Pease help save my tomatoes!
PlEase help, I have carefully selected these plants last fall, prepared my raised beds and drip line irrigation. I February/ March I planted about 9tomato plants different varieties 18-22 inches apart now as I see the first signs of fruit, my leaves are getting yellowed. I have more enthusiasm than experience and will appreciate all help. I am in San Antonio Texas! 4 of my plants have these yellowed areas, not plants next to each oterh either. I planted them where I had peppers last year. All advice is appreciated. Pease see photo.
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feldon30
- Senior Member
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 7:42 am
- Location: Rock Hill, SC
- Contact: Website
That looks to me like a bit of Early Blight which is a common problem in S.E. and Central Texas. I'm glad to hear you are already doing raised beds and drip line irrigation so that your plants aren't getting wet, just the soil, as that's hugely important when keeping funguses as bay. I also see (I think?) that you have removed some of the lower foliage which is good as well.
I do think you could do with a thicker application of mulch, maybe an inch or two of non-dyed pine bark mulch or, if you can find it, straw. When it rains, soil splashback onto the bottoms of leaves is how most Early Blight is transmitted. A little bit of EB won't cost you a harvest. You could probably remove some of the leaves that are completely affected, but you don't want to strip the plants of any more leaves than you have to.
Have you had heavy rains lately?
By the way, there is an OMRI organic fungal preventative you might look into called Exel LG. It's a soil drench that is supposed to prevent EB and other funguses and fruit rots. I used to use Daconil (chlorothalonil) in an Ortho Dial-n-Spray to prevent fungus, but now there are organic alternatives.
I do think you could do with a thicker application of mulch, maybe an inch or two of non-dyed pine bark mulch or, if you can find it, straw. When it rains, soil splashback onto the bottoms of leaves is how most Early Blight is transmitted. A little bit of EB won't cost you a harvest. You could probably remove some of the leaves that are completely affected, but you don't want to strip the plants of any more leaves than you have to.
Have you had heavy rains lately?
By the way, there is an OMRI organic fungal preventative you might look into called Exel LG. It's a soil drench that is supposed to prevent EB and other funguses and fruit rots. I used to use Daconil (chlorothalonil) in an Ortho Dial-n-Spray to prevent fungus, but now there are organic alternatives.
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hendi_alex
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3604
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
- Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina
If this is a resistant variety, then using some of the common treatments for blight may be of some help. If mine, I would be planting seeds for a replacement plant later in the season or for early fall planting in the ground. With the heat and humidity of summer, blight will eventually claim most tomato plants which are grown in the deep south. We generally put our fall plants in permanent planters or in the ground after the heat of August breaks in September. Those generally give a good harvest for a month or longer in October and November, with the first frost usually coming in the second half of November.
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feldon30
- Senior Member
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 7:42 am
- Location: Rock Hill, SC
- Contact: Website
I guess there are a few Early Blight resistant tomatoes now? When I was gardening in Houston 5 years ago, there weren't any worth talking about flavorwise. But it didn't matter. With application of mulch, use of soaker hoses, and weekly application of Daconil, I got more than enough tomatoes without limiting myself to red, round, market varieties.