Information and discussion regarding garden diseases, insects and other unwelcome critters.
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July 1, 2013 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: South Bend, IN
Posts: 104
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Small brown papery areas along veins...help diagnose?
I've been going through tons of photos trying to ID this, including the resources on the sticky, without luck. I have brown papery areas, concentrated along the veins of the leaves, small and elongated, no yellow or circular patterns. It seems to be concentrated on one or two branches at a time. Leaves otherwise appear unwilted or curled. The affected leaves are towards the lower third of the plant but are not the very lowest branch of leaves.
I had a soil test last year showing high to very high levels of all nutrients, and high OM, though my Ph is 7.5, which may be high enough to tie up some of the nutrients, so as far as I can tell from reading (I'm still pretty novice) nutrient deficiency could also be a cause. I had aphids earlier in the season that I controlled by squishing. The leaf damage here appeared after the aphids were mostly gone. So far this has only appeared on two plants (Rutgers and Cherokee Purple), but I also have some irregular green/light green mottling on Gold Medal. Thoughts? |
July 1, 2013 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Cheektowaga, NY
Posts: 2,466
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Have you been spraying with anything?
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July 1, 2013 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Suburban Washington, DC (Zone 7A)
Posts: 347
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I'm no expert, but maybe some kind of herbicide damage?
Kathy |
July 1, 2013 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Montenegro
Posts: 275
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to add to Ray's question, have you been drenching those plants with anything ( ferts, pesticides, etc. ) ?
also, what are the temperatures there, and what's the soil type? br |
July 2, 2013 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: South Bend, IN
Posts: 104
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They are grown in raised beds that are about 10" of soil that is a combination of organic vegetable bed soil (commercial) and compost (primarily leaf compost, plus home food scraps compost) 50/50, and I've since amended with some alfalfa and peat moss to try to bring down the Ph after a soil test showed it was 7.5 last year.
I havent sprayed anything on them except the Rutgers, which had the worst of the aphids, got one session of being sprayed with dilute castille soap and water (about 1:8 ratio). But because the brown areas are non random (clustered along the veins, rather than speckled everywhere) it doesnt seem like something that would be burn damage from the spray, and castille soap is so gentle it was what we used for my son when he was a preemie in the NICU so I didnt imagine it would be terribly harmful to the plant. My husband did spray some weed killer on the cracks in our front sidewalk, but it was on the other side of our house with several significant wind breaks in between. And to my memory, the brown spots appeared before the weed killer was sprayed. |
July 2, 2013 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: South Bend, IN
Posts: 104
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Oh, and the soil below the bed is primarily sandy soil. I do not do any foliar fertilizers. It has been raining cats and dogs around here, so rain has landed aplenty on the leaves. When I fertilize I've been using diluted Texas Tomato Food applied with a watering can to the soil only. I have 2" of straw mulch on top of the soil to try to contain moisture and prevent splash up.
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July 2, 2013 | #7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Cheektowaga, NY
Posts: 2,466
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Is there any blistering on the bottom of the leaves? It could be just a physiological problem like Edema from excessive rain and humidity. Pictures of the bottom of the leaves can be real helpful in diagnosing problems.
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