If it IS blight, short of continuing to remove it as it goes up the plant, what else can I do? Should I just pull up the whole plant since it is the only one affected? Will it take over the whole tomato crop?
Blight?
I am confused at what is going on here. It looks like early blight but it isn't "early" anymore and it's only happening in a well ventilated area and where the sun is hitting the plants. Where I would THINK early blight would hit - low ventilation, low light, etc, everything is fine. It is only happening to this one plant and only in this one area. You can see how all around the plant it's pretty grown in and there's no other issues - just this one problem area. And how there is good airflow and it's open. And how the rest is all green. I plan on cutting this off, but just curious if anyone knows what this is. None of the other plants - potted or in ground are showing this.
If it IS blight, short of continuing to remove it as it goes up the plant, what else can I do? Should I just pull up the whole plant since it is the only one affected? Will it take over the whole tomato crop?
If it IS blight, short of continuing to remove it as it goes up the plant, what else can I do? Should I just pull up the whole plant since it is the only one affected? Will it take over the whole tomato crop?
Actually, it looks like Septoria spot, not that it makes a difference. They are like fraternal twins. You can't really get away from Septoria and early blight in humid regions, and most plants suffer at a low level much of the summer. I don't know if you can avoid either Septoria or early blight showing up at all.
If you have bad conditions; wet, humid, no airflow, they both can hit the plants hard. That is what you want to avoid. The bottom half of the plant will be filled with yellow spotty leaves bad enough to kill the leaves.
I usually wait until half a leaf (not half a leaflet like you show) is riddled before thinking about trimming--I just have to many plants and I don't want to rob the plant of its solar panels if I don't have to. The leaf isn't going to infect the other leaves that much more than spores from the environment in general.
I use Septoria and Early blight as an indicator of when to trim the bottom leaves of the plant and prune out the inside of the cages. Basically when they get really bad.
BTW, 'early' in this case simply means warm weather, compared to 'late' blight which hits in cool weather at the end of the season.
Keep an eye on the yellowing. That might not be not from the Septoria; it might be the start of a wilt like Fusarium. It may or may not turn into anything. Pulling the plant wont help other plants.
If you have bad conditions; wet, humid, no airflow, they both can hit the plants hard. That is what you want to avoid. The bottom half of the plant will be filled with yellow spotty leaves bad enough to kill the leaves.
I usually wait until half a leaf (not half a leaflet like you show) is riddled before thinking about trimming--I just have to many plants and I don't want to rob the plant of its solar panels if I don't have to. The leaf isn't going to infect the other leaves that much more than spores from the environment in general.
I use Septoria and Early blight as an indicator of when to trim the bottom leaves of the plant and prune out the inside of the cages. Basically when they get really bad.
BTW, 'early' in this case simply means warm weather, compared to 'late' blight which hits in cool weather at the end of the season.
Keep an eye on the yellowing. That might not be not from the Septoria; it might be the start of a wilt like Fusarium. It may or may not turn into anything. Pulling the plant wont help other plants.
You mean my tomato plants aren't going to stay pristinely green all year long? 
It definitely has been crazy hot and humid here. I could do without the heat. There's definitely more air circulation there than anywhere else so there's nothing I can do to improve the air there. I am just surprised that it's there than anywhere else. I'd expect it to be where the tomatoes are crowding into each other or where the tomatoes meet the fig tree.
I guess I'll wait to snip it.....I just hope it doesn't spread to my other tomatoes. It doesn't seem to.
I haven't mulched.....I don't mulch! I know I should...I just never know what to do it with. Plus when I am done with the bed do I just turn it all into it at the end of the year? I am around horses so I can get some old hay pretty easily but I thought hay can make it grassy/weedy? Does not having it mulch is what making it have the fungus?
It definitely has been crazy hot and humid here. I could do without the heat. There's definitely more air circulation there than anywhere else so there's nothing I can do to improve the air there. I am just surprised that it's there than anywhere else. I'd expect it to be where the tomatoes are crowding into each other or where the tomatoes meet the fig tree.
I guess I'll wait to snip it.....I just hope it doesn't spread to my other tomatoes. It doesn't seem to.
I haven't mulched.....I don't mulch! I know I should...I just never know what to do it with. Plus when I am done with the bed do I just turn it all into it at the end of the year? I am around horses so I can get some old hay pretty easily but I thought hay can make it grassy/weedy? Does not having it mulch is what making it have the fungus?
Grass clippings from the lawn mower are the easiest mulch to simply cover dirt. They block weed growth and inhibit weed seed germination pretty well too.
Splash up infection is worse where diseased tomatoes have been grown before and left lying around. On the other hand, I dug up a new garden out of virgin yard, and then mulched the baby plants well and they still got spots. Spores are in the air from weeds etc. If you grow in a pot up on a balcony, maybe you can get away from fungal spots. But there, spider mites and white flies give you problems.
Splash up infection is worse where diseased tomatoes have been grown before and left lying around. On the other hand, I dug up a new garden out of virgin yard, and then mulched the baby plants well and they still got spots. Spores are in the air from weeds etc. If you grow in a pot up on a balcony, maybe you can get away from fungal spots. But there, spider mites and white flies give you problems.
Hot temps: check
Humid: check
Plants growing too thick and air flow restricted: check
Septoria and leaves yellowing and dying: check
Tomato fruit looks pretty good in spite of this: check
I have been trying to get some good pictures of my "clusters" of maters, both Better Boy and Brandywine, but all the pictures have the dying leaves and limbs. Oh well, they look pretty to me.
Humid: check
Plants growing too thick and air flow restricted: check
Septoria and leaves yellowing and dying: check
Tomato fruit looks pretty good in spite of this: check
I have been trying to get some good pictures of my "clusters" of maters, both Better Boy and Brandywine, but all the pictures have the dying leaves and limbs. Oh well, they look pretty to me.
I just cut the lawn and got BUCKETS of grass clippings. I can put those under the plants. I'll go ahead and do that today. I don't mind weeding....I like it to sort of "commune" with the garden and take a peek at everything while I'm out there but it would be nice to not have to do it.
I'm so over this humid weather.
I'm so over this humid weather.