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Post by mbrown on Mar 28, 2007 15:08:47 GMT -5
Last year in late July the leaves on my tomato plants began to die from the ground up. I eventually pulled them up.
Has anyone ever had this problem? Could it have been a fungus? Any ideas for treatment?
Mike
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Post by Alan on Mar 28, 2007 22:15:41 GMT -5
hmmm, could be a number of things, early blight. late blight, someone with a little more experience dignosing could tell you for sure. Anyhow, the best way to combat it is to spay early and often (exspecially during wet periods) with a fungicide like daconil which will seal the spots shut where fungus will attach itself to grow. Your local garden center or hardware store should have it one hand. I hope this helps. -Alan
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Post by downinmyback on Mar 28, 2007 22:27:16 GMT -5
At tomatoville they said the best cure is to not allow diseases to start. The First things was to have good air movement or in simple terms that i could understand it to NOT crowd the plants together. Second was to mulch so soil borne disease are not splatter up on the plant. Third was to water low down on the ground to elimate any fungus that will spread with moisture. Fourth keep a eye on your plants and start doctoring your plants ASAP. I agree with them the best way is to hope your crop survice.
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Post by johno on Mar 29, 2007 8:29:57 GMT -5
You got most of your answer in the last two posts: don't allow foliar disease to start in your tomatoes - prevent with mulch and routine daconil spray (if you're not going organic). Once these blights or what have you set in, they usually don't go away. At this point, you are relying on the plants' natural disease tolerance to the infection. They might still live and produce fruits.
The only other thing I might add is that compost sprays could help after the fact by introducing natural enemies to the disease. Might work, might not, but this is your last best hope.
If that doesn't work, you do have the option of pulling up your infected plant(s) to reduce the chance of spreading the disease, but I rarely do that... I'd try to keep the foliage as dry as possible (except for the compost tea spray) and see what you get.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Mar 29, 2007 15:59:16 GMT -5
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Post by mbrown on Mar 29, 2007 16:43:52 GMT -5
That is a very good site. Should have known, I went to school there for 2 years.
Mike
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Post by landarc on Apr 3, 2007 19:13:03 GMT -5
Mike,
Did you find your answer there? I hope so. When you said the plants died from the top down, my first thought, was that it was not a foliar or fungal disease. Something more systemic, like EB, which daconil would not help.
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Post by jeannine on Apr 7, 2007 1:12:39 GMT -5
Mike, living here in OK as you do I have seen this problem in the past. The leaves gets brown spots then turn yellow and eventually die, is this what happened to yours? If so it is a fungus problem that is common in areas that have our weather conditions, sorry I don't recall what it is actually called. Last year I finally had very little problems with it, unlike past years. I found that by using heavy mulch, especially with the maters, that there were fewer plants affected and it was much later in the season when it did show up on a few plants. I used old hay/straw bedding from the barn, about 6 or so inches thick which I worked up to as the plants got bigger. As the season wore on I kept adding more to keep it nice and thick, this will also help retain moisture which is a biggy for tomatoes in the hot summer! The other thing that you want to do is to water the ground only, try to not have the water splashing up on the bottom leaves that is how the fungus gets on the plants as it is in our soil. I know there isn't much you can do about the rain, that's where the extra thick mulching comes in to play in prevention. Hope this helps your tomato plants out this year!
Jeannine
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Post by mbrown on Apr 7, 2007 8:09:33 GMT -5
Jeannine,
Thanks for the info. I will use a lot of mulch this year and I think drip irrigation. Does anyone know if it very expensive to install the irrigation system?
Mike
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Post by landarc on Apr 7, 2007 13:38:40 GMT -5
Mike, Drip irrigation can be as simple or complicated as you wish to make it. It is relatively inexpensive to install, especially if you do the labor. There are a lot of perfectly useful kits about that give you most everything necessary, to get a system in. It is important to get the system under the mulch for maximum efficiency. I have used the kits for several years (ironic since I design irrigation systems) and had good luck with them. I now modify them slightly bu using 1/4" soaker hose circles around each plant instead of the emitter system.
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Post by mbrown on Apr 7, 2007 15:33:14 GMT -5
Landarc,
Thanks for the info. Can these systems be purchased at Home Depot or Lowe's? I don't believe I have ever seen them there.
Mike
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Post by landarc on Apr 7, 2007 23:09:37 GMT -5
I bought mine at Home Depot in the same aisle as the rest of the irrigation stuff. I hear that Dripworks is a reliable on-line source, although I have not used them.
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