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tomato disease, advise please
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Author:  joshn [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 2:00 pm ]
Post subject:  tomato disease, advise please

I've had some struggles with tomatoes this year. Probably half of my tomato plants seem to have some sort of disease. I'm in NE Colorado, and it's been hot/dry here, which should help to suppress disease. However, I'm sure it also stresses the plants, causing them to be more susceptible. Once I noticed these issues, I've sprayed either strait hydrogen peroxide, or hydrogen peroxide with bio wash, or Garret juice with biowash and hydrogen peroxide every few days. I've seen no improvement on any of them. I thought it may be bacterial spot, but there aren't many spots, just large lesions. Also, it seems like there may be multiple issues at hand. Some plants are severely wilted, others aren't. Some are very light green, others are very dark green. Some have leafs curled up, others don't.

I've also got an ancho pepper that doesn't look good. The pepper crop is actually doing fairly well this year, but not this one. It appears as if something burned off the growth tips, and there are black streaks down the stems. Diagnosis/advice would be appreciated here also.

Thanks

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Author:  northwesterner [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 2:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

Great photos!

How often do you water? Is the soil well-drained?

Author:  joshn [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 2:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

I wasn't doing the watering, and it got watered a bit more than I'd prefer. Probably every 2-3 days whether it needed it or not. The soil is fairly sandy, so pretty well drained.

Author:  northwesterner [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

That isn't too often, as long as there isn't too much water going on at the time.

The leaves that have damage are going to stay damaged, but how does the new growth look? By way of example, there are parts of my
tomato plants that look horrid because I had a flea beetle infestation this year, but the new growth looks fine after rigorously treating the
beetles. If I leave the plants in till fall, the new growth is where the flowers will appear and set fruit.

I've seen that kind of mottled appearance on fruit; I'm hoping that one of the plant-nursery type folks will come along and recognize what
that is and give an answer. I could guess, but it would only be a guess. I would suggest that as often as you're treating the plants you
might want to back off a little on some of it (other than Garrett juice and biowash) based upon how the new growth looks. It could be a
bit of overkill there.

Measure how much water the plants are getting - put a tuna can down and see how much they get, and you may need to adjust the watering
system a bit. An inch of water every three days should be more than enough. Have you used anything like epsom salts (dissolved in water and
poured on as a drench)? That helps the foliage also. I pour it around the plants every few weeks. I had a great crop of tomatoes this year, but
the plants now look pretty tattered, mostly from the flea beetles, and because as some leaves died from the bugs others got sunburned.

Author:  joshn [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

On most of them, the newer growth looks better than the old, but hardly healthy. On some, the entire plant looks rather moribund.

I've not considered epsom salts...I'll have to look into that.

It's a tough year for gardening, it seams. At least in my area.

Author:  northwesterner [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 5:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

It may be that you need to pick what's there and pull the plants, to put in a new crop for fall. One of the other
moderators says last weekend was the optimum last date to plant for fall, but all things considered, I'd give it a
try. Do you have another bed where you can put new plants so they won't be plopped in the middle of something
that might still be in the soil? The plants aren't going to be putting on fruit in this heat, and it's the time of year
when they start to look bad anyway.

Author:  joshn [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 7:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

You must have missed the part about being in NE Colorado :) The spring tomatoes are just now starting to produce. And a new planting likely wouldn't have time to mature before frost. I've still got a lot of tomato plants left, and if it ever returns to "normal" summer temps, they should start producing well.

Author:  northwesterner [ Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

I forgot, it has been a busy day answering questions, most of them from Texas. Here in North Texas the
first crop is about finished, and it was a strange year, very warm early so they were planted several weeks
before Easter. (My neighbor insists one shouldn't plant tomatoes before Easter or they won't do well, but this
year, that wasn't the case. Once we got past the cutworms that were like little mowing machines, taking out
the bedding plants overnight. . .)

Plan B. Try the drench of Epsom salt to see if that helps the foliage. I couldn't tell you how much exactly,
I'm guessing I probably dissolve a few tablespoons, 1/4 to 1/3 cup in a bucket of water at a time. And have
you fertilized lately? An application of dry molasses wouldn't hurt either.

P.S. You can add your location to your Dirt Doctor account. Go to the Edit Profile link on the right hand side
after you log in. That would help - I usually scan the page for that information before I ask questions.

Author:  Dirt Doctor [ Mon Jul 30, 2012 6:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: tomato disease, advise please

There may have been a little too much spraying here. Once a week is about all I would ever do. Drenching should be due in addition to spraying. Also, keep the Epsom salts mixture to about 1 tablespoon per gallon of water or spray. The bottom line is that once foliage and fruit is severely damaged, it's hard to reverse the damage.

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