Help with my first garden's post mortem

lowlylowlycook · October 17, 2010

So this was my first year with a garden and things went surprisingly well, but next year I'll have a bunch of heirlooms with only one plant per variety instead of a buch of hybrids that I bought as plants this year so I'd like to learn as much from this year as possible.

As I saw it my biggest tomato problems were

Early Blight (or maybe Septoria)
Stinkbugs -- saw these guys and noticed the typical damage to some tomatoes.
Something that stripped a good number of leaves off of (normally high) branches, leaving the stems.
Something that took bites out of tomatoes that looked like a tiny melon baller was used.

Any leads as to what could cause 3&4? Could the little bits be from birds or perhaps squirrels?

As far as Early Blight goes, to what degree would planting later (got a cold snap not long after planting) and being more on the ball as far as removing diseased branches help? Or is some kind of fungicide the only answer?

Things that I noticed but seemed acceptable:

Some hornworm damage but Dipel seemed to take care of it. I wish the cannister had a smaller screen for dusting though.

I had Japanese Beetles on my plants but I didn't notice any skeletonized leaves, they seemed to be more interested in flowers from a nearby tree, basil leaves and sassafrass trees as far as eating was concerned. We get a lot of these buggers though and I was worried. Should I try to relax a bit next year or should I keep dunking as many as possible into a soapy water grave?

Overall, I didn't use too many products to keep my plants going. Just the BT and a bit of neem oil when I thought the beetles might go for my toms. Any advice?

b54red · October 18, 2010

Lowly, the best thing you can do is build up your soil with organic matter like manure, leaves, and compost.
Your plan of using a lot of varieties is a good one because as soon as you find a tomato that does good for you it will fail the very next year. I would still plant a few hybrids because of their disease tolerance. My two favorites are Big Beef and Jetsetter. Big Beef is very dependable and withstands diseases better than any variety I have ever used and Jetsetter which is not as hardy is super productive. Both are good eating and slicing tomatoes.
The next thing you need to do is decide what kind of characteristics you are looking for in a tomato, because there are so many different types with wild differences in taste, size, production, and hardiness.
For disease prevention start spraying with Daconil as soon as you set them out and about once a week after that. If diseases get bad you can try the dilute clorox spray for existing diseases.
Sounds like the plant leaves being stripped was tomato hornworms. Good luck next year.

ContainerTed · October 18, 2010

Organic is something that the media has sold the public on so that corporations can make us pay more for the same inferior products. JMHO!

With my tomatoes, I usually spray for insects and use whatever I can that is supposed to kill the little devils I'm chasing. For my efforts, it means that I have "fewer" stinkbugs than other folks.

With your foliage missing, I'll bet my old hat that you have a hornworm. Search here at T'ville and there are many pictures of them. This past year, I saw only one and it was not feeling well. I spray occasionally with a product called "Garden Safe". It gives them a tummy ache.

With the holes in the fruit, it could be the same hornworms or it could be one of a few other fruit eating worms. Again, the spray minimizes their presence.

The early blight and other foliage diseases can only be minimized. In 2009, almost everyone got hit hard with foliage diseases. This year has been the first in a long time for me that I didn't see any foliage diseases and I really didn't spray anything after mid July. I guess I used just enough spray to give them a good start and they took it from there. The peppers and tomatoes had a slow down with the heat, but came on strong again just recently and I'm enjoying a bit of a second season.

Ted

Stepheninky · October 18, 2010

You know it was kinda weird this year with the stink bugs as never have had a problem with them before now. Also I noticed that they only were on my 6 hybrid plants, they never really bothered the Heirlooms, not sure if it was a location thing but they were right next to each other so IDK. Baking soda is a great fungicidal and is super cheap. The two insecticides I use are seven and green light Fruit tree spray.
Do to the heat and no ran it was not the greatest tomato year here, but it was still an OK / good year I guess. Great thing about gardening theres always next year to look forward to.

October 17, 2010	#1
lowlylowlycook Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2010 Location: So. Illinois (6a) Posts: 147	Help with my first garden's post mortem So this was my first year with a garden and things went surprisingly well, but next year I'll have a bunch of heirlooms with only one plant per variety instead of a buch of hybrids that I bought as plants this year so I'd like to learn as much from this year as possible. As I saw it my biggest tomato problems were Early Blight (or maybe Septoria) Stinkbugs -- saw these guys and noticed the typical damage to some tomatoes. Something that stripped a good number of leaves off of (normally high) branches, leaving the stems. Something that took bites out of tomatoes that looked like a tiny melon baller was used. Any leads as to what could cause 3&4? Could the little bits be from birds or perhaps squirrels? As far as Early Blight goes, to what degree would planting later (got a cold snap not long after planting) and being more on the ball as far as removing diseased branches help? Or is some kind of fungicide the only answer? Things that I noticed but seemed acceptable: Some hornworm damage but Dipel seemed to take care of it. I wish the cannister had a smaller screen for dusting though. I had Japanese Beetles on my plants but I didn't notice any skeletonized leaves, they seemed to be more interested in flowers from a nearby tree, basil leaves and sassafrass trees as far as eating was concerned. We get a lot of these buggers though and I was worried. Should I try to relax a bit next year or should I keep dunking as many as possible into a soapy water grave? Overall, I didn't use too many products to keep my plants going. Just the BT and a bit of neem oil when I thought the beetles might go for my toms. Any advice?

October 18, 2010	#3
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	Organic is something that the media has sold the public on so that corporations can make us pay more for the same inferior products. JMHO! With my tomatoes, I usually spray for insects and use whatever I can that is supposed to kill the little devils I'm chasing. For my efforts, it means that I have "fewer" stinkbugs than other folks. With your foliage missing, I'll bet my old hat that you have a hornworm. Search here at T'ville and there are many pictures of them. This past year, I saw only one and it was not feeling well. I spray occasionally with a product called "Garden Safe". It gives them a tummy ache. With the holes in the fruit, it could be the same hornworms or it could be one of a few other fruit eating worms. Again, the spray minimizes their presence. The early blight and other foliage diseases can only be minimized. In 2009, almost everyone got hit hard with foliage diseases. This year has been the first in a long time for me that I didn't see any foliage diseases and I really didn't spray anything after mid July. I guess I used just enough spray to give them a good start and they took it from there. The peppers and tomatoes had a slow down with the heat, but came on strong again just recently and I'm enjoying a bit of a second season. Ted __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

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October 18, 2010	#2
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Lowly, the best thing you can do is build up your soil with organic matter like manure, leaves, and compost. Your plan of using a lot of varieties is a good one because as soon as you find a tomato that does good for you it will fail the very next year. I would still plant a few hybrids because of their disease tolerance. My two favorites are Big Beef and Jetsetter. Big Beef is very dependable and withstands diseases better than any variety I have ever used and Jetsetter which is not as hardy is super productive. Both are good eating and slicing tomatoes. The next thing you need to do is decide what kind of characteristics you are looking for in a tomato, because there are so many different types with wild differences in taste, size, production, and hardiness. For disease prevention start spraying with Daconil as soon as you set them out and about once a week after that. If diseases get bad you can try the dilute clorox spray for existing diseases. Sounds like the plant leaves being stripped was tomato hornworms. Good luck next year.

October 18, 2010	#4
Stepheninky Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 682	You know it was kinda weird this year with the stink bugs as never have had a problem with them before now. Also I noticed that they only were on my 6 hybrid plants, they never really bothered the Heirlooms, not sure if it was a location thing but they were right next to each other so IDK. Baking soda is a great fungicidal and is super cheap. The two insecticides I use are seven and green light Fruit tree spray. Do to the heat and no ran it was not the greatest tomato year here, but it was still an OK / good year I guess. Great thing about gardening theres always next year to look forward to.