Say it ain't so...PLEASE!

[Got Worms?]

Originally Posted by kath

The concentric circles in the lesions, especially in pics 2 and 4 look like EB but there's no yellow showing up on the leaves that are afflicted in this way. Many of my other plants have already lost lots of lower leaves to EB but none of them showed the thinning wet looking darker green areas that first appear with this, Iva.

Either way, the spray's the same and I think I'm going for it today. It's supposed to be cloudy from about 9 am on and although they're calling for showers later today/tonight, they've been saying the same thing for the past 2 days. I haven't sprayed because of it and we haven't had a drop.

kath

Uh oh, the pictures didn't look too bad, but your description sounds exactly like LB. LB is very fast, so if it is it, you'll know in a few days. Watch for lesions of darker green on the vines and stems also, then collapse. I'm hoping that what you have is just a recoverable problem.

I've had LB before and it actually made me want to give up on growing tomatoes. Luckily, I got over that! Hang in there, Kath. Keep doing your spraying when you can and don't forget about caring for the rest of your plants. Oh, and be careful of cross contamination... just in case. Luck be with you!

(just heard another roll of thunder. )

[Got Worms?]

Kath, it's been near a week. I thought you would have posted back by now, with hopefully good news.

[b54red]

It is probably Gray Mold and it can spread very fast during rainy wet weather. Spray with the dilute bleach spray and it will kill most of the spores and show you the extent of the disease. All the infected leaves will wither up. Then apply a fungicide and hope for less rain. The bleach spray will also help with any other foliage disease like Septoria and EB.

If the progress of Gray Mold is not slowed or stopped it will also affect much or all of the fruit on the tomato vine. Black and Green when Ripe tomatoes are far more susceptible to Gray mold than most of the other types. I was unable to stop it on a Berkley Tie Dye Pink and a Grubs Mystery Green this season; but both were weakened by fusarium. I also had it get on about a dozen more and they are all still producing and without Gray Mold right now; but we are still having a lot of rain. Yesterday was the first day in three weeks in which we didn't get any rain and I'm hoping today will be the second one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because it has been over six weeks since we had two days in a row without rain. Add near 100% humidity to that and you have a lot of foliage diseases to contend with and Gray Mold is one of the hardest to stop in that kind of weather.

Bill

[kath]

Hey, Charlie- thanks for waking me up!

Well, I pulled all affected leaves, sprayed again and haven't seen any more leaves like this since. It hasn't rained since then, either, and it's been in the 90's and sunny every day so the plants are thriving and each day more varieties are beginning to blush. I'll consider the season a success if I get to taste everything before disaster strikes.

Hope your plants are doing well-

kath

[JamesL]

Great news Kath! Don't mind losing a few battles as long as you win the war.
Tad warm this week isn't it? August in July....

[kath]

Originally Posted by b54red

It is probably Gray Mold and it can spread very fast during rainy wet weather. Spray with the dilute bleach spray and it will kill most of the spores and show you the extent of the disease. All the infected leaves will wither up. Then apply a fungicide and hope for less rain. The bleach spray will also help with any other foliage disease like Septoria and EB.

If the progress of Gray Mold is not slowed or stopped it will also affect much or all of the fruit on the tomato vine. Black and Green when Ripe tomatoes are far more susceptible to Gray mold than most of the other types. I was unable to stop it on a Berkley Tie Dye Pink and a Grubs Mystery Green this season; but both were weakened by fusarium. I also had it get on about a dozen more and they are all still producing and without Gray Mold right now; but we are still having a lot of rain. Yesterday was the first day in three weeks in which we didn't get any rain and I'm hoping today will be the second one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because it has been over six weeks since we had two days in a row without rain. Add near 100% humidity to that and you have a lot of foliage diseases to contend with and Gray Mold is one of the hardest to stop in that kind of weather.

Bill

Thanks for your input, Bill. The lengths you are willing to go to keep on growing tomatoes despite all the challenges you face never ceases to amaze me! I'm sure you must love your maters a lot more than I do. I've been tempted but haven't yet tried your bleach spray- in general, I hate spraying more than any other garden chore and the thought of spending an hour in a mist of bleach has kept me procrastinating about it. We'll see...

kath

[kath]

Originally Posted by JamesL

Great news Kath! Don't mind losing a few battles as long as you win the war.
Tad warm this week isn't it? August in July....

Thanks, James- yes, things are quiet for now. The heat and humidity have been oppressive, for sure- it's like Florida in PA...97 and humid tomorrow.

kath