Please help a new grower

stefanie1976 · June 10, 2013

Hi All,
This is my second year growing vegetables, and last year my tomatoes did really well, so I decided to grow more varieties this year.

I ordered the plants from an online nursery, and they seemed to be doing quite well after I set them out.

A few weeks after setting them out, I noticed the leaves on one plant deform, and at first I thought (from reading here) that it might be herbicide damage, as my neighbor was treating his lawn. However, it quickly spread to all the tomato plants, and even my okra started growing distorted leaves.

Nearby carrots, asparagus, radicchio, and shallots seem to do well.

The plants continued to grow and flowered, so I decided to wait and see. The first flowers set fruit without problems, and the fruit are growing well. The new flowers however appear to mostly fall off the plant after drying out.

Then just a few days ago, I started noticing small brown spots on some leaves and also the flowers that fall.

I attached a few pictures to show you what I can't really put into words.

I am quite sad that I must have done something wrong and don't know what.

Could you help me diagnose what is wrong with them, and what I could do to help my plants?
My (armchair) diagnosis is that it must be some kind of virus, but I don't know which one. Something also tells me that there must be something else?

Thank you all!

brown spots on flowers.jpg

brown spots on leaves.jpg

Curly leaves.jpg

distorted leaf on okra.jpg

Salsacharley · June 10, 2013

Hi Stephanie,

I am a novice tomatovillian myself, so I have no great experience or wisdom to pass on to you, but I did google "Spots on Tomatoes" and got this link that provides probably too much info: http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...omLeafKey.html

Based on what your plants look like in your pictures, and according to the symptoms listed in the above link from Cornell, it could be that your plants have Leaf Mold or Early Blight. If it is Leaf Mold, according to the Cornell info, it could have been a greenhouse disease taken to the field (your garden) on transplant.

I wish you the best in beating this, and I'm sure somebody with some real experience and knowledge will step in here and help get you squared away.

Charley

b54red · June 10, 2013

The third photo looks like it could be from herbicide drift. Usually they grow out of it if it isn't too bad.

The second photo could be any number of foliage diseases. Have you had a lot of rain recently?

If you are not spraying your plants with a fungicide weekly then you should start. It is no guarantee that you won't have any diseases but it greatly reduces the incidences.

Bill

stefanie1976 · June 10, 2013

Salsacharley: Thank you for the link! I will make sure to take a look at it and learn. If it is early blight, I assume I would need to treat it with a fungicidal?

b54red: The plants do not seem to be growing out of it, and it has been going on for about 4 weeks now. We did get a lot of rain a few days ago (4 inches in 24 hours) and there are two more inches in the forecast by Wednesday

I tried to find a fungicide spray at the local hardware store, but there was none available. Could you recommend one, and maybe a source?

tnkrer · June 10, 2013

Hi Stephanie .. Second year tomato grower as well, so dont know enough to provide any diagnostic .. However, one thing I found useful is to use my sonicare toothbrush to pollinate the flowers. I turn it on and touch the stem of the truss (and sometimes the stem of the flower) for few seconds. That got fruits set quicker. May be your flowers are not pollinating?

That second picture (brown spots) does look like some of the diseased leaves I was looking at earlier. Lots of good links provided by dice in my thread asking for help -> mildew and/or aphids.

What plant is the fourth photo?

I did not spray plants with any fungicide last year and haven't done it this year yet. Just because I did not know that I should have done that. Right now I am trying to figure out which fungicide I should buy and spray weekly

good luck with the plants .. Lets hope they recover from whatever is ailing them

ArthurDent004 · June 10, 2013

You could consult your local Agricultural Office and see if they can help with the diagnosis.

stefanie1976 · June 11, 2013

tnkrer: Thank you for the link to the post. From what I can tell, my plants show symptoms of CMV as well as something else... I will try to find a fungicide again today, maybe drive out a little further. The fourth photo shows an okra plant with a distorted leaf.

ArthurDent004: Thank you for the suggestion. I will call them today and see if they can help.

TightenUp · June 11, 2013

looks to me the curly leaves are from herbicide drift. it could also be present in your growing media

the photo with the black dots is most likely a disease which formed because the plants were weakened by the herbicide damage. my first thought was bacterial speck. can you post a photo of new growth and another of leaves at the bottom of the plant?

Redbaron · June 11, 2013

@Tightenup,
I was thinking the same thing, but wanted to see if any of the people more experienced with that sort of thing could say for sure.

Looks like at least 2 problems. Weakened plants from one problem can start getting all sorts of diseases that they normally could fight off naturally.

b54red · June 11, 2013

Stefanie, a lot of people use a copper fungicide and I am just starting to use one this year because Daconil has done a poor job preventing Gray Mold the past couple of years so I thought I would alternate using both. Daconil has done a very good job preventing most diseases for me but sometimes one will get through and cause problems.

I have had the signs of herbicide damage on some of my plants on one side of the garden this year also. It takes a long time for them to grow out of it and sometimes they never do.

If you have an Ace Hardware store near you or a Lowe's you should be able to find some of the more popular fungicides. If not some nurseries carry fungicides and can sometimes give you some good recommendations for what to use for your problems.

Bill

stefanie1976 · June 11, 2013

TightenUp: Thank you for making me a little more hopeful. I added a few more photos of new and old growth, as well as some of the fruit that did set early on (before my blossoms started falling off). I had trimmed most of the bottom leaves before I could take the pics today (I had read somewhere that I should... so I hope I didn't screw up), but the first two pictures below are from older growth.

b54red: Thank you again! Here is what I "scored" at another store today: Triazicide, Daconil, Sulfur Dust, and Bayer Vegetable and Garden Insect Dust (0.25% Permethrin). Do you have any suggestions for a regimen to follow with these? Maybe I got some I shouldn't use in combination with the others? I just pretty much grabbed what I could find

Weather-wise it looks like we will be dry for a few days with temperatures ranging from mid-80 to mid-90 in the next 10 days, so hopefully things can dry off a bit.

I truly appreciate everyone's input and willingness to help. Thank you!!!!

stefanie1976 · June 11, 2013

Forgot the photos ;-)

Vespertino · June 11, 2013

Stephanie,

I'm also a novice and I don't know what could be causing the black spots, but in the case of the curling leaves I'm sure 100% it's herbicide drift. I had the same thing appear on my Sungold tomatoes, and it took me a while to figure it out, but the leaf curling and distortion is very distinctive with herbicides. The leaves tend to curl inward, the edges shrivel/crinkle bit don't feel dried out (just a bit leathery), and the leaves don't grow out in the proper shape like a healthy leaf. The growth on your jet star looks almost exactly like my sungold after the landscapers for my apartment complex hosed the area down with herbicide.

With luck your tomato babies will outgrow the damage and be just fine!

June 10, 2013	#1
stefanie1976 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Wilson, NC Posts: 13	Please help a new grower Hi All, This is my second year growing vegetables, and last year my tomatoes did really well, so I decided to grow more varieties this year. I ordered the plants from an online nursery, and they seemed to be doing quite well after I set them out. A few weeks after setting them out, I noticed the leaves on one plant deform, and at first I thought (from reading here) that it might be herbicide damage, as my neighbor was treating his lawn. However, it quickly spread to all the tomato plants, and even my okra started growing distorted leaves. Nearby carrots, asparagus, radicchio, and shallots seem to do well. The plants continued to grow and flowered, so I decided to wait and see. The first flowers set fruit without problems, and the fruit are growing well. The new flowers however appear to mostly fall off the plant after drying out. Then just a few days ago, I started noticing small brown spots on some leaves and also the flowers that fall. I attached a few pictures to show you what I can't really put into words. I am quite sad that I must have done something wrong and don't know what. Could you help me diagnose what is wrong with them, and what I could do to help my plants? My (armchair) diagnosis is that it must be some kind of virus, but I don't know which one. Something also tells me that there must be something else? Thank you all! brown spots on flowers.jpg brown spots on leaves.jpg Curly leaves.jpg distorted leaf on okra.jpg

June 11, 2013	#8
TightenUp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Jersey Posts: 1,183	looks to me the curly leaves are from herbicide drift. it could also be present in your growing media the photo with the black dots is most likely a disease which formed because the plants were weakened by the herbicide damage. my first thought was bacterial speck. can you post a photo of new growth and another of leaves at the bottom of the plant? __________________

June 11, 2013	#9
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	@Tightenup, I was thinking the same thing, but wanted to see if any of the people more experienced with that sort of thing could say for sure. Looks like at least 2 problems. Weakened plants from one problem can start getting all sorts of diseases that they normally could fight off naturally. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

June 11, 2013	#11
stefanie1976 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Wilson, NC Posts: 13	TightenUp: Thank you for making me a little more hopeful. I added a few more photos of new and old growth, as well as some of the fruit that did set early on (before my blossoms started falling off). I had trimmed most of the bottom leaves before I could take the pics today (I had read somewhere that I should... so I hope I didn't screw up), but the first two pictures below are from older growth. b54red: Thank you again! Here is what I "scored" at another store today: Triazicide, Daconil, Sulfur Dust, and Bayer Vegetable and Garden Insect Dust (0.25% Permethrin). Do you have any suggestions for a regimen to follow with these? Maybe I got some I shouldn't use in combination with the others? I just pretty much grabbed what I could find Weather-wise it looks like we will be dry for a few days with temperatures ranging from mid-80 to mid-90 in the next 10 days, so hopefully things can dry off a bit. I truly appreciate everyone's input and willingness to help. Thank you!!!! Last edited by stefanie1976; June 11, 2013 at 01:03 PM. Reason: Provide more info

June 10, 2013	#2
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	Hi Stephanie, I am a novice tomatovillian myself, so I have no great experience or wisdom to pass on to you, but I did google "Spots on Tomatoes" and got this link that provides probably too much info: http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...omLeafKey.html Based on what your plants look like in your pictures, and according to the symptoms listed in the above link from Cornell, it could be that your plants have Leaf Mold or Early Blight. If it is Leaf Mold, according to the Cornell info, it could have been a greenhouse disease taken to the field (your garden) on transplant. I wish you the best in beating this, and I'm sure somebody with some real experience and knowledge will step in here and help get you squared away. Charley

June 10, 2013	#3
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	The third photo looks like it could be from herbicide drift. Usually they grow out of it if it isn't too bad. The second photo could be any number of foliage diseases. Have you had a lot of rain recently? If you are not spraying your plants with a fungicide weekly then you should start. It is no guarantee that you won't have any diseases but it greatly reduces the incidences. Bill

June 10, 2013	#5
tnkrer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: MA 6a/b Posts: 352	Hi Stephanie .. Second year tomato grower as well, so dont know enough to provide any diagnostic .. However, one thing I found useful is to use my sonicare toothbrush to pollinate the flowers. I turn it on and touch the stem of the truss (and sometimes the stem of the flower) for few seconds. That got fruits set quicker. May be your flowers are not pollinating? That second picture (brown spots) does look like some of the diseased leaves I was looking at earlier. Lots of good links provided by dice in my thread asking for help -> mildew and/or aphids. What plant is the fourth photo? I did not spray plants with any fungicide last year and haven't done it this year yet. Just because I did not know that I should have done that. Right now I am trying to figure out which fungicide I should buy and spray weekly good luck with the plants .. Lets hope they recover from whatever is ailing them

June 10, 2013	#6
ArthurDent004 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Cordova, TN Posts: 148	You could consult your local Agricultural Office and see if they can help with the diagnosis.

June 11, 2013	#13
Vespertino Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Southlake, TX Posts: 743	Stephanie, I'm also a novice and I don't know what could be causing the black spots, but in the case of the curling leaves I'm sure 100% it's herbicide drift. I had the same thing appear on my Sungold tomatoes, and it took me a while to figure it out, but the leaf curling and distortion is very distinctive with herbicides. The leaves tend to curl inward, the edges shrivel/crinkle bit don't feel dried out (just a bit leathery), and the leaves don't grow out in the proper shape like a healthy leaf. The growth on your jet star looks almost exactly like my sungold after the landscapers for my apartment complex hosed the area down with herbicide. With luck your tomato babies will outgrow the damage and be just fine!