Tomatoes are dying! What is it and can they be saved?

Update:

I can see the spider mites. I noticed fairly impressive webbing near the bottom of the bush goliath. Upon inspection, it appears all three of the tomatoes have the mites. They are visible to the naked eye, and appear to be a fairly bright red.

Alright - I've ID'd the buggers.

What now?

[Redbaron]

predatory mites

Here is a place I found that has several biological controls in small enough quantities to be useful to home gardeners and large lots too. Actually though there are many places to get them. Spider Mite control

[clkeiper]

I spray with a solution of insecticidal soap (1 T to 1 quart of water)or a spray of dishwashing detg. in water.

I sprayed last night, 2 TBSP of Dawn soap to a cup of water. Didn't seem to do much.

Afraid there's not much time left.

I found this stuff called "floramite" online, that is supposed to be pretty much the only 100% effective treatment. Of course, it's highly toxic and only recently been approved for hothouse tomatoes. I am pretty sure it's toxic, so that's out.

Next up is a product called "azamax". It appears, like Neem Oil, to be a method of control rather than a killer.

I think I will go to the store and buy some Neem Oil and give that a shot. Any tips, anyone? I am afraid that the plants don't have much time. Can I manually remove them, then douse in neem oil and dish soap to keep them at bay?

[AprilMayJune]

I used a mixture of plain old water and plain old dish soap for my mite infestation. I used a spray bottle and really soaked the heck out of them in the nooks and crannies, and especially the undersides of the leaves.

It took a little while and I had to reapply on a couple of plants but now the mites appear to be gone. New growth on my plants have shown no sign of them for several weeks now.

[Crandrew]

Neem oil has been used for mites, but I personally have never used it for mites.

I will continue to use dish soap/water and neem oil together over the next few days.

I will report with any successes and failures.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I would be greatly appreciative.

would it be helpful to attempt to manually remove the mites, then spray? Is this even possible? They're so small and plentiful. Is there a way to "brush" them off the leaves?

[Heritage]

Morkai,

UCDavis has an informative article on mites, with good recommendations for various control measures:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html

With any of the contact controls (like Neem) it is important to thoroughly spray the underside of all leafs and keep the solution agitated while spraying. Don't be tempted to 'dip' the plant in any of the oil mixtures - the oil rises to the surface of the dip and will result in a concentrated "coat of death" (depending on the surfactant - my only attempt resulted in seedling torture and death)

Remove, and toss, any bottom leaves showing the infestation. Then spray your neem/soap mixture every 5 days for a few weeks (3 times). Don't spray when it's hot, and don't spray with sulfur. (since you are using oil)

The yellow cherry may not recover - it is hard to tell from the photo how infested it is. The other two plants look salvageable.

btw... where, online, did you find 'Floramite' in a small enough quantity to make it a consideration? Thanks.

Good luck
Steve

Originally Posted by Heritage

Morkai,

UCDavis has an informative article on mites, with good recommendations for various control measures:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7405.html

With any of the contact controls (like Neem) it is important to thoroughly spray the underside of all leafs and keep the solution agitated while spraying. Don't be tempted to 'dip' the plant in any of the oil mixtures - the oil rises to the surface of the dip and will result in a concentrated "coat of death" (depending on the surfactant - my only attempt resulted in seedling torture and death)

Remove, and toss, any bottom leaves showing the infestation. Then spray your neem/soap mixture every 5 days for a few weeks (3 times). Don't spray when it's hot, and don't spray with sulfur. (since you are using oil)

The yellow cherry may not recover - it is hard to tell from the photo how infested it is. The other two plants look salvageable.

btw... where, online, did you find 'Floramite' in a small enough quantity to make it a consideration? Thanks.

Good luck
Steve

Thanks for all the advice! I will try to neem oil, and see what good it does. Hopefully I can salvage some of the plants, but the infestation also seems to be moving quickly. Once I pick off infested leaves, the move quickly to the next. The bottom halves of those tomatoes are looking very bare.

As for floramite, it's very expensive. However, if you look on eBay, there are sellers who are offering 1 oz vials for around $25.00. This seems to be the ultimate foolproof method to rid spider mite infestations. However, I was under the impression this is unsafe for tomatoes?

[Heritage]

Originally Posted by Morkai

As for floramite, it's very expensive. However, if you look on eBay, there are sellers who are offering 1 oz vials for around $25.00. This seems to be the ultimate foolproof method to rid spider mite infestations. However, I was under the impression this is unsafe for tomatoes?

Thanks - I use Floramite, in rotation with other miticides, for mite control on flowers but haven't used it on tomatoes. I don't know if it is registered for food crops. Effective in rotation, otherwise there is nothing 'special' about it - I suspect it has been promoted in cannabis forums, along with 'Azamax'. (much as Daconil is promoted at T'Ville for foliar diseases) I wonder about the legality of selling Floramite (or buying it) in repackaged vials on Ebay.

Steve

Well. We got .87 inches of rain here in the DC area in 12 minutes today. And it's not over. More is forecasted for the next five days.

This is not the 4th wettest June on record in DC, it may take the top spot before the month ends.

Basically, my tomatoes are ruined. I came home today, and the plants are clearly past the point of salvage. The difference between this morning and this afternoon are incredible. They are clearly overwatered, and battling a spider mite infection. I thought I could save them, but I doubt it.

It's hard to believe I got spider mites in such a wet, humid month, but alas.

First time growing tomatoes wasn't really a great success!

Peppers still going strong though.

[Paradajz]

hi again.

Steve, a good one with the mites

Morkai, except for Yellow Cherry all your plants are actually defoliating from a fungal disease, and with such an amount of rain it will prompt up to an extraordinary speed. such type of rapid defoliation from bottom to top is tipical for Leaf Mold, and unfortunatelly impossible to stop with the leafs which have already been contaminated.
since i take it that systemic fungicides which are the correct choice there aren't available to you, copper and mancozeb in tank mixture at regular doses could provide at least a chance to help, twice in 7 days.
also, at the plant stage you have there sulfur was a fairly better option for mite control than any of the oils.

br

[Paradajz]

p.s.

is a substance Abamectin available to any of the home growers there?
question asked only out of curiosity

[Heritage]

Ivan,

Yes, Abamectin is available here but probably not in quantities small enough to justify purchase by home gardeners. I use it occasionally in rotation with other miticides but I use it as seldom as possible because I don't want a resistance to build up, it is very valuable to me for leaf miner control so I usually save it for that pest (again, all on commercial flower production, not tomatoes)

I agree, sulfur would be a more effective control but Morkai said he was already spraying with Neem and soap mixture so I wasn't sure about mixing them. Also, not sure how sulfur would perform in the rain.

I'm glad your plants have stabilized - I hope you get your first taste of your new varieties soon

Morkai,

you've got quite a challenge. I would use the mixture Ivan recommends for the mold problem and keep at the mites with the Neem/soap. Hopefully, your weather will improve soon.

Steve

[KathyDC]

The rain in the DC metro area has been incredible, I too am battling fungal issues with almost all of my plants. So far I haven't had to pull any of them, and all are bearing fruit, but I am worried about a few of them.