Can't tell what's wrong with this tomato plant

[tam91]

This Nyagous plant is having trouble - none of my other plants seem to be doing anything similar. He's still growing, and producing tomatoes fine. But some foliage just seems to be drying up. I can't see any big amount of spots or diseases on the leaves (that I'm noticing anyway) - bits of the plants seem to just suddenly brown. It has plenty of water, is in a large container, same conditions as all my other plants. In fact, another Nyagous right next to him is just fine. Here are some pics - the last one is of some of the healthy foliage. Any ideas?

[mdvpc]

Are you using any commercial compost in your containers? Or a liquid compost tea purchased commercially? Any fungicides been sprayed around your plants either that you used or your neighbors sprayed?

[tam91]

Well I use fungicide. I think maybe you meant herbicide? In which case no. I'm quite a ways from any neighbors, and that plant is in the middle of the group of tomatoes. It's done that slowly, for a while.

I use topsoil, composted manure from a horse farm, and peat moss. Same mix in all the containers, and that's the only plant that's having the problem.

Early on, it lost a branch or two. Then seemed to go along fine - I've gotten a lot of tomatoes, and it has more coming. Lately, more bits of it drying up.

At first anyway, seemed like the leaves on the affected branches were sort of leathery.

[mdvpc]

Sorry-I did mean herbicide. Your photo looks somewhat like mine did when they were contaminated. Not like the thread about the growth curls here. So long as you are getting lots of fruit, hopefully things will stay that way.

[tam91]

Yep, it still has plenty of fruit. And serendipitously, it's the only variety I have two of, and the other one looks perfect. Odd.

There's another post in the container forum, talking about a problem that sounds similar to mine. Odd one, this.

I used containers from last year, sterilized with bleach. Same soil in all containers, and it was all new this year. Can't think what would have bothered the thing. I did get it from another lady who grew them from seed, and it was a pretty scraggly guy from the beginning. So maybe there was something in the original soil that bothered it?

It's been really hot here, but cooled off a bit recently, and dit didn't seem so upset in the heat, more now.

Ah well, guess I'll see (unless someone comes up with the magic answer)

[rsg2001]

Thanks for the pictures. This is what I've been getting only on a number of my black tomatoes. (Black, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate). Happens to ones in the ground (but not all) as well as in the self watering containers. In years past - not so much this year - Black Cherry was the one that suffered the most. This year, knock on wood, Black Cherry has largely been unscathed, but the past two years BC has eventually succumbed to whatever this is.

In containers I use Gardener's Supply Company self-watering mix which is a soilless mix, and their fertilizer. In the ground, the past two years I've been using mulch and compost from Rockland County - same as what my brother uses who lives in Rockland, and he doesn't get this crud in his tomato garden.

The products I use: rootshield for the ones in the ground. I switched fertilizer from Tomatoes Alive to Tomato Tone for in the ground. This didn't seem to make a difference. I also use Messenger/harpin protein every three weeks, Serenade as biofungicide, and hot pepper wax only occasionally (just once this year for some aphid problem that went away). This year I also tried Ocean Solution (a micronutrient sea water-based solution), diluted 1 part to 100 parts of water.

I've tried bleaching the containers - doesn't seem to have an effect.

I grow most of my tomatoes from seed - for that I use a seed starting mix also from Gardener's Supply - although this year for the first time two of the flats started sprouting mushrooms - Gardener's Supply did say, when I complained to them, that the mix now has organic matter in it. However, the Cherokee Purple I bought as a transplant at the Dutchess County botanical garden. All the flats I used this year were brand new so there should have been nothing contaminated in them. However, I'll try a different mix next year.

It doesn't look like any of the wilts, blights or other horrors.

I didn't think of herbicides. I don't use them myself, but I wonder if my neighbors do. Sorry for such a long post, but tis is a problem that I can't seem to get to the bottom of.

[RayR]

I've had this happen too on my blacks (Black Krim, Chocolate Cherry and Cherokee Purple). I have no idea what it is, but I just trimmed off the few affected stems and did my routine fungicide spraying and the problem never reappeared.

[hasshoes]

It looks like it could be grey mold (botrytis) though it hard to tell by the pictures.

Does it look almost burnt, and then crumble when you touch it?

I've found that my black tomatoes seem to be more prone to grey mold, and over the years I've heard of quite a few people getting crispy leaves on their blacks as well.

[tam91]

RSG - oh no, great post. I don't like having the problem once, I'd be really frustrated if, like you, I had it repeatedly. I'm glad if the photos helped.

hasshoes: Yes, that's a good description - as if it was burnt, and it does crumble.

It seems before it gets to that state, the leaves feel sort of leathery.

This one came all scraggly in a little pot of what lokked like dirt (ok, so I was desperate for a Nyagous) so there could have been anything in there.

OK, so off to read up on gray mold - should the chlorothalinol be controlling it?

Edit: oh my gosh, just really looked at your avatar - what an amazing dog!

[hasshoes]

Thank you, Finn is my big sweet baby. :0)

It does sound like you have grey mold/botrytis, which as you may learn- can be a royal pain in the butt. :0)

I had it last year and it's reared it's annoying head again this year.

I used to have a lot of links on it, but I think I deleted most- also, something is now wrong with my Firefox browser, lol- it keeps telling me it can't access my bookmarks and I need to create a new "personal file". Lol, whatever that means!

Anyway! Here is what I remember reading, and also my experience.

Botyritis can become resistant to sprays, so you are supposed to alternate at least two. Chlorothalinol is I believe listed to help, though you should be alternating with another spray.

Vigilantly remove ALL infected leaves and stems AND inflected blossoms(it is possible to loose tons of blossoms to grey mold- alas). Every point of infection is sending out tons of little spores that will plague your plant elsewhere and possibly infect all your other plants.

In my experience- once a leaf gets it the whole branch eventually goes down, so it's better to just removed the whole stem (then spray the wound) to prevent all that sporulating that's going to be happening before you get to each individual leaf. Make sure to spray ALL wounds from pruning etc on all your plants from now on. Make sure to reallyspray the branches next to any twine or where there would be wind damage.

Respray after every rain. If you have time, try to spray all new growth and at to spray in general at least every five days. Make SURE to get your blossoms sprayed well. Also- spray the actual fruit too.

Do you have flowers nearby? Check them for any black/brown crispy leaves- this will spread it to your tomatoes as well. If you have marigolds next to your maters- check them. If they have it I would just rip them up, if they are fine- you should start spraying them as well.

I used Actinovate and Mycorrhizae on the leaves last year in addition to more traditional sprays and it really seemed to help. I haven't been spraying the Actinovate as much as I did last year and after a big storm, a couple of my plants just got hit pretty bad. :0P

Anyways- be vigilant with your Chlorothalinol and another spray as well as your leaf etc removal and you should still get plenty of maters. Keep an eye on those blossoms!!!! :0) Good Luck! :0)

[Tomatovator]

My black cherry plants get the same way. Real bad last year. This year not as bad. Good thread.

[tam91]

hasshoes - that's some baby - I think he's twice as big as you! Cute!

Thanks so much for the info. Do you know what the other recommended sprays are? The chlorothalinol doesn't seem to be controlling it very well. However, happily every other tomato plant, flowers, herbs, are all fine. It's just that one plant (stay that way... please... please...).

Interesting how many plagues can plague tomato plants - and then there's the sick big beef I ripped out in early July, threw on the burn pile - and it was growing and flowering last week, with a six-inch root ball hanging in midair. (I then felt sorry for it, and planted it again)

[korney19]

As I think things over a bit, I have had something quite like that and it usually occurs on a select few varieties that have Cherokee Purple somewhere in their heritage, or black tomatoes:

Haley's Purple Comet
Cherokee Green Grape
Cherokee Green
Cherokee Bi-Color F_
Cherokee Purple
Indian Stripe

What is odd is that Cornell Cooperative Extension was here yesterday and took samples of :

Haley's Purple Comet
Cherokee Green Grape
Cherokee Bi-Color

......to test for LATE BLIGHT.

As for sprays, Mancozeb based products work very well on:

Anthracnose,
Early Blight,
Late Blight,
Gray Leaf Spot,

Leaf Mold,

Septoria Leaf Spot,
Bacterial Speck and Spot.

Hope this helps.

[hasshoes]

Thank you He is the sweetest dog ever. He thinks he's small too- he loooooves to sit on people's laps.


You should be good because you caught your botrytis early. Also, it favors cold and wet- with some wind thrown in to spread it, and I believe your weather has been the opposite of that? With the exception of a few bad days, ours has.

Actinovate is listed to control grey mold as a foiliar spray It is also listed to prevent "Grey mold root rot" as a soil drench- though I'm not sure what that is. :0) Actinovate is not cheap though- though it's cheap *per use*. One little baggy is $20, though it lasts all season as you only need one teaspoon per two gallons of water. You also might want to consider it as a soil drench, as botrytis overwinters in the soil . :0P :0P :0P I drenched everything last fall and sprayed all my flowers in the early spring, and the grey mold didn't come back until I seemed to get it from my neighbors.

Serenade (I think?) is listed to work on it as well. It didn't work so well for me when I used it three or so years ago on my infected black cherry and Paul Robeson- however, I was only able to spray every two weeks as I moved to a different state.


Unfortunately, most of the rec'd sprays are for the pros only. I did recently order something called Regalia that's supposed to work well for grapes, though I haven't used it yet due to an order delay. At $65 bucks it is also crazy, crazy expensive! I'll let you know if it works out-- though obviously that much money isn't worth it for just one plant!!! :0)

Have you been removing the affected leaves IMMEDIATELY? Once a plant gets grey mold I don't think there is any "cure" - you're just operating to keep it from completely taking over.

[tam91]

Haha I have 100lb lapdogs also. When two of them arrive at once, they *may* start to equal yours.

I have been taking leaves off pretty quickly - I shall now make sure I move like lightning.