Blackened stems, leaves and tomato fruit

[Simonmiller99]

Hi,

Was making great progress with my tomatoes but then in the space of three days they have gone from luscious and green to this below and now each plant along the row is turning one by one.





We have had a few really hot days but have kept wheel watered (but not over watered). One watering did have some tomatoe feed in it. Could I have over fed perhaps?

No pests evident. Main characteristic is black blotchy stems.

Help please, months of hard work gone down the drain in a mater of days

Simon

[gixxerific]

I'm sorry to say it look like late blight.

Somone please check me on this.

[mtmickey]

Would have to agree, looks like late blight, and I'm sad to say, there is really nothing to do for it at this point. Be sure NOT TO COMPOST those plants. We got hit by late blight a few years ago and it totally destroyed ALL of our tomatoes and potatoes, very depressing.

[applestar]

That is a sad, sad sight. I'd say late blight also.

My advise is basicaly the same -- pick all apparently unaffected fruits -- green and blushed, wash in baking soda water then dry well and place in paper-lined cardboard box in a single layer Ina well ventilated location to ripen inside. But keep them apart from each other and remove and discard any that starts to discolor (brown/black blotch) immediately.

Dig up the plants, double-bag securely and put in trash OR burn them if you are able. Don't plan on growing tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, ground cherries, etc. here for at least two years and be vigilant about solanacea family weeds like datura, deadly nightshade, etc. that can be carriers.

A good rotation after solanacea is supposed to be mustard greens, so you might want to apply lime and grow fast-growing Fall greens in the mustard family now. There are quite a few selection including arugula and many Asian greens.

In early spring, sow legumes like peas or Fava beans, followed by summer crop of beans.

[Simonmiller99]

Thanks all. Yes gutting indeed and doesn't help with the perennial "is it all worth it" debate.

[rainbowgardener]

I expect simon meant the debate was perennial, not the plant.

As in is it worth trying to grow tomatoes since they are quite prone to diseases and can be a lot of trouble? I expect UK is climate where tomatoes are even more prone to diseases, being reputed to be very damp and not very sunny in summer -- the opposite of what tomatoes want.

Most of us in sunnier climes keep deciding yes they are worth it, even though there still can be diseases to manage, etc. But everyone has their own "is it worth it." I keep giving up on zucchini, because they are too prone to killer pests, that totally wipe out the whole plant in a few days.

[Simonmiller99]

Yes meant the debate was perennial. If only the plants were.

All of the planets have now gone this way which is so depressing. From looking at photos on the web, it does very much look like late blight as the cause.

All been removed and destroyed

Was wondering if either of the following could be at all related to the cause of the late blight:

1. A couple of weeks ago I potentially overfed them with tomatoe feed (seaweed extract based feed)

2. The plants were started in a greenhouse before planting outside in a largely compost base. We then had quite a wet and cold start to the summer and then over last month it has become quite dry and hot however I have watered regularly.

3. A lot of my watering has been from a water butt fed by roof water. Obviously not the cleanest source and the butt itself appears a bit dirty on the inside.

What do you think the most likely cause is?

Thanks,
Simon

[rainbowgardener]

The overfeeding would not cause it, but could make them more vulnerable. Overfeeding leads to lots of tender new growth, which is more vulnerable to whatever insects/ diseases come along.

Wet and cold are prime conditions for tomato disease. Hot and dry is not -- I have had hot and dry this summer and much less trouble with diseases in my tomatoes (especially septoria, which mine usually get every year) than usual. But disease could have gotten started in the wet and just not killed by the hot and dry. I wouldn't think the roof water has anything to do with it, but how you water does. If you are sprinkling, I.e. putting water on the leaves, that can help create conditions conducive to disease.

But all of that is just about vulnerability. It still depends on if the disease organism is present or not. Did you start yours from seed? We've had some outbreaks here where commercial greenhouses got late blight and the tomato transplants they sold had it, so there was late blight all over the place. I guess that is evidence that the humid atmosphere inside a greenhouse can be conducive to it and that the disease can be invisible for some time. Surely when people bought the transplants, they weren't showing visible signs of disease, so it must have a pretty long latency.

[Simonmiller99]

Yes from seed in the greenhouse.

Have spoken to a couple of UK growers and they would suggest that this weather this year is abnormal and the cause so guess would have to put it down to that.

Thanks for your help.

[mtmickey]

Don't give up. Like I said earlier, we got late blight a few years ago, but this year I still have 40+ tomato plants in the garden (in a different spot). I did put some "test" plants in the garden where we had blight a few years ago, and they are doing well. The blight that hit here was definitely due to weather conditions, EVERYONE had it, including all the potato farmers.

Don't let it discourage you from trying again next year.

[gixxerific]

This is often times why people recommend mulching around tomato plants, for this reason, and to also help conserve moisture int he soil. Because of this, I also aggressively trim away the low growth on my plants once they are well established. Feels weird yanking branches off of tomato plants, but if they are near the ground, they go bye bye in my garden....

This is a must in my humid conditions.