gray beard stubble

Alpinejs · January 5, 2012

Several of my hothouse tomato plants have what looks like fine white hairs on
the leaves and the overall plant is taking on a sickly look. Any ideas?

maf · January 7, 2012

Not much info to go on, but I would suggest checking out Botrytis (grey mould or gray mold) and see if it matches what you see as "gray beard stubble". Common in greenhouses when the conditions are humid and cool.

Alpinejs · January 7, 2012

maf....Tomatoville experts to the rescue again. Bingo on the botrytis. Check out the picture here of a tomato plant and you can perhaps see why I called it gray stubble.

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=botr....,cf.osb&cad=b

Turning on the fans appears to be the only cure.

Thanks for the info.

maf · January 8, 2012

Glad to help. I always cut off and dispose of any affected foliage, trying to be careful as violent motions can release clouds of spores. In my experience it is only fatal if it affects the main stem. As you say, try to increase the ventilation and reduce humidity.

January 5, 2012	#1
Alpinejs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Alpine, Calif. in winter. Sandpoint Lake, Ont. Canada summers Posts: 850	gray beard stubble Several of my hothouse tomato plants have what looks like fine white hairs on the leaves and the overall plant is taking on a sickly look. Any ideas?

January 7, 2012	#2
maf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: England Posts: 512	Not much info to go on, but I would suggest checking out Botrytis (grey mould or gray mold) and see if it matches what you see as "gray beard stubble". Common in greenhouses when the conditions are humid and cool.

January 8, 2012	#4
maf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: England Posts: 512	Glad to help. I always cut off and dispose of any affected foliage, trying to be careful as violent motions can release clouds of spores. In my experience it is only fatal if it affects the main stem. As you say, try to increase the ventilation and reduce humidity.