Any Idea on This?

mcsee · November 16, 2012

A friend of mine has a problem with his tomato plants and I wonder if anyone can help diagnose the problem. Is it a nutrient problem or something more sinister.

Here's a leaf.

RayR · November 17, 2012

I don't see any nutrient problem. The pic is a little blurry, parts of the leaf look a different color, is that a symptom or is that just the camera? The darkened areas look like insect activity.

gnol · November 17, 2012

Hi everyone,
It is I that is having this problem.
Thanks mcsee for starting this thread and hopefully we can get some clearer answers now that I have some better pictures.

In some of these pictures you can clearly see the purple colour coming through. And interestingly in one picture the eggplant seedlings are next to the tomato seedlings and they have no blemishes at all.
All these seedlings were started as seed in fresh seedling mix then transplanted to fresh soil bought at the store.

I'm hoping it is a nutrient deficiency and easily fixed as I have seen this for the last few years and it looks worse and has come earlier this year.

RayR · November 17, 2012

Much better pictures. I still don't see any clear evidence of nutrient problems. I still see evidence of some micro sized sap sucker that prefers tomato leaves. Got a really strong magnifier? Higher than 10X, the higher the better and look over the bottom of the leaves.
Possibly Psyllids which are a problem in Australia I see.

gnol · November 17, 2012

Thanks RayR for the help so far.
I do have a cheapish USB microscope and I have taken some closeup shots of the tomato leaves back and front but cannot see anything moving around.

But....the neighbours tree out the front looks like it may have these Psyllids. Well the eggs anyway since I cannot see anything crwaling around.
I have taken a couple of shots of those as well.

Magnified at 60X.

And the tomato leaves. Magnified at 10X

gnol · November 18, 2012

I have captured something that was around the potatoes and tomatoes. Seems to be a lot of them.
Looks something like psyllids I think. Not the best shot but that is what you get from a cheap $50 usb microscope.

dice · November 23, 2012

Here are pictures of nutrient deficient leaves:
http://5e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=5&id=289

None of them really look like your plant, in my estimation.
Purpling is a symptom of phosphorus deficiency, but it does
not really concentrate in the veins like that. You can usually
see it spread out across the bottom of the leaves first, across
both veins and interveinal areas.

A Q&A in this faq associates purple veins with psyllids:
http://gardeningafterfive.wordpress....mato-problems/

November 23, 2012	#7
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Here are pictures of nutrient deficient leaves: http://5e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=5&id=289 None of them really look like your plant, in my estimation. Purpling is a symptom of phosphorus deficiency, but it does not really concentrate in the veins like that. You can usually see it spread out across the bottom of the leaves first, across both veins and interveinal areas. A Q&A in this faq associates purple veins with psyllids: http://gardeningafterfive.wordpress....mato-problems/ __________________ -- alias

November 17, 2012	#2
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	I don't see any nutrient problem. The pic is a little blurry, parts of the leaf look a different color, is that a symptom or is that just the camera? The darkened areas look like insect activity.

November 17, 2012	#5
gnol Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 125	Thanks RayR for the help so far. I do have a cheapish USB microscope and I have taken some closeup shots of the tomato leaves back and front but cannot see anything moving around. But....the neighbours tree out the front looks like it may have these Psyllids. Well the eggs anyway since I cannot see anything crwaling around. I have taken a couple of shots of those as well. Magnified at 60X. And the tomato leaves. Magnified at 10X

November 18, 2012	#6
gnol Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 125	I have captured something that was around the potatoes and tomatoes. Seems to be a lot of them. Looks something like psyllids I think. Not the best shot but that is what you get from a cheap $50 usb microscope.