Diagnose my tomatoes?
 

I'd really appreciate some help with knowing what this is. I'm afraid it's early blight but am not really sure. I'm so frustrated. We've had tons of rain recently here in Georgia, way more than average. But the underside of my plants is mulched with straw to prevent splashing and damaging leaves.

You are correct, that's Early Blight.

It looks like fusarium to me. If it is, it will get worse and there is nothing you can do about it. After a branch dies off, cut it long-ways and look for a dark discoloration of the stem.

I don't know about fusarium but I definitely see some early blight and I also see the lower branches touching the ground. I would cut them off immediately and dispose of the infected debris but not in the compost pile or anywhere else in the garden

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;646190]It looks like fusarium to me. If it is, it will get worse and there is nothing you can do about it. After a branch dies off, cut it long-ways and look for a dark discoloration of the stem.[/QUOTE]

I see nothing resembling Fusarium, The lesions are clearly EB. EB starts at the oldest leaves and works it way up the plant. Considering the amount of dead brown leaves and stems at the bottom of the plant, it's been going on for at least s few weeks.

[QUOTE=RayR;646202]I see nothing resembling Fusarium, The lesions are clearly EB. EB starts at the oldest leaves and works it way up the plant. [/QUOTE]

Fusarium and EB are very frequently confused with each other. Both start with discoloration at the bottom.

beetkvas, what varieties are you growing? If they are F resistant hybrids, they can continue to produce fruit. But if they are OP/heirlooms, then I think they are probably done for, if it is fusarium. Early blight should be no big deal. If you snip the yellow away, spray daconil or copper, and that fixes the problem, then it was EB. Fusarium is systemic, inside the plant, so there is no way to fix the issue.

Here's a pic of my fusarium, for comparison:

Thank you all. So based on what I've heard here and read in some other threads I should cut off all branches with yellow on them? Using something that I clean in bleach water between each plant so as not to spread it more? Then dispose of the leaves in the garbage not the compost. And I should then spray with a copper fungicide at the lowest dose?

How often should I spray? Can I just use a normal spray bottle and not a special sprayer? Just drench all the leaves and not the blossoms? I also think I read something about potassium bicarbonate and I happen to have some. Can I use that as well? If so can someone tell me how to use it and how often I should spray with either?

I really hate to lose these plants. I'm so frustrated. I started all these from seed myself. Do you think it would make a difference if I picked up a few plants from the hardware store and planted them in a different part of the garden? I'm pretty sure we had this a few years ago with another super rainy spring. It seemed to shorten the life of the plants.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;646205]Fusarium and EB are very frequently confused with each other. Both start with discoloration at the bottom.

beetkvas, what varieties are you growing? If they are F resistant hybrids, they can continue to produce fruit. But if they are OP/heirlooms, then I think they are probably done for, if it is fusarium. Early blight should be no big deal. If you snip the yellow away, spray daconil or copper, and that fixes the problem, then it was EB. Fusarium is systemic, inside the plant, so there is no way to fix the issue.

Here's a pic of my fusarium, for comparison:[/QUOTE]

They are all almost all heirlooms I think. :( Black Prince, Amish Paste, Speckled Roman Paste, Orange Paste, Anais Noire, Hillbilly, Pineapple, Rose de Berne, Brandywine, Prudens Purple, Black Krim, Cherokee Purple and a couple I can't recall off the top of my head. Ugh.

Any fusarium resistant varieties you know of that I could try and get somewhere local? I hope they aren't all sold out of tomatoes. They usually carry big boy and better girl that kind of thing. Are those fusarium resistant? I have no idea if this is fusarium but I sure hope not.

Big Beef is probably your best bet. But there are three races of Fusarium right now. It is resistant to only the first two. I'm not sure about fighting the 3rd race; you might have to graft, like Bill (b54red) in Alabama.


[url]https://bonnieplants.com/product-category/vegetables/tomatoes/super-disease-resistant-tomatoes/[/url]

[url]http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Tables/TableList.htm[/url]

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;646205]Fusarium and EB are very frequently confused with each other. Both start with discoloration at the bottom.

beetkvas, what varieties are you growing? If they are F resistant hybrids, they can continue to produce fruit. But if they are OP/heirlooms, then I think they are probably done for, if it is fusarium. Early blight should be no big deal. If you snip the yellow away, spray daconil or copper, and that fixes the problem, then it was EB. Fusarium is systemic, inside the plant, so there is no way to fix the issue.

Here's a pic of my fusarium, for comparison:[/QUOTE]

I see no resemblance between beetkvass pictures and yours. Your leaves show no distinctive EB lesions on the leaves so I would not be confused. Yellow discoloration at the bottom of the plant is no clue in itself to the cause but a foliar fungal pathogen like EB leaves distinctive brown lesions that enlarge with a concentric circle pattern.

cut off all the yellow, dispose
spray with 10-15 ml/gallon copper fungicide
give em some food
they'll come back.

[QUOTE=RayR;646202]I see nothing resembling Fusarium, The lesions are clearly EB. EB starts at the oldest leaves and works it way up the plant. Considering the amount of dead brown leaves and stems at the bottom of the plant, it's been going on for at least s few weeks.[/QUOTE]

I just posted in that other thead that ALL NEW infections with EB are seen at the top of the plant and said much more.

Only when by accident EB spores fall to the soil or whatever can there be splash back infection does one see symptoms appear on the lower foliage.

Carolyn

[QUOTE=carolyn137;646243]I just posted in that other thead that ALL NEW infections with EB are seen at the top of the plant and said much more.

Only when by accident EB spores fall to the soil or whatever can there be splash back infection does one see symptoms appear on the lower foliage.

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

So are you saying you think it looks like fusarium and not EB?

[QUOTE=beetkvass;646253]So are you saying you think it looks like fusarium and not EB?[/QUOTE]

You'll see that I was referring to Rays post above about EB,so no I'm not saying it looks like Fusarium, only about EB. While I do know the symptoms of Fusarium,we don't have Fusarium where I garden,unless contaminated tomato plants are shipped up from the south already contaminated to nurseries,but then the ground usually freezes deeply in the winter up here which kills both F and contaminated RKN plants as well.

Carolyn

Thanks, Carolyn. I didn't realize these were diseases more common in the south and that freeze kills it in the soil

Dh is saying our plants are turning yellow at the bottom first. And then we've got some wilting on the top of some plants. It's mostly yellowing at the bottom with the brown spots though. We're trying to slice open branches now and get pictures.