Help! My tomatoes have something... but I dunno what

[KathyDC]

Okay, it was bound to happen... especially in the humid climate where I live, and with all the ridiculous off-and-on rain we've gotten the past few weeks.

Some of my tomatoes are starting to get the dreaded bottom leaf yellowing. I can't quite decide what it is, though, so I'm hoping y'all can help. Any idea what it is, and suggestions for how to combat it are welcome. (I'm not treating them with any anti-fungals or anti-bacterials.)

I'm attaching photos of my Dingwall Scotty plant, which are fairly similar to what I'm seeing in some of the other plants.

Front of affected leaf - Back of affected leaf - Other leaves showing yellowing on the same plant

And to make myself feel better, a shot of the fruit it's putting out anyway!

Thanks for the help,
Kathy

[ScottinAtlanta]

Here is my spraying regime in Atlanta, which is less humid than DC. I ruthlessly cut away all fronds with even a single yellowing leaf. So far, I am ahead of the yellowing:

Day 1: Actinovate, Exel LG, and molassas mix. For normal application use ½ -1 tsp per gallon of water. 2 grams per gallon of water (or 1/2 teaspoon) is the recommended rate for the Actinovate solution, both for soil application and foliar spray.
Day 6: Daconil spray (2 tbs al)
Day 11: Actinovate molasses mix
continue

According to Ami, EXEL LG is a contact and systemic fungicide that is absorbed by the plant and fights disease from within, while Actinovate is a contact fungicide. daconil is a protectant which basically shields the plant from the fungi spores.

[kath]

Looks like the beginnings of Early Blight to me, so pick off the affected leaves and decide whether to spray or not and if so, what. The good news is that you'll continue to get fruits and that EB doesn't usually kill the plants or affect the fruits- at least here in my humid little corner of the world.

kath

[KathyDC]

Thanks Scott and kath! Scott, you're right that it's much less humid here than where you are, though it's still plenty humid. I grew up in Houston so I'm all too familiar with that climate!! But, ironically both Houston and DC are reclaimed swampland so their climates, for a portion of the year, are not that dissimilar.

To clarify, you cut off the entire stem, not just the leaf that's showing trouble?

Thank you for the suggestions!! Looks like I have some more items to procure....

What's the best way to apply it? I don't have any kind of fancy sprayers and probably won't get any this year unless it wasn't too spendy (my other half has just finished law school.....). I mean, would a regular old spray bottle work?

Kathy

[dice]

I mean, would a regular old spray bottle work?

Yes, it is just a little tedious constantly refilling it from a gallon
jug when it runs out, and there could be a tendency to
"under treat" plants because of how fast the spray bottle runs
out and must be refilled.

Expect the Exel LG and Actinovate to seem a bit expensive.
Molasses one can often find for reasonable prices by the
gallon. I forget what Daconil costs.

After you see the prices of all this stuff, the cost of a
one-gallon Solo sprayer or similar may seem like a small
part of the expense. The cutting off and throwing away of
infected leaves is the cost-effective part.

[KathyDC]

Dice, you were right! Both treatments were a little on the expensive side, but generally I'm of a mind that if I'm doing something I ought to do it right and if that means spending a little extra then so be it. So I bit the bullet and bought both treatments as well as a plant sprayer from a hydroponics store.

In for a penny, in for a pound!

Kathy

[dice]

Molasses by the gallon:
http://www.agrisupply.com/Molasses-G...77/&sid=&eid=/
(A quality product. You may need to drive out to farm country
to find something like this over the counter.)

[emcd124]

If you want to go the low-chem route, any chance the molassas mix alone without daconil is at all effective?

[RobinB]

Walmart sells a 1 gallon sprayer (that you pump up to get it under pressure) for around $8.00. I've got several that I've had for three seasons now and they are still working great. It has a hose that comes off the tank with a wand that has an adjustable spray pattern.

[dice]

Originally Posted by emcd124

If you want to go the low-chem route, any chance the molassas mix alone without daconil is at all effective?

Probably not for treating fungal foliage diseases. It does have
fertilizer value (5% potassium and traces of iron and other
minerals), it will feed beneficial bacteria like actinovate,
but it is used here mainly to get the antifungals to stick to the
leaves and not immediately run off into the soil or container
mix below.