What's wrong with my Cherokee Purple?

oh2fly · June 18, 2007

I am new to heirlooms and really want to taste maters from this plant. This last week, the lower leaves are curled and brown at the tips. Today I found a dozen or so aphids on the lower leaves. I grow 16 tomatoes in all and 5 heirlooms for the first time. 2 Belgium Giants , a brandywine PL and a russian black. This plant has one of those big flowers on it and several blossoms thinking of fruiting. Hopefully it isn't anything, but I know you guys may have seen this before if anybody has. thanks for looking!

oh2fly · June 18, 2007

A couple things to help the detectives. Oregon Willamette valley grower. This month has been 45 at night and 60ish during the days, which is 10 degrees colder then normal. We do get some water splashed on the lower leaves when watering

dice · June 19, 2007

Curling alone can just be environmental
(overwatering, underwatering, rapid change
in temperature from one day to the next).

The dying part is more drastic. Could be
inhospitable soil conditions, root damage,
or disease.

Since they could be merely too wet and too cold
(from a tomato plant's perspective), I would
simply cut off the leaves with the dead spots,
leave the ones that are merely curled but still
green, and perhaps water less.

oh2fly · June 19, 2007

The plant looks worse today. Leaves all the way up are curled. It has shiny brown areas in the lowest big leaves. I guess I can remove the worst ones, withhold water for a bit and cross my fingers. In the same bed 12 feet away are an Isis candy and a brandywine pl that couldn't look better. Fat, green and growing great.I only have 3 tomatoes in this bed. I grew squash and pumpkins in it last year and had some powdery mildew problems, in case that makes a difference. Since then, a nice cover crop was grown over the winter, lots of shredded leaves, compost and a 2 inch layer of old goat manure was added on top.

dice · June 20, 2007

Sounds a bit like wind-blown pesticide drift, too.
(That could account for why one plant is showing
it and the others are not, in what should be
more-or-less the same soil with the same watering
and the same sunlight exposure.)

oh2fly · June 21, 2007

No wind blown pesticide drift here. My garden is by my house in the country. My only neighbor that sprays hasn't in a while in his cow pasture 1000 feet away. I gave all the maters a foliar feed with compost tea and the CP looks a little better today. A few others have partially curled leaves. I took off the worst leaves and am watching it closely. Talking to it too. Come on baby, you can do it!

dice · June 22, 2007

PS: A document with good pictures of tomato leaves
with mineral deficiency symptoms:

http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=5&id=289

oh2fly · June 22, 2007

Great site. I kept that one. Thank you! I think my CP is deficient in something but it doesn't match any pic I have seen. I am giving all the tomatoes a light compost tea foliar feed. I am going to do a soil drench for the CP. Is it known to be a heavy feeder? If not, I guess that spot in my big bed is lacking. It did perk up a little after the first feeding, so that's good. I am going to buy another start and find a spot for it in case things go bad.

June 19, 2007	#3
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Curling alone can just be environmental (overwatering, underwatering, rapid change in temperature from one day to the next). The dying part is more drastic. Could be inhospitable soil conditions, root damage, or disease. Since they could be merely too wet and too cold (from a tomato plant's perspective), I would simply cut off the leaves with the dead spots, leave the ones that are merely curled but still green, and perhaps water less. __________________ -- alias

June 20, 2007	#5
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Sounds a bit like wind-blown pesticide drift, too. (That could account for why one plant is showing it and the others are not, in what should be more-or-less the same soil with the same watering and the same sunlight exposure.) __________________ -- alias

June 22, 2007	#7
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	PS: A document with good pictures of tomato leaves with mineral deficiency symptoms: http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=5&id=289 __________________ -- alias

June 22, 2007	#8
oh2fly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 29	Great site. I kept that one. Thank you! I think my CP is deficient in something but it doesn't match any pic I have seen. I am giving all the tomatoes a light compost tea foliar feed. I am going to do a soil drench for the CP. Is it known to be a heavy feeder? If not, I guess that spot in my big bed is lacking. It did perk up a little after the first feeding, so that's good. I am going to buy another start and find a spot for it in case things go bad. Last edited by oh2fly; June 22, 2007 at 10:24 PM. Reason: left out a key word

June 18, 2007	#2
oh2fly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 29	A couple things to help the detectives. Oregon Willamette valley grower. This month has been 45 at night and 60ish during the days, which is 10 degrees colder then normal. We do get some water splashed on the lower leaves when watering

June 21, 2007	#6
oh2fly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 29	No wind blown pesticide drift here. My garden is by my house in the country. My only neighbor that sprays hasn't in a while in his cow pasture 1000 feet away. I gave all the maters a foliar feed with compost tea and the CP looks a little better today. A few others have partially curled leaves. I took off the worst leaves and am watching it closely. Talking to it too. Come on baby, you can do it!