Whats wrong with my tomato plants?

jae10414 · May 13, 2016

Trying to figure out what went wrong with my tomato plants. I have a couple issues. This is my second year with a garden so I'm still new and learning. Last year our plants produced very well until the horn worms destroyed everything. This year our squash and zucchini are doing well and look very healthy. Not sure if its the soil, bad plants, etc.

The first two pictures are both early girls but one is growing very good and the other not so much. The one that isn't growing well is still producing fruit but that's about it. Not sure why one has dark green leaves and the other light green. They were both bought from the same place and planted at the same time about middle of March.

The next issue is with my better boy plants. They were bought as a 4 pack and all planted at the same time as my early girls. Not sure what is going on with them but they look terrible. They have dark green leaves Each one is producing fruit but has not grown in height in a while. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

One last thing is some leaf issues? The first picture of the brown spots is from a cherry tomato plant that is producing fruit but not sure what the spots are from. The other two pictures show white spots that have started to show up on the leaves of two of my other plants. Any clue as to what these are?

ChrisPlano · May 19, 2016

Jae, I'm surprised you haven't had any responses yet. I'm on my second year too, so not an expert.

The top picture looks like what I ended up calling "early blight" after talking to my favorite garden center people, but I could be completely wrong about that. I cut off branches with leaves that looked like that. Serenade spray to combat fungus. Some tomato plants were affected worse than others, but get those leaves outta there!

Hoping some folks with more experience can provide more info.

I have some plants are thriving and some that are stunted right in the same raised bed. I grew from seed this year (with an heirloom variety I loved last year and collected seed) so they all had the same start. I feel like it may be whether the roots were able to really take off after planting the seedlings vs not, but I will be eagerly reading responses from those more experienced. BTW, that variety was the one that withstood the attack of the stuff that looks like your first photo :-)

I wonder if one of the other forum categories would get more responses.

Barb_FL · May 20, 2016

Please join the Florida thread; there are experts that post on that thread that can advise. Most of us from Florida don't plant in the ground because of nemotodes (but some do and are successful). Depending on where you live in Florida, it may be perfectly OK to plant in the ground.

Here's the thread:http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...=37937&page=76

Dutch · May 20, 2016

Hi "jae10414" and welcome to Tomatoville!
“Biota Max™ Soil Probiotic” might be worth a try if you suspect the soil is causing the problem. It is a soil probiotic that contains beneficial bacteria from the “Bacillus” family and beneficial fungi from the “Trichoderma” family. While I am not a big fan of some of the “Trichoderma”, this product may be a cure if the soil is “rancid”. Biota Max™ is product of “Custom Biologicals, Inc.” Deerfield, Florida.
Dutch

Dutch · May 21, 2016

Hi again Jae,
I agree with Barb that the group here at Tomatoville from Florida understands many of the problems that are unique to that area. I would suggest browsing through the whole thread that Barb posted a link to above. It is full of information that can be helpful in making your Florida gardening experience enjoyable and productive.
Dutch

b54red · May 21, 2016

Since we are so close to the gulf we also have most if not all the same problems that Florida growers have but we have a slightly colder winter here in south Alabama. I finally started grafting with rootstock that was resistant to all three races of fusarium and nematodes. Doing this gave me healthier and much longer living plants. I tried everything possible to cure my soil of fusarium and nematodes with little success over many many years and finally listened to the posters who recommended grafting. It took a while to learn how to do it successfully and it adds a good bit to the time span from planting to set out but it was totally worth it for me. I am now able to grow healthy tomato plants in my raised beds that frequently live from March to December instead of from March to July if I was very lucky.

As to your plants the first pic is definitely Early Blight but you could also have other foliage diseases that are not obvious from the picture. A plant that refuses to grow usually has one or two things wrong with it down here. Either it has root knot nematodes or Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus. Of course there are other things that can cause this like damaged roots, a root ball that just won't send out enough feeder roots or something other than nematodes damaging the roots or stem.

A good heavy mulch will help you maintain a good level of moisture in your soil which usually helps a lot down here. Most of the soil this far south has some nematodes and fusarium and if it doesn't it soon will have. So your best options for consistent productive plants is using containers which bring their own set of problems, plant highly resistant hybrids with the lack of taste they bring or learn to graft or pay for plants grafted onto very hardy rootstock.

Bill

Bill

zipcode · May 23, 2016

Most of those plants don't have a growing tip, which is why they are not growing. Seems it's been a while since they don't have one either. How that happened, only you could know. Other than that, they are looking rather healthy and not much disease problems (except the yellow looking plant, not sure what's wrong with it, looks a bit starved).

May 13, 2016	#1
jae10414 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 1	Whats wrong with my tomato plants? Trying to figure out what went wrong with my tomato plants. I have a couple issues. This is my second year with a garden so I'm still new and learning. Last year our plants produced very well until the horn worms destroyed everything. This year our squash and zucchini are doing well and look very healthy. Not sure if its the soil, bad plants, etc. The first two pictures are both early girls but one is growing very good and the other not so much. The one that isn't growing well is still producing fruit but that's about it. Not sure why one has dark green leaves and the other light green. They were both bought from the same place and planted at the same time about middle of March. The next issue is with my better boy plants. They were bought as a 4 pack and all planted at the same time as my early girls. Not sure what is going on with them but they look terrible. They have dark green leaves Each one is producing fruit but has not grown in height in a while. Any help would be greatly appreciated. One last thing is some leaf issues? The first picture of the brown spots is from a cherry tomato plant that is producing fruit but not sure what the spots are from. The other two pictures show white spots that have started to show up on the leaves of two of my other plants. Any clue as to what these are?

May 20, 2016	#4
Dutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: S.E. Wisconsin Zone 5b Posts: 1,831	Hi "jae10414" and welcome to Tomatoville! “Biota Max™ Soil Probiotic” might be worth a try if you suspect the soil is causing the problem. It is a soil probiotic that contains beneficial bacteria from the “Bacillus” family and beneficial fungi from the “Trichoderma” family. While I am not a big fan of some of the “Trichoderma”, this product may be a cure if the soil is “rancid”. Biota Max™ is product of “Custom Biologicals, Inc.” Deerfield, Florida. Dutch __________________ "Discretion is the better part of valor" Charles Churchill The intuitive mind is a gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. But we have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. (paraphrased) Albert Einstein I come from a long line of sod busters, spanning back several centuries. Last edited by Dutch; May 20, 2016 at 12:08 PM. Reason: Added "jae10414" to Hi

May 21, 2016	#5
Dutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: S.E. Wisconsin Zone 5b Posts: 1,831	Hi again Jae, I agree with Barb that the group here at Tomatoville from Florida understands many of the problems that are unique to that area. I would suggest browsing through the whole thread that Barb posted a link to above. It is full of information that can be helpful in making your Florida gardening experience enjoyable and productive. Dutch __________________ "Discretion is the better part of valor" Charles Churchill The intuitive mind is a gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. But we have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. (paraphrased) Albert Einstein I come from a long line of sod busters, spanning back several centuries. Last edited by Dutch; May 21, 2016 at 10:03 AM. Reason: Grammer

May 19, 2016	#2
ChrisPlano Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Plano, TX Posts: 11	Jae, I'm surprised you haven't had any responses yet. I'm on my second year too, so not an expert. The top picture looks like what I ended up calling "early blight" after talking to my favorite garden center people, but I could be completely wrong about that. I cut off branches with leaves that looked like that. Serenade spray to combat fungus. Some tomato plants were affected worse than others, but get those leaves outta there! Hoping some folks with more experience can provide more info. I have some plants are thriving and some that are stunted right in the same raised bed. I grew from seed this year (with an heirloom variety I loved last year and collected seed) so they all had the same start. I feel like it may be whether the roots were able to really take off after planting the seedlings vs not, but I will be eagerly reading responses from those more experienced. BTW, that variety was the one that withstood the attack of the stuff that looks like your first photo :-) I wonder if one of the other forum categories would get more responses.

May 20, 2016	#3
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 1,999	Please join the Florida thread; there are experts that post on that thread that can advise. Most of us from Florida don't plant in the ground because of nemotodes (but some do and are successful). Depending on where you live in Florida, it may be perfectly OK to plant in the ground. Here's the thread:http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...=37937&page=76

May 21, 2016	#6
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Since we are so close to the gulf we also have most if not all the same problems that Florida growers have but we have a slightly colder winter here in south Alabama. I finally started grafting with rootstock that was resistant to all three races of fusarium and nematodes. Doing this gave me healthier and much longer living plants. I tried everything possible to cure my soil of fusarium and nematodes with little success over many many years and finally listened to the posters who recommended grafting. It took a while to learn how to do it successfully and it adds a good bit to the time span from planting to set out but it was totally worth it for me. I am now able to grow healthy tomato plants in my raised beds that frequently live from March to December instead of from March to July if I was very lucky. As to your plants the first pic is definitely Early Blight but you could also have other foliage diseases that are not obvious from the picture. A plant that refuses to grow usually has one or two things wrong with it down here. Either it has root knot nematodes or Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus. Of course there are other things that can cause this like damaged roots, a root ball that just won't send out enough feeder roots or something other than nematodes damaging the roots or stem. A good heavy mulch will help you maintain a good level of moisture in your soil which usually helps a lot down here. Most of the soil this far south has some nematodes and fusarium and if it doesn't it soon will have. So your best options for consistent productive plants is using containers which bring their own set of problems, plant highly resistant hybrids with the lack of taste they bring or learn to graft or pay for plants grafted onto very hardy rootstock. Bill Bill

May 23, 2016	#7
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	Most of those plants don't have a growing tip, which is why they are not growing. Seems it's been a while since they don't have one either. How that happened, only you could know. Other than that, they are looking rather healthy and not much disease problems (except the yellow looking plant, not sure what's wrong with it, looks a bit starved).