iron chlorosis, blight, or WHAT?

[dmforcier]

Yeah, even when you know they're there they are gosh darnoodley difficult to spot.

But I don't think you'll find one. Either a bird got it, or wasp larvae seized it up (in which case it is easier to spot - look for white cocoons). If it was still active there would be a trail of destruction you could follow without your glasses.

[clkingtx]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Yeah, even when you know they're there they are gosh darnoodley difficult to spot. .

I agree. I was pruning a plant and about jumped out of my skin when one moved right in front of my face! It was about 4 inches long, and as big around as my index finger.

Something else to consider(something I am dealing with now) is tomato pinworms. I had noticed very small bits of frass on some of the leaves, and what looked like hornworm damage. I couldn't find any more hornworms, so I just thought that something got them before they did a ton of damage. I kept thinking that for a while, but finally realized there had to be something else going on, and did a long google search. Tomato pinworms are teeny tiny and the adult is a very small gray moth.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by clkingtx

Something else to consider(something I am dealing with now) is tomato pinworms. I had noticed very small bits of frass on some of the leaves, and what looked like hornworm damage. I couldn't find any more hornworms, so I just thought that something got them before they did a ton of damage. I kept thinking that for a while, but finally realized there had to be something else going on, and did a long google search. Tomato pinworms are teeny tiny and the adult is a very small gray moth.

Pinworm damage usually looks very different from hornworm damage. It doesn't look like caterpillar damage at all--it's more of a scraping of leaves that turns into brown, papery patches. Also, pinworms form little "pockets" or pleats in the leaves that they hide in. If it looks like normal caterpillar feeding, you might have young armyworms or something.

[Hellmanns]

Armyworms are bad news, don't ask me how I know.. Tiny round holes in leaves should NEVER be ignored! The holes lead to half eaten fruit clusters in short order!

[clkingtx]

Just in case, I guess bT would also treat armyworms?

[MadCow333]

Inspected, pruned, and neemed the buhjesus out of all tomato and pepper plants yesterday evening. Found holes in pepper leaves but no bugs on them. On tomatoes, I found only 1 green hornworm, and it was not over 2-2.5" long. Found one brown or light tan / whiteish slim caterpillar, maybe 2" long at most. Had some small white moths or whiteflies depart when the neem (Garden Safe Fungicide 3) hit them. I'll have to keep a closer eye out for worm damage, since I found several tomatoes with large chunks eaten out of them. I used a tank sprayer, and put a little Dawn in with the neem, and sprayed until the neem was dripping everywhere.

I noted those comments about armyworms. There's a huge cornfield across the road, and we had some whopper winds with t-storms over the past 2 weeks. Maybe the cornfield worms went airborne?

Saw, online somewhere, advice to try a blacklight at night, I own a "Stinkfinder" blacklight which I idled after determining my nose could find the cat pee faster. Maybe there is new life for that Stinkfinder. I might crack open a beer and go hunting tonight. Hey, when you live in rural America, you have to make your own fun, right? >;-)


Also found this handy reference from Clemson extension that tells what class of pesticide to use for various invaders, but then also is nice enough to actually list specific products that fit the bill.
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgi.../hgic2218.html

[Shapshftr]

Originally Posted by MadCow333

Inspected, pruned, and neemed the buhjesus out of all tomato and pepper plants yesterday evening. Found holes in pepper leaves but no bugs on them. On tomatoes, I found only 1 green hornworm, and it was not over 2-2.5" long. Found one brown or light tan / whiteish slim caterpillar, maybe 2" long at most. Had some small white moths or whiteflies depart when the neem (Garden Safe Fungicide 3) hit them. I'll have to keep a closer eye out for worm damage, since I found several tomatoes with large chunks eaten out of them. I used a tank sprayer, and put a little Dawn in with the neem, and sprayed until the neem was dripping everywhere.

Whatever kind of worms/caterpillers you have, BtK works best on them. Hornworms ate big chunks out of my maters too. Bt took care of them.

Originally Posted by MadCow333

I noted those comments about armyworms. There's a huge cornfield across the road, and we had some whopper winds with t-storms over the past 2 weeks. Maybe the cornfield worms went airborne?

Their moths may have flown over to your plants. The same worms that eat corn will eat tomatoes.

Originally Posted by MadCow333

Saw, online somewhere, advice to try a blacklight at night, I own a "Stinkfinder" blacklight which I idled after determining my nose could find the cat pee faster. Maybe there is new life for that Stinkfinder. I might crack open a beer and go hunting tonight. Hey, when you live in rural America, you have to make your own fun, right? >;-)

You sound like me, a little nutty, LOL. I live in the rural midwest. It's always an adventure here, and often includes beer. Happy hunting!

[Pcolagrower]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

At this stage I'd go to a hydroponic store and get something like Floranova Bloom and feed them every time you water through harvest, which is what promix BX and HP are designed for.

Next year I'd start from the beginning with a product like Floranova or ChemGrow tomato formula. Floranova mixed in solution will run you about 8 cents a gallon and ChemGro about 4 cents a gallon. Check out AKmark and his grow thread, 2015 or 1016, tons of info to glean in those threads.

Hey Ricky Shaw, I was seeing what kind of results you have had using the FloraNova Series. I used it this past fall with decent results. I didn't use it on a regular schedule like I should have. Did you use it in containers, did you use it full strength?

[b54red]

Although I don't grow in containers anymore, unless you consider raised beds containers, I found Texas Tomato Food the best and one of the easiest fertilizers for them. It also has the added benefit of helping the plants set fruit when it gets a bit too hot.

I agree a good heavy mulch would help keep the soil a bit cooler in the pots and it would also delay them drying out too fast in hotter weather. Some type of bark mulch or cypress mulch would be easy to use for this. Larger pots will also help if you can get them. Endless days above 90 degrees is the main reason I don't grow in containers anymore down here.


If you are having problems with pin worms then you may find Sevin much more effective than BT although it will require a waiting period. For most other worms the BT works great.

A nice spraying with a fungicide like Daconil will help with some of your leaf problems as well as some pruning to allow better air flow.

Bill

[Pcolagrower]

Hey Bill,
I really could have used some adice on diseases here in Pensacola. This summer when I was getting together all my fall tomato plants. I know you like using a diluted bleach spray. The problem I kept having was some sort of bacterial spot. Now that I'm not having that problem. I have target spot, what should I do. I sprayed with a bleach solution when the first got wet, before I put up the twnt.anyways if I have target spot should I destroy allyour plants even if they are still producing. The first pics if you look at them closely they have marks all over them. It happened to all bottom fruit. The third pic is a gressy water soaked plant. That's how's the bacterial sisease starts . A week a later it's dead