Ryan
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 03, 2009 9:09 am
Location: Montreal

Tomato Spots

Type: Starfire and Cherry
Age: 4 weeks
Medium: Miracle Gro Soilless Mix with an occasional dose of heavily diluted Miracle Gro Quick Start plant food.
Placement: WSW facing window. 3 hours full sun per day. Has yet to be hardened off.

Problem: I planted from seed and everything had been going well until a week ago when I noticed a few white spots on the cotyledons of a Starfire tomato plant. Since that time the spots have spread upward and to other plants. Now, a quarter of my tomato plants have been effected and the blotchy leaves are starting to curl and die.

Also, I've noticed a few tiny flies in and around the plants, but they are very few and so far, none of my other vegetable plants are experiencing a similar problem.


[img]https://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv239/stolon/tomato-spots-far.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv239/stolon/tomato-spots-close-up.jpg[/img]

pd
Senior Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:17 pm

It looks to me very much like sun scorch by magnification through drops of water on the leaves. If by 'full sun' you are saying that it is directly through the window onto the leaves, that would bear it out.
Also, I see that there is lack of stockiness and that would be the result of uneven light, which is mostly coming from the window side.
If your compost is already charged with nutrients it will be detrimental to apply more at this stage.

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Presence of flies should not be discounted as the feeding sites of smaller ones can cause stippling like that...aphids have a flying stage as well and I have seen that damage with them as well...

This could be spray damage as well;have you spritzed with anything? Sprayed any pesticides or oils, or tried foliar feeding? These things can do it as well. I'd suggest a good scouting of all your plants for bugs and disease, but I'm not freaking out yet. Other than the low light situation, the plant looks pretty healthy... the damage isn't even a leader, so prune that branch off... :)

HG

Ryan
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 03, 2009 9:09 am
Location: Montreal

Thanks,

I haven't used any pesticides and make a policy of avoiding chemicals altogether. I've checked for an infestation and haven't found anything. Also, I'm not using a spray bottle, but as you two suggest, I'm sure the problem is the lighting. So I am going to start the transplanting process and trim the effected leaves. Hopefully, this gives the plants more consistency in lighting.

Cheers



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