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carriej
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Location: New Brunswick, Canada

What is this on my tomatoes :(

Hi Guys,

I see lots of resources for IDing stuff yourself - but in all honesty they look so similar to me I am unable to do it that way.

These black spots only come WHEN the tomato ripens. I've picked these tomatoes and brought them in, they look fine when they're orangey - but the few days it takes for them to fully ripen something funky happens.

Image

tomc
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As a guess only, anthracnose. One of the soil born cruds. Mulch mulch mulch.

Cut out the black bits and consume on.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Yep, looks like anthracnose. It is a fungal infection. Are there angular spots on the leaves?

You may be keeping the tomatoes too long, if they sit long enough they also get black spots as they start to decompose. If you are picking them when they are already firm and red, they are probably good to eat. If you are picking them and keeping them till they get soft, they may just be over ripe. Even in the house do not store tomatoes near appliances, like next to the refrigerator, or near bananas.

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applestar
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Those spots will also form if you touch the fruits with "dirty" hands -- I noticed early on that if I rummage among the fruits on the counter while cutting up tomatoes and touch with juice from ones I've been cutting on my fingers, the fruits on the counter develop those spots where I touched them.

Sort, turn, etc. the fruits with clean dry hands only. :wink:

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carriej
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Location: New Brunswick, Canada

I picked them on Monday, they were still at that early stage where they are barely orange. I have to pick them, else the wildlife eats them :evil:

I have never had this happen before and I've been picking them for about the last month as they are ready. I had some tomatoes with stinkbug marks (buggers) but these were the first ones I saw like this.

As per the plants, they look great. The odd dead leaf I prune but the plants (all but two - which I got rid of) look nice and lush. However, I did have two plants go funky on me. All yellowy and dried up brown leaves - I disposed of those.

It only seems to happen to the ones I pick early and bring in - there is a few ripening on the vine that look fine. However, it's always a battle to see if me or the birds get to them first. I have a baby barn in the back yard and I think those pesky birds perch there and wait for them to be ready!

Luckily, the majority of my tomatoes are destined for chow so they will be used when still green!

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I have to pick my tomatoes at first blush too. But the birds have gotten smarter and eat the large tomatoes green. They won't eat cherries if there are big tomatoes and they leave the sungold alone unless there is nothing else. I think they like the the color red more than golden orange.

If I leave mine on the counter especially in the summer when it is hot they rot a lot faster. My house is closed up when I am not home and it is hotter inside than out. That means it can be over 90 and humid in the house at the peak of summer. Fruits picked earlier in the year fare better because the house is not as hot. Most of my tomatoes on the counter don't get black spots until they have been sitting awhile and especially if I have so many that I stack them. Then the ones on the bottom getting crushed have problems first.

I pick off all the lower leaves anyway and have to fungicide for powdery mildew early in the year. Mulch and a drip system helps with the splashing issues. I don't fungicide in summer because it is a lot drier and I really don't see a lot of fungal issues until it starts raining again.

The leaves don't always show symptoms but the fungus is in the soil and can splash onto the fruit from watering or rain and enter through cracks.

I don't wash fruit when I bring them in, I will wash roots like daikon but they have to be dried on the rack before they are stored otherwise they get slimy. If you are washing your fruit when you bring them in for storage, try not doing that and store them in a mesh basket so air can circulate all around them.
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Juliuskitty
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Location: South Florida

tomc wrote:As a guess only, anthracnose. One of the soil born cruds. Mulch mulch mulch.

Cut out the black bits and consume on.
+1

Juliuskitty
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Here's a thing I do do prevent Anthracnose damage. I spray a coating of ethyl alcohol( thats the kind you drink) on the top and sides of the tomato, then let it stay on until evaporated, turn the tomato over and spray the other side, let it stay on till evaporated. No more Anthracnose damage.
Ethyl alcohol is the active ingredient in lysol spray, and if you coat a surface for 10 minutes with lysol, it basically sterilizes it. Vodka works the same way, and once evaporated the tomato has unchanged flavor.

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gixxerific
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Yes anthracnose.

Juliuskitty I have a better method with the alcohol. Don't spray it on your tomatoes, but while eating them take a shot of vodka after eating each piece to chase them down. This methods works great. :hehe:

Juliuskitty
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Thats so funny! I love it! :lol:



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