch green ones out there for a couple of weeks. They're taking their good time ripening.
No I've not fed them yet, but that's not the problem. I'm just wondering if frost damage that still leaves most of the plant looking ok is going to retard the growth of fruit later it the season. It's a significant question to me because I only have room for 4 plants and if they aren't going to produce much due to the frost, then I want to pull them out and replace them.
"I'm just wondering if frost damage that still leaves most of the plant looking ok is going to retard the growth"
It's possible. Tomato plants are susceptible to chilling injury at temperatures between 32 and 42 F. Chilling can cause stunted growth, wilting, surface pitting or necrosis of foliage, and increased susceptibility to disease. Low soil temperatures also stunt plant growth and prevent root development. Temperatures below 50 F during flowering can interfere with pollination and result in catfacing of fruit.
A lot depends on how cold they got and for how long. If you still feel they aren't growing and you have time to develop a crop on new transplants, then pull them. If you are getting real short on time.... give them a chance because new plants may not have enough time either.
Betsy
Here is a link that might be useful: The Effect of Extreme Temperatures on the Tomato and Pepper Crop