Grow Your Own Magazine

Hello all, first-time poster here. I'm trying to grow some veges for the first time this year. I've got three tomato plants outside that have been there for a while and I'm concerned they're suffering from something. A couple of pictures are at www.rupespad.com/drf/tom1.jpg and www.rupespad.com/drf/tom2.jpg

The symptoms are on the leaves, when wet (from rain or dew) the markings look dark, almost black. When dry they are light brown with a slight sheen. We've had two spells of appallingly wet weather recently (2 weeks of almost continual rain, separated by a week or so of really nice weather).

The plants are in pots in growbag compost, so soil contamination is unlikely. Disturbingly some smaller plants that have been inside most of the time but have been outside hardening off, sometimes nearby the larger affected ones, appear to have small areas of a similar condition.

I also put a post on another forum and a couple of people have said they've also noticed something similar, for the first time in years of growing toms.

Any advice?

On another note, I've also got some courgettes on the go, planted ages ago, germinated about three weeks ago. They are just starting to get their first 'proper' leaves (after the big post-germination ones). How long might I expect these to take to flowering (currently they're 2 to a pot, I was going to transplant them into growbags next week sometime). Similarly for some dwarf french beans.

Cheers

Chris

I would say it is scorching or heat stress on the Toms.
Because the way the weather has been in the last month I have seen in a check in courgettes here and what can happen is especially during wet weather it will delay flower formation or you just get male flowers, once the weather has settled I am sure they will start to romp away.

Sorry Forgot

Welcome to the Vine

Hmmm. Not that I really know a lot about toms, but I'd be a bit surprised if it was scorching or heat stress. The big ones had been hardened off for a couple of weeks prior to planting out, and did not seem at all distressed in the heat. The problem seemed to manifest itself around the time of the first appalling lot of rain.

My current thinking is to leave them as they are over the next week as it looks like the weather is going to be fine, and see how they go. A couple of people have suggested trying a fungicide and/or copper on them (which I'm a bit reluctant to do as I'd rather keep them au natrel!), and also that all the rain may have leeched essential nutrients (they suggest a plant feed and epsom salt spray). I though I'd get some feed, and put some on yesterday so we'll see if that helps, though I don't want to overdo it as I believe that can cause its own problems).

It's all new stuff to learn!

My tomatoes seam to be suffering from the same I'm hoping that they will recover but I have brought a couple of plants from a local grower to fill the gap if they do not.

This is exactly what's happened to a couple of mine, it occurred after heavy rain when the sun came back out and temperatures were back in the 20's.

It's as if something came in the rain - but not blight, thankfully - or perhaps that the rain activated or washed something out of the compost which has caused a nutrient imbalance.

It looks familiar to me, I think I might have had something like this in the past.

I would try a top-dressing of a balanced fertiliser to give it a boost, and start a program of spraying - epsom salts/ seaweed solution.

I'm with TEB here - I think the leaves have been splashed and scorched. The growth looks really strong. Don't worry about it. If it's on the lower leaves and the new ones are ok I would leave well alone.

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Updated January 3rd - Birdwatching.

Well, encouraging words so far! By balanced fertiliser, I assume you mean something other than tomato food? Any suggestions, or just a vist a garden centre and see what they have? As for spraying epsom salts/seaweed solution, any pointers as to that? I.e. just epsom salts or salts+seaweed? Andy how much/often?

I'm still concerned that the small ones that have been indoors also seem to have small amounts of something similar, but they did get scorched the first time they were out in the sun (leaves went very pale, but they have mainly recovered).

I don't think there's anything wrong with your tomatoes drf. Plants just don't have perfect leaves any more than we have perfect skin. They don't look as if they need Epsom salts - when the leaves go very yellow because of a magnesium deficiency. I would just carry on as normal.
A balanced fertilezer is just any ordinary fertilizer like growmore or phostrogen . You can switch to a special tomato fertilizer once thay start to set fruit.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Your toms look just like mine, only bigger! I thought it was raindrops on the leaves followed by sunshine, focusing the heat onto parts of the leaves and scorching them. Hope that's all it is, anyway!

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blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/

hello. I've only registered today, just now, and the problem with my tomatos was the spur to get me to. I've grown them before but this year I was give 3 plants quite early and they are terrorable. They didnt grow properly and the leaves all shrank and went dark. There are a few fruit growing but thre growth of the plant is bad.. But. I then bought 3 more. I later on was given 6 more... The same problem. These plants are at my home, in pots, away from the ones down the allotment!!!! The originals.

Dont know whats wrong and I have asked a few of the people down the allotment and they dont know.

Courgetts (prob. spelt wrong) I've had they in the ground for a while now and they have had many flowers, but they all just fell off and left just the end of the stalk. ??? My ghurkins are the same!(Thats prob. spelt wrong too, Its why I failed english).

So. If you do find out the cause. Please let me know. I havent even figured out how to post my prob. up yet. Any way, bye, and good luck.

Hi rainbow, welcome. The problems with courgettes and gherkins aren't problems at all. These plants have their male flowers first, then you'll get male and female together. This is when you start to get fruits setting. The early male flowers just fall off - so what you're seeing there is normal. Give them a chance to have a bit of warm weather. Without a pic I couldn't suggest what your tomato problem is though.

Good luck - stick with it!

__________________
If a man is in the garden and speaks, and there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated January 3rd - Birdwatching.

Sounds like a similar ailment which i have with my outdoor toms, san marzano and costoluto fiorentino. I planted them out last week and they went a little off colour. Sometimes the dark veining is a symptom of a cold check but i havent had any cold spell. They are double their size now and romping away with signs of flowering already but the bottom pair of leaves are still looking a little yellow.

My poor old tomatoes are doing the same thing. I put it down to the dry spell followed by the excessive rain and have dosed them up with a drop of tomato food. They've perked up a bit but time will tell.... Most of them are my own from my first ever plants from seed, so I'll be heartbroken if they give up when the going gets tough!

Hi Lavender and welcome to the vine! What else are you growing? Bernie

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I'm with the scorching idea. Unfortunately for me the toms it's happened o are quite small plants and I'm not sure they'll recover but yours should be fine.