White spots on leaves of young tomato plant

[Tropicalgirl]

Can anyone help me identify if this is powdery mildew on my tomato plants (small white dots)? If so, how I can stop it and prevent it from contaminating my other plants? Any suggestions or help is appreciated. These are young plants. Thank you!!!!

[applestar]

They appear to be scraped round spots from the underside of the leaves. The white spots look to me like leaves that have scarred or sunburned where they were thin. Have you turned them over to see what’s underneath? What they look like on the under side?

I want to say they could be due to insect pests like maybe fleabeetles or maybe whiteflies.... I actually have never had powdery mildew on my tomatoes here — I didn’t know they could get them, but maybe it depends on local conditions.

[Tropicalgirl]

Thanks. The bottom looks like a small indentation as if something ate that small section. I tried taking a picture but the dots are really small hope it helps. These are potted plants and I haven't seen any whiteflies, however I have seen some springtails but I thought those only ate dead matter. Any recommendations? Thanks again!

[imafan26]

It is not powdery mildew. PM does not usually look like spots. I get them too, but I don't know what causes it. I don't usually worry about it as it does not seem to do a lot of harm to the plant in the long run.

Powdery mildew is usually on the surface of the leaves and sometimes the stems and is usually more global. It appears when the weather is warm and humid. Often 2-3 days after a period of heavy rain (the day and night kind). The fungal diseases show up as the weather warms and starts to steam off the water vapor. You need to start fungicides before the rain if you see it coming and start fungicides as soon as the rain stops to try to stay ahead of it. You can use and oil like neem as a preventive or sulfur, but not both. Oils and sulfur cannot be used within two weeks of each other or they will burn the plants.

https://www.saferbrand.com/articles/comm ... o-fix-them

[rainbowgardener]

Tomato plants are prone to various other fungal diseases including septoria. In my own experience, I have never seen powdery mildew on tomatoes, though all the squash family plants are very prone to it, along with other things like bee balm.

Personally, I think gardeners can make themselves crazy if they start worrying about every little dot / spot on their plants!

[imafan26]

In the warmer areas where humidity is high, powdery mildew and other fungal and bacterial diseases will grow on everything that has matte leaves or is hairy like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, pumpkins, and most of the western vegetables. It depends on where you live. If you do live in a humid place then you need to choose cultivars that have the disease resistance you need and have a regular fungicide program for when the weather conditions exist that encourages fungal growth. The spores are in the air, so it is hard to avoid it. Your location is not indicated but if you are in the U.S. you can look up cultivars recommended for your location. It is also a good idea to include your location and zone in your profile.

[Tropicalgirl]

Thank you. I kept an eye on it and it seems to be flea beetles. I saw some black dots and used a magnifying glass to make sure. I purchased some neem oil and sprayed the mixture. If anyone have other recommendations on how to prevent flea beetles please let me know.