Fun with tomato diseases.

[CraftyFox]

Considering a reroll of this whole tray.. Started with a dozen each, plans on all showing symptoms(they are in a paper bag currently)
We now have:
0- Everglades Wild Cherry Tomato
12- Back door cherry(Season 3)
4- Midnight Snack Hybrid Cherry
11- Lucky Tiger Cherry Tomato
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I have my suspicions about the source, but I'll have to science it before I go calling apples plums. All of the other sprouted Solanum were in that tray originally, but the S. sisybriifolium had been moved before I noticed the symptoms show up in the trays.. They haven't expressed symptoms either.
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They are shown in order of where they were in the tray, which leaves me with more than a couple of interesting questions.. Any insights are welcome. Some other facts of interest:

-The Everglades and Lucky Tiger are both new additions, and the others regrows from last years harvest.
-While Midnight Snack seemed disease free last year, it grew within 4' and downwind of a diseased white currant tomato.
-Fan running in cycles or constant.. Mostly oscillating, but also fixed and not focused on plants at times. For a while I was only running it 2-3 hours a day, and mostly not on the plants.. Then some edema showed up in the seedlings and older peppers when it warmed up outside(which causes the natural humidity in the room to rise). The flare up of symptoms happened about a week after I went back to constant fan with 12-24 hours of oscillation and plant focus.

-A few thrips were present, but last time I checked them, I only found Orius.
-The aphid corpses are the only aphids I find on these, same with the tiny fungal gnats.. Not sure if it's the Orius or just the tomato killing them. Our aphids never seem to set up shop on the tomatoes. Plenty of them in the pepper seedlings(originally a shelf above them) this year though.


First picture is the Midnight Snacks, with the purple stems. The rest are Everglades Wild. Worst specimens were tossed into the bag before pictures, but the progression is a canker that eventually destroys the stem/leaf.

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My biggest take away is, regardless of the source, Back door Cherry appears to have some excellent resistance to this. Not the best pics.. I may take better pictures of the diseased tomorrow, or I might just burn them. I considering burning the whole lot of them, but I have a nightshade free room I could move the asymptomatic to as it plays out. What would you do, if you had the space?

 

[Tinkerbelle]

Looks like powdery mildew - dissolve an aspirin in a gallon of water and spray or alternatively, use chemicals
Or it could be sclerotinia but I think that only occurs when the stems are woody and planted in "garden soil".

 

[Bou]

@CraftyFox http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomWlt/TomWiltKey.html

 

[CraftyFox]

Looks like powdery mildew - dissolve an aspirin in a gallon of water and spray or alternatively, use chemicals
Or it could be sclerotinia but I think that only occurs when the stems are woody and planted in "garden soil".

Aspirin still counts as a chemical in my garden, unless you are talking about willow water. I was leaning toward Early blight myself, but you were spot on with that identity! I left a couple of them in the shade for a day and those spots powdered right up. That stuff is nasty indoors, and not the first time it has taken my tomatoes.

I haven't looked into the willow water vs. aspirin yet, to see if they are the same, because I'm rolling with the Revitalize for now, like @Marturo recommended. Our yard has been a lot worse since our neighbor decided to put up a solid fence, so this will be a good test for it. Hopefully this will also keep me from bringing the funk in next winter.

 

[CraftyFox]

@CraftyFox http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomWlt/TomWiltKey.html

So much potential here! Yet it has all the hallmarks of a student project. I'd say over half the pictures in there are worthless.. Like were they taken from a helicopter or something? Maybe they intended for users to be able to zoom in on them, but it doesn't for me. Big lack of seedling pictures too, mostly mature plants.
Still not a terrible guide!

 

[Bou]

So much potential here! Yet it has all the hallmarks of a student project. I'd say over half the pictures in there are worthless.. Like were they taken from a helicopter or something? Maybe they intended for users to be able to zoom in on them, but it doesn't for me. Big lack of seedling pictures too, mostly mature plants.
Still not a terrible guide!

I agree!! but the descriptions are a bit better, although many similar symptoms may indicate different diseases...

 

[ahayastani]

So much potential here! Yet it has all the hallmarks of a student project. I'd say over half the pictures in there are worthless.. Like were they taken from a helicopter or something? Maybe they intended for users to be able to zoom in on them, but it doesn't for me. Big lack of seedling pictures too, mostly mature plants.
Still not a terrible guide!

Most sites looked like that at the turn of the century. Based on the colours of the images, I'd say they were scanned from film - you remember?

 

[CraftyFox]

Most sites looked like that at the turn of the century. Based on the colours of the images, I'd say they were scanned from film - you remember?

I remember going to the library and looking stuff up on microfilm, and how cool it was to be able to have an 8-track with a tape recorder on it, so I could make mix tapes. Waiting to go to the bathroom until commercials.. Kids have it so easy these days.

 

[CraftyFox]

I agree!! but the descriptions are a bit better, although many similar symptoms may indicate different diseases...

I'm with you there. The more I look at those leaves, the more I think @Tinkerbelle was spot on with PM being in play too. It has to be on one of the plants closer to the fan, if that's the case. It is pretty elusive in drier conditions. Some day I will have a beetle to handle that.

 

[Bou]

I'm with you there. The more I look at those leaves, the more I think @Tinkerbelle was spot on with PM being in play too. It has to be on one of the plants closer to the fan, if that's the case. It is pretty elusive in drier conditions. Some day I will have a beetle to handle that.

You just made me think that I had already dealt with bacterial wilt (or at least that was my diagnosis at that time). My affected plants looked similar to yours (shrunken yellow leaves and frail, kinda crusty stem)...

 

[Marturo]

We used this last year on our tomato's with unbelievable results, first time with tomato plants that were not killed by early blight.
Using it from the start with watering our seedlings this season, we will see how that works as the season progresses.

This is right up with our most effective Organic tools, it worked on everything we grew last season.

https://www.amazon.com/Bonide-Revitalize-Fungicide-Concentrate-Ounce/dp/B076HW6S9K/ref=sr_1_2?crid=30CCKC3OL8FQM&keywords=bonide+revitalize+biofungicide&qid=1682511955&sprefix=bonide+bio%2Caps%2C215&sr=8-2

 

[CraftyFox]

That's a pretty good tip. I don't employ chemicals as a rule, 'organic' or not.. But it's good to know if I ever have to fall back to that.

 

[Marturo]

Like Bacillus thuringiensis & Spinosad , it's alive & on our side.
Last year was the fist time we had any reliable Fungicide to use & this was a real game changer.
We tried blending bugs & picking slugs for many years, without any protection from Virus & fungal attacks.

Todays Organic tools are as different as a 1970s era Organic food store, & todays everything is ready Organic mega stores of today.
I get gardens & produce today as nice as any Chemical gardens using toxins for pest control, & it's safe to eat.

Use Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens to Organically Control Plant Disease

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens colonizes plant roots, stimulates plant growth, and inhibits pathogen growth. Read about these bacteria now on Gardener’s Path.

gardenerspath.com

 

[CraftyFox]

Actually, I take that back @Marturo , I think I'm going to have to add that to the list. I was just reading up on it too. Very good tip!

 

[CraftyFox]

Like Bacillus thuringiensis & Spinosad , it's alive & on our side.
Last year was the fist time we had any reliable Fungicide to use & this was a real game changer.
We tried blending bugs & picking slugs for many years, without any protection from Virus & fungal attacks.

Todays Organic tools are as different as a 1970s era Organic food store, & todays everything is ready Organic mega stores of today.
I get gardens & produce today as nice as any Chemical gardens using toxins for pest control, & it's safe to eat.

Use Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens to Organically Control Plant Disease

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens colonizes plant roots, stimulates plant growth, and inhibits pathogen growth. Read about these bacteria now on Gardener’s Path.

gardenerspath.com

Yep.. Good call there! Any idea how long it persists in the soil without a host? I'll have to read up on other interactions it has with fungi too. Thanks for sharing that!

 

[Marturo]

Any idea how long it persists in the soil without a host?

I think it works by force of numbers. A lot like when your GI trac has gone sideways, we take an enteric capsule designed to repopulate the gut with Acidophils, good bugs to displace the bad bugs. That's as close as a retired Porsche Mechanic dare go. I just know that with weekly sprays of this biofungicide we missed out all that drama with sick plants we normally get each year.

This season we plan to infect the seedlings right away & keep up weekly sprays as well. If you leave a space unguarded then any kind of bugs will take advantage. Fungal problems don't just attack sickly plants. Our plants have been organic & healthy & yet a virus or fungal problem will attack & still kill even healthy plants. I say this from watching for many years as my plants were attacked & sickened. The squash that always gets DM did not last season, they just kept going until we pulled them because the neighbors got sick of them LOL.