Any ideas what this is?

[wlkbbrer]

I looked at several pics of diseases, pests, fungal infections... Can't decide what it is or how to treat. Only on one plant so far. Any ideas?

[KarenO]

Get it away from your other plants asap. Definitely fungal, grey mold? I would not try to save it and risk infecting the others. Might be mold that started on sunscalded tissue?
Remove it with as little disturbance as possible to avoid spreading spores. Bag it, get rid of it along with the soil and bleach the pot. Watch the others carefully keep the foliage dry
KarenO

[wlkbbrer]

I will do that when i get home. Hopefully its not too late. I have a small fan blowing on them that now i realize may have made matters worse. We'll see. Thanks for the help Karen!

Im guessing there are no treatments that will have any positive effect on the others at this point?

[wlkbbrer]

Ok removed all infected plants and their immediate neighbors. Now to save the others. Copper spray? Bleach spray? Any ideas? If you look at the third photo it maybe looks to me like little pinholes possible made by some little critter. I really have no clue but can't try to remedy the problem until I figure out what it is. Any more help will be appreciated.

Thanks all, Scott

[Cole_Robbie]

I'm thinking thrips.

Here's a pic of thrip damage:



What you're seeing as mold is indeed mold, but it's growing where the thrip has scraped the leaf to suck out the juices.

[KarenO]

Inspect closely for aphids or mites etc treat if needed. You can choose either copper or the weak bleach and watch closely. Do your best not to crowd, to maximize light and air circulation and keep the foliage dry when watering . Trim abnormal leaves if you see them.
You are growing indoors? Will they be transplanted into a greenhouse or will you be growing under lights. Are they dwarfs or micros?
Karen

[heirloomtomaguy]

Im going with thrips also. The little dots are a good indication they are sucking the juice out of the leaves. Try some sticky traps at least to see if you have them for sure. They are really hard to see.

[wlkbbrer]

Originally Posted by KarenO

Inspect closely for aphids or mites etc treat if needed. You can choose either copper or the weak bleach and watch closely. Do your best not to crowd, to maximize light and air circulation and keep the foliage dry when watering . Trim abnormal leaves if you see them.
You are growing indoors? Will they be transplanted into a greenhouse or will you be growing under lights. Are they dwarfs or micros?
Karen

Strictly indoors, just for something to grow over winter. They are under lights, small fans moving air all day, bottom watered. I do have some pepper plants that are on another shelf that came in from outdoors. I treated those with neem a few times both before and after I brought them in. Possible thats where the issue originated. Who knows. I'll see what I can find. Haven't seen any living things on them but that doesn't mean they aren't there. Gonna have to invest in a jewelers loupe.

Thanks all!
Scott

[wlkbbrer]

So after closer inspection looking for bugs I saw something else under the leaves of a MicroTom. It was causing the infected leaves to fold and close up. Same issue or different issue?

Is it time to just dump them all? Hate to do that but don't want to create more problems. I guess I'm asking if these issues are going to wipe out my plants and threaten my planting area for spring. If thats the case I'll get rid of all of them.
I have 110 days before I start my spring seeds.

Thanks, Scott

[Cole_Robbie]

I think it's the same thrip damage that has just not yet had time to develop the secondary mold issue. Thrips feed by scraping the leaf and leave it looking translucent in that spot afterward.

[carolyn137]

So after closer inspection looking for bugs I saw something else under the leaves of a MicroTom. It was causing the infected leaves to fold and close up. Same issue or different issue?

%%%%%

I can't see it with your pictures but if leaves curl up into a tight roll,then it's no doubt aphids and they come in different colors as well.

The few times I've seen thrips,they are present in open blossoms,

Carolyn

[KarenO]

Strange to have thrips indoors or even aphids. Edema maybe
I would t give up yet. Make sure not too wet.

[wlkbbrer]

I'm not discounting anything at this point. However, I did a very close visual inspection of every plant and leaf. Removed any that were diseased. During this inspection I was unable to find any thrips or aphids. I have seen/had aphids outdoors before. I've never seen thrips in person so not sure if I'm missing them.

I am in the process of spray treating for everything I can. Hopefully that will help. We'll see.

[heirloomtomaguy]

I have had thrips indoors before but my seedling area is about 10 feet from my back door. I have roses close to my house and thrips love roses as well as other types of flowers.

[PureHarvest]

The "tar spots" are your tip off (blue circle in the photo below) that you have a sucking/scraping/piercing bug. The tar spots are their droppings.

You are not looking small enough for bugs. Thrips larvae are teeny tiny (look at black circle). You might have to look at your original photo that I copied and put the black circle around to see it better.

IMG_3268.jpg

Thrips larvae stock photo. This is extremely magnified:

43b_ThripsNymphsClose.jpg

I do not think all of the damage we are seeing is directly thrips damage. Seems you have other stuff going on with the water stained look to the leaves in the 1st photo you posted. Could be that one problem lead to another.
Like: 1: Cultural conditions stressed the plant (water/nutrients/temperature/light). 2: Plant is susceptible to fungal pathogens. 3. Insects find your plant irresistible due to 1 and 2. Can possibly interchange order of the bug and fungus. Edema could be in there too in step 1.