When to Pull Them

[AlittleSalt]

I know I have written a lot about what is going on with all the rain and the plants being stunted - etc.. I got up early to look at the plants, and realized, if I cut off any more yellow leaves - there won't be any left...or not many. So instead of pruning and hoping they will grow out of it - I took pictures with this thread in mind. The pictures actually make the cherry tomato plants look better than they actually look.

First the stunted plants. Bumblebees, Ambrosias, others. They are between 2 and 3' tall at best, and were planted out back in early March.

The last picture is what I think they should look like - the last picture is Porter.

What would you do with these plants?

[Tracydr]

I'd give them a good feeding of kelp/fish emulsion as well as a foliar spray of kelp/neem oil. They look like they may recover if they get a break. All that rain probably depleted your fertilizer.

[SueCT]

I would not have picked off the yellow leaves. I only remove leaves that are diseased or dried up. I would give the yellow leaves a chance to green up again with less water and more sun and nitrogen if needed. I might replace a few if you can still find large plants in pots to purchase locally, but if not, and its too late in your season to start over, what do you have to loose by leaving them in place and seeing if they recover?

[AlittleSalt]

The forecast is for rain today. I haven't watered since April.

I did start seeds in a 36 cell tray yesterday to attempt growing a fall garden. Some are cherry tomatoes that will replace at least some of these in the 34' long raised bed.

I have been spraying the bleach/soap water on them and using Daconil, but the leaves keep yellowing and there are some plants out in the main garden that do have dried up leaves that I remove daily.

Below are pictures of a plant that I'm hoping you all can look at and say, "That is ____"

[Labradors2]

The root looks humungous! I guess the rest of it simply rotted!

Your plot looked so nice from your pictures. The only thing that you forgot to add was a cover over the top to keep all the darned rain out!

Sorry that you are having such a difficult time with your plants.....

Linda

[decherdt]

I saw those Fat roots and it might not be textbook classic, but I still thought RKN. I been wanting to pull up a plant for other reasons so I forked up a cherry tom root ball, here is a pic. It was planted out on 2/27. If yours is RKN, they will get worse in the Fall, might want to start some Big Beef and Celebrity. I been growing resistant stuff like Elbon Rye, blackeye peas in the tomato patch, between tomatoes seasons, seems to work OK.

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by decherdt

I saw those Fat roots and it might not be textbook classic, but I still thought RKN. I been wanting to pull up a plant for other reasons so I forked up a cherry tom root ball, here is a pic. It was planted out on 2/27. If yours is RKN, they will get worse in the Fall, might want to start some Big Beef and Celebrity. I been growing resistant stuff like Elbon Rye, blackeye peas in the tomato patch, between tomatoes seasons, seems to work OK.

I grow in raised beds that are not lined therefore have nematodes. I've have had fair luck with Big Beef but don't care much for Celebrity. Two nematodes resistant varieties that I had very good luck with this spring are First Prize F1 and Jetsetter F1. Large red tomatoes which taste fairly good. I will grow them again in the Fall and see. I agree nematodes and other diseases are more intense here in the fall than in the spring. Another variety that did amazingly well this spring is the plum tomato Granadero F1. I grew it last fall and though I got quite a few tomatoes it was much more successful this spring.
Good Luck,

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by decherdt

I saw those Fat roots and it might not be textbook classic, but I still thought RKN. I been wanting to pull up a plant for other reasons so I forked up a cherry tom root ball, here is a pic. It was planted out on 2/27. If yours is RKN, they will get worse in the Fall, might want to start some Big Beef and Celebrity. I been growing resistant stuff like Elbon Rye, blackeye peas in the tomato patch, between tomatoes seasons, seems to work OK.

I would like to understand better what you are saying. What I think you are saying is because some of the roots are a larger diameter than others, this is caused by nematodes, even though the telltale nodules(knots) are not present. I grow in soil with nematodes and I see this on some tomato plants I pull. Sometimes I will see a single root that is extraordinarily thick and I suspicioned nematodes but there were no nodules present therefore, I didn't know for sure.
I need to take more photos of the roots of plants I pull. If I see thick roots on plants that I consider quite nematodes resistant then I might consider the thick root do to something other than nematodes but if I don't see them on seriously nematode resistant plants but do see them on others which I don't consider particularly resistant then I would have to come to the conclusion that the thick roots are do to nematodes.
Or better yet, someone who is quite knowledgeable on the subject may be able to tell us categorically that these types of roots are do to nematodes. I would love to hear others opinion on this subject because I am sure all of us would like to have the ability to objectively determine what is nematode damage and what isn't.
Thanks,
Larry

[decherdt]

Originally Posted by Zone9b

....I think you are saying is because some of the roots are a larger diameter than others, this is caused by nematodes, even though the telltale nodules(knots) are not present....

Any time I see ginger looking roots on tomato plants I'm thinking RKN. Salt's were lumpy enough to call 'em naughty,. It does bother me that several brands of Big Beef all were susceptible, have to just hope they are not monster nematodes from Comanche Peak

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by decherdt

Any time I see ginger looking roots on tomato plants I'm thinking RKN. Salt's were lumpy enough to call 'em naughty,. It does bother me that several brands of Big Beef all were susceptible, have to just hope they are not monster nematodes from Comanche Peak

I agree that Big Beef is suspicious as far as nematode resistance is concerned. I grew BB in a fall season a while back in a Raised Bed. It produced ok but not great and the tomatoes were of good size. The one thing that caused me to think that its nematode resistance was somewhat lacking is that as the plant matured into the end of the season the main stem turned to toast. The main stem was completely dried out and devoid of any plant material within.
With other varieties such as Champion II, First Prize, and Jetsetter, which are all indeterminate vining varieties, I don't see this at all. At the end of the season their main stems are still green and healthy and if I let them they will continually grow larger into the summer or winter but not set tomatoes. It appears to me that just going by the N in a seed vendors description,while somewhat useful, may not provide complete information. With only an N one does not know, in my opinion, whether this variety is low, intermediate or high resistance to nematodes. For example I grew a variety this spring called Giant Beef. It was said to be N but when I pulled the plants which hadn't performed particularly well, the roots were covered with root galls.
Thanks, Your description helps increase my knowledge of how to identify nematode damage.
Larry

[Labradors2]

Just in case it is Root Knot Nematodes, I found this interesting website. Do I see Marigolds in your future garden?


http://blackgold.bz/mighty-marigolds...nic-gardening/

Linda

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Just in case it is Root Knot Nematodes, I found this interesting website. Do I see Marigolds in your future garden?


http://blackgold.bz/mighty-marigolds...nic-gardening/

Linda

Interesting. I do plant marigolds but thought all the talk was wife tale. I use them as a watering gauge.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

Interesting. I do plant marigolds but thought all the talk was wife tale. I use them as a watering gauge.

In S. Fl. It's for sure a wives tale( marigolds to fend off nematodes) so is amending the soil with organics to make the nematodes less. You could amend perfectly for 30 years straight and the nematodes will still be an infestation. S. FL. Is extremely infested, every square inch of it.
Solarization kills them, but only for 3 months or so.
I like a container with a barrier to the soil. Still, this season one of my Earthboxes became infested because the yard man weed whacked at an angle, and spattered native soil over the earthboxes, some fell into the planting hole opening in the plastic mulch topper, and that was that.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

In S. Fl. It's for sure a wives tale( marigolds to fend off nematodes) so is amending the soil with organics to make the nematodes less. You could amend perfectly for 30 years straight and the nematodes will still be an infestation. S. FL. Is extremely infested, every square inch of it.
Solarization kills them, but only for 3 months or so.
I like a container with a barrier to the soil. Still, this season one of my Earthboxes became infested because the yard man weed whacked at an angle, and spattered ative soil over the earthboxes, some fell into the planting hole opening in the plastic mulch topper, and that was that.

Dadgum

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

In S. Fl. It's for sure a wives tale( marigolds to fend off nematodes) so is amending the soil with organics to make the nematodes less. You could amend perfectly for 30 years straight and the nematodes will still be an infestation. S. FL. Is extremely infested, every square inch of it.
Solarization kills them, but only for 3 months or so.
I like a container with a barrier to the soil. Still, this season one of my Earthboxes became infested because the yard man weed whacked at an angle, and spattered native soil over the earthboxes, some fell into the planting hole opening in the plastic mulch topper, and that was that.

The part about nematodes in soil with organics not working, I would agree with. I grow in 100 percent compost unlined raised beds and there surely are nematodes in there.
Larry