Cherry Tomato needs

[pacefelice@yahoo.com]

Hello all. Some of the leaves and small branches on my cherry tomato plants are turning brown and dry. We live at 7500 feet in Colorado. The environment is known as high mountain desert. It’s very dry with almost daily breeze or wind. The plants are grown in raised bed “vegetable houses” and have drip irrigation throughout. They get full morning sun from sunrise until about noon. I am feeding them with Jobes tomato fertilizer spikes every 6-8 weeks. They are planted with a tomatillo plant that partially shades from our very intense afternoon sun, pepper plants and eggplant plants with a Genovese basil plant and an Italian parsley plant nearby. The eggplant and pepper are fed with Jobes vegetable spikes that are also compatible with tomatoes. So far, these plants are still producing blossoms. I’ve attached pictures of some leaves that may be in the early stages of turning. Do any of you have an idea about what’s going on and what I can do if, indeed, there is anything should do? Thank you for your kind consideration. Sharon

[applestar]

Ooh…. I’m afraid that looks like Late Blight to me — but I’ve only had it once (or twice) a long time ago in my garden. At the time, I understood it to be a devastating disease that requires immediate culling of the plant, roots and all — remove securely in a trash bag to prevent spreading to other tomatoes and solanacea….

Let’s hope I’m wrong, and others see something else, and/or have seen better outcomes.

Quick search seems to imply there could be other recourses for recovery. (But I think if there are dark lesions that have spread to the main stem, there is no chance….)

…I would at least start by cutting off and removing any affected leaves and stems (securely bag and put in trash) using sterilized tools. And afterwards, be sure to wash up your hands and sterilize the tools to avoid touching and spreading to other plants.

…maybe start here and try to ID this for sure
Late blight of tomato and potato | UMN Extension

How to tell late blight apart from other issues

[applestar]

Another link. (Right now I’m looking at these thinking haven’t I seen these symptoms before more recently ?? )

Late blight on tomatoes | Vegetable Pathology – Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center

initial symptoms of late blight on tomato in a garden

[woodsperson]

Looks like you have blight. Given you have raise beds it may be easier to replace the soil, you can also use the solarization method (which I did in WV one year for our 80' x 120' garden to great success but A LOT OF WORK), it might not be too much work with just raised beds.

Not sure how you feel about chemicals but those area available at the gardening store. I've heard calcium deficiencies can lead to it, but I don't know that for a fact. You can get it commercially, but you can also use wood ash (hardwoods are the best, non treated, but don't over apply) in the soil, it also helps with pests acting like diatomaceous earth. Copper is a blight killer and would come in things like Seven Dust, but I haven't seen that in years, yet other copper fungal treatments are avaiable. I try to shy away from chemicals if I can, but occasionally I'm left with little choice. This year mites and worms hit my cabbage HARD!!!!!!!!!!!, eventually to Seven Dust them, took a few applications too.

Follow the links posted in the other response. Good info there.

[imafan26]

Fungal diseases are hard to control since spores spread in the environment as well as the soil. Coming from a place where these are chronic problems, it is not practical to replace the soil and I have no winter to kill alternate hosts. My only other option is to plant resistant plants. To control any fungal disease, a regular preventive fungicide program may be necessary whenever environmental conditions favor fungal and bacterial growth. warm wet weather that lasts for a few days. Downy mildew cool and damp conditions.

https://www.tomatodirt.com/blight-resistant-tomato-varieties.html