something's up with lower leaves on brandywine

[sfulwood]

does anyone recognize this?

[Dewayne mater]

I definitely suspect disease, but, the yellowing isn't advanced enough to give enough visual clues to identify it. There are many diseases that start with yellowing leaves. I would definitely get vigilant with an anti fungal program if you haven't been.

Are you using D.E. or some other powder on the leaves?

Dewayne mater.

[sfulwood]

yes...DE. I have flea beetles on some near by eggplant. what fungicide would you recommend?

[Dewayne mater]

There are preventatives which should be used imo, like Daconil. However, I would also do my best to use biological products like Serenade and Exel LG (may have a new name). Serenade is likely locally available, exel probably not. Both mix well with Actinovate. Typically, these products work well and in multiple ways, both systemic and not. However, this year, I used them and still have a big disease issue found on other post, so they aren't bullet proof. I think I may have not been vigilant enough when the plants were very small with the protectorant Daconil. Still, from years of reading on here and doing it myself, I think these are widely utilized and reasonable cheaply available fungicides. Good luck.

Dewayne mater

[RayR]

It looks like a magnesium deficiency, starts at the lower leaves, yellowing between the veins.
You could try mixing Epsom salts, 1 tbsp per gallon of water and using that as a soil drench and as a foliar spray and see if that helps.
If it is a magnesium deficiency, dolomite lime would be a longer term solution.
Is this plant in the ground? Are your soils acidic in your part of Tennessee?

[sfulwood]

these particular plants are in raised beds in a hoophouse. started them indoors and planted themout in early february. the soil in the raised beds has a ph of 7.1. the soil in my fields ranges fro 6.8 to 7.1.

[RayR]

The reason I was asking if your soil was acidic soil was that in some acidic soils magnesium deficiency can occur, it can also occur in alkaline soils. It can also occur in any soil that is just plain deficient in magnesium. I had some pepper plants last year that had the same symptoms as your Brandywines, interveinal chlorosis, the veins remained dark green but the tissue between showed yellowing or a much lighter green color. These particular plants were in an in- ground bed that never grew anything before but grass and weeds for a long time, and the soil PH was neutral. I mixed a little dolomite with water and drenched that area and also did the Epsom Salts routine once. The interveinal chlorosis stopped and disappeared in a matter of a few weeks and everything was fine the rest of the season.
If there is no sign of fungal activity like Dewayne suspects, then I would at least do the Epsom Salts treatment because that is the quickest fix for magnesium deficiency, although temporary because magnesium sulfate is highly water soluble and may leach quickly from the soil.