Possible disease?

[clkingtx]

I have been having a lot of yellowing leaves, and such. I am doing a kiddie pool garden(except for the micromultifloras in pots, which have the problem the worst), which requires the plants stay wetter than usual, but the growth and production has been great(except for some of the micromultis, which aren't setting fruit as well, but might dry out a touch too much between waterings) I have probably around 40 plants total, and it is sporadic, and generally on lower leaves. I put fertilizer and lime in soil mix at planting time(1-2 months ago), and fertilized with a complete fertilizer(mittleider weekly feed) a couple of weeks ago. The majority of the plants are setting fruit pretty heavily, and still flowering and growing well. Our weather has been weird so far this year, wet and rainy for a week or so, then 1-3 good dry sunny days, then more rain. It has been dry for about 2 days now, and today is nice and sunny. The kiddie pool gardens hold about an inch or two of water, and drains all excess. Here are some pictures of the diseased leaves, and a couple to show the overall condition of the foliage. I am of course removing any foliage that yellows, or spots, etc. I am thinking it might be time to start fungus treatment and prevention...

[clkingtx]

Anybody have any suggestions?

[oakley]

I'm not versed in containers or kiddy pools or texas...so just a hunch. I think you removed the bad stuff?. The lower yellowing?mYour plants look super healthy otherwise but stuffed. Might want to remove some lower 'branches' so that they get some air.
Nothing should touch your soil or bags with high humidity and rain, if you have had that.

Over-watering is a another thing to look out for. I'm thinking the method is to keep your plants cool and wet in hot dry weather.? Do you pull them out for some air and feets apart during rainy followed by dry days to let them dry out a bit?

Container growing is great by the way for difficult climates. Wack soil. I have had success in my NYC home that is a forest tree house, damp, no wind. But i can move them a bit if too damp or into more sun areas as the sun shifts.

Snip and put the yellow troubled leaves in a zip-lock. If another batch happens do the same. You can take them to your cooperative extension for a diagnosis if it seems overwhelming and devastating. But you seem good at this point.

It just looks like damp wet conditions. Let them dry out a bit. Too much 90 temps and sun?, give them some cool shade for a day.

[clkingtx]

Thanks for responding. I do remove the yellowing leaves as soon as I see them, but the first four pictures I posted have examples of the types of leaf problems. The kiddie pools and grow bags is for the purpose of not having to water so many individual containers, and to maintain a more constant moisture level. Here in Texas, my biggest gardening hurdle is generally trying to keep the plants from drying out. I can definitely do some more pruning, open them up for better circulation. I am afraid I can't lift the plants out of the pools, or I would take your suggestion to move them to let them dry out some.

Glad to see that maybe none of my pictures look like diseased leaves, lol.

[Cole_Robbie]

I have the same thing on a few plants. I think it's early blight, and they will grow out of it. My plants that sat in 6-packs for too long before getting planted have it the worst. My weather has been cool and wet for the past month.

[Dewayne mater]

Remove those leaves and stems down to the main stem and discard in trash. Use a fungicide ASAP. This could be early blight, but, I usually don't see those brown circle patterns and that leaf burning up like that with EB. It could be bacterial spec/spot. It could be a leaf mold of some type. I'm not an expert identification, but, most likely it is fungal in nature and if so, removal and fungicide is the recommended course. Good luck.

[OzoneNY]

I am fighting similar foliage disease now. Remove and copper spray. Hopefully I dont lose this battle, again/

[My Foot Smells]

What kind of tomato are we talking about?

Haven't had a problem w/ hybrid, but heirloom plants have been ransacked by the crazy weather despite early efforts. Have had to yank 4 plants out of 30, all heirloom. I used the hybrid backup - we shall see. Makes me think about growing heirloom under cover with new dirt, my climate (similar to parts of tex and south) is a petri dish. GL

[ginger2778]

Liquid copper spray is both bactericidal and fungicidal, so it will take care of it regardless of which it is. I agree with the others, romove those infected leaves first taking care to wipe down your cutting tool with a lysol wipe or alcohol between plants, then bag up and remove from your garden. Then spray, followed by preventive copper spray every 7-10 days. Thoroughly cover upper and lower leaf surfaces and the stem down to the soil line.
Note: more is not better with copper spray, if it leaves your plant looking blue it is far too strong. I use the lowest recommended dose, works perfectly. Too strong will stunt and curl new growth. You wont cure, only manage at this point, but they should be fine. L

[clkingtx]

I pruned the plants back hard(all the foliage was totally dry, though my yard isn't), to allow me to spray effectively. It is nice that I am growing in the pools, as my yard right now is just soggy! Yuck! I was able to move the plants around, after pruning them, to give them a little more air circulation. I will have to put them back in the pools for watering tomorrow unless it rains, but they will have much better circulation now. There were very few diseased leaves, maybe a dozen branches all together, less than one per plant. With most of them, I just need to get enough tomatoes to taste and save seeds from. If they die early it is not a big deal, just as long as I get ripe fruit first. I don't have a sprayer that can handle a fungicide or bleach solution(what I am really leaning toward using, and already bought), and can't go out and buy one right now. I will try to find one locally, and probably can get it on the first. Hopefully they will all be ok till then.

How long is the withdrawl period for the copper spray? The idea of spraying every two weeks and being good to go is very appealing....

Here are some pictures of my newly shorn plants:

[peebee]

Just to try something new this year I am also doing a smaller version of this pool thing. But I noticed that after a while, the potting mix started to smell stale. So I let the water dry out and have only been putting water in perhaps once a week, and a small amount at that, enough to wet the soil then I let it dry out.
Do you notice an odor like old stale water around your bags? None of my plants have any signs of disease so far, BTW. The only plant that is exhibiting similar yellowing such as yours is Dwarf Sweet Sue, all 3, and none are in the growth bags, just regular pots.

[clkingtx]

Originally Posted by peebee

Just to try something new this year I am also doing a smaller version of this pool thing. But I noticed that after a while, the potting mix started to smell stale. So I let the water dry out and have only been putting water in perhaps once a week, and a small amount at that, enough to wet the soil then I let it dry out.
Do you notice an odor like old stale water around your bags? None of my plants have any signs of disease so far, BTW. The only plant that is exhibiting similar yellowing such as yours is Dwarf Sweet Sue, all 3, and none are in the growth bags, just regular pots.

I think you hit my issue right on the head. I am backing way off on the watering, and will see how they all do.