brown leafs on my tomatos plants

testhop · 07-16-2009, 11:14 AM

i am getting yollow lefts and then thay die the left that is the tomato abnd vines ok. i think it may be something with the i feed them wiith soil
i feed with merical grow .water each day no help .
any ideas ?

Metronome · 07-16-2009, 11:41 AM

Perhaps too much water, or inadequate drainage? Also if you are using concentrated fertilizer you may not be diluting it enough or using it too often. I'm really good at 'killing my plants with love'; sometimes it works best to just ignore them at let them do their thing.

Cross Hair · 07-16-2009, 04:42 PM

Probably with all the rain the US has been getting its too much water. Yellow leaves can be a tricky indicator as they can indicate alot of different things but all ultimately mean some sort of stress.

HOWEVER... it IS perfectly natural as a plant matures to get some yellow and brown and dead leaves as the plant grows and matures. If its just a few leaves or one or two branches and the rest of the plant is good and green I wouldnt worry about it at all.

Miracle Grow is fine for fertilizer supplement and is pretty hard to overdo it. Get on a water, water, miracle grow, water, water, miracle grow cycle and you cant go wrong or even just a weekly or bi-weekly miracle grow feed will work.

You may be watering too much. I water most days, but just use a sprayer on the hose and do individual plants and skip those that dont need it. If you stick your finger down into the soil approximately one inch and the soil is good and damp you dont need to water.

Best of Luck!

If we could get more than 4 days in a row of good sunshine I may actuallyget some red tomatos!

Oxford · 07-16-2009, 05:11 PM

I took these pictures yesterday. The tomato vines are loaded with green fruit...but no ripe ones have been picked yet. I think it's because of the large amount of cloudy days we've had.

To prevent rust on lower tomato leaves, I've been planting "Jet Star" plants for several years now. Also, I put nearly all my grass clippings in a compost behind the garden as well as leaves and small tree limbs which I've broken up. Each fall around mid October I mow up all the old tomato vines and turn them back into the soil. Also, I add two sacks of pelletized lime to the soil, and then spread all the composted materials back on top of the garden before rototilling it many times...till it's almost powdery.

This procedure has been followed for several years and has caused the soil to become very porus. Even with a heavy rain, within two days I can walk on the garden soil without getting muddy. This means that the roots of plants are also getting plenty of water.

I cannot say for sure what causes your plants to get "spots" on them. One suggestion is to contact a "Master Gardener" from a lawn and garden supplier for his/her advice. Another suggestion is to contact your local County Extension agent and submit samples of your soil for them to test. They can tell you the "PH" factor...which needs to be as close to "7" as possible. Otherwise, even with plenty of fertilizer applied your soil may be missing certain minute chemicals which allow the plants to absorb the fertilizer you apply. That is the main reason I apply pelletized lime...it helps break down the lawn clippings, etc. ...and helps neutralize the soil closer to "7."

Good luck.

Ox

nathangdad · 07-16-2009, 05:28 PM

there are times a sudden blast of heat for a few days can cause the problem you describe. When the temperature returns to the more or lessly normal range the tomatoes grow new leaves and the vines continue to grow.

I don't know if this applies to your situation but I thought I would share it.

rebel727 · 07-16-2009, 05:39 PM

It's rained here the last two days but before that I don't think my plants had but one or two small showers since I planted them. Temps have been in the high 90's. I try to water every day before ten AM when my work schedule permits. Watering in the evening doesn't do much good. My plants all have dead leaves and branches on the bottom but the plants are alive and producing. I've been getting tomatoes off mine for four weeks but they're starting to get smaller. I think they're about ready to play out. Now my corn is another story. It never did grow enough to say anything about.

Johnnycat · 07-16-2009, 05:45 PM

Nice spread you have there, Ox!

Cross Hair · 07-16-2009, 07:59 PM

Great lookin' plants Ox!

Oxford · 07-16-2009, 08:02 PM

Thanks Cross Hair and Johnnycat.

Deersniper · 07-16-2009, 08:54 PM

Ox nice stand of fruit. White fly got my first crop of tomatoes but more are coming up. It's so hot here in Texas the tomatoes stopped for a while. But the okra and squash love it. I put up 40 % sun cloth and a sprinkler system over head with a timer. This guarantees consistent watering. Brown leafs indicate stress, look under the leaves for bugs. Change to fish emulsion and seaweed mix to feed every other week. You over fertilized. Tomatoes like 5-10-10 mix. Hasta grow, Ladybug, and Seaweed. Re-pot with a mixture of peat moss, compost and vermiculite or pear-lite. I use a little sandy loam. Then add active soil with turkey manure. The humus factor makes them thrive.

jtuck · 07-16-2009, 09:49 PM

Not to confuse things with one more answer; but that sounds like the spotted leaf fungus. Get yourself a good fungicide (Ortho makes one). Prune the plants, cutting all of those branches off, then spray the plants really well, make sure to get the underside of the leaves as well. Also make sure you take the branches that you prune far away from the garden.

ArkansasHunter · 07-16-2009, 10:17 PM

The two most harmful fungal diseases that attack tomato plants are fusarium and verticillim wilt. Infected plants display yellowing and wilting of the older leaves about midsummer. The yellowing moves up the stem until the whole plant is dead. Unfortunately, there are no controls which are effective against either fungus. Instead, gardeners should be proactive and practice crop rotation and plant only wilt-resistant tomato varieties which are designated by a VF after the cultivar name. A plastic mulch such as The Red Mulch

Now yall know I didn't type this. I went to Google and typed in matter problems...A.H

Oxford · 07-16-2009, 10:20 PM

AH...I'm impressed for sure. But...it seems logical what you wrote...so I plant Jet Star because they're made to be "rust resistant."

07-16-2009, 11:14 AM	#1
testhop Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 196	brown leafs on my tomatos plants i am getting yollow lefts and then thay die the left that is the tomato abnd vines ok. i think it may be something with the i feed them wiith soil i feed with merical grow .water each day no help . any ideas ? __________________ A LOADED GUN IN THE HAND IS BETTER THAN A COP ON THE PHONE HOW DO YOU LIKE THE GREAT CHANGE?

07-16-2009, 11:41 AM	#2
Metronome Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Northern California Posts: 951	Perhaps too much water, or inadequate drainage? Also if you are using concentrated fertilizer you may not be diluting it enough or using it too often. I'm really good at 'killing my plants with love'; sometimes it works best to just ignore them at let them do their thing. __________________ I take my coffee how I take my women: bitter and overbearing.

07-16-2009, 04:42 PM	#3
Cross Hair Long Tail Squirrel Hunter Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Central Illinois... Middle of Nowhere Posts: 1,305	Probably with all the rain the US has been getting its too much water. Yellow leaves can be a tricky indicator as they can indicate alot of different things but all ultimately mean some sort of stress. HOWEVER... it IS perfectly natural as a plant matures to get some yellow and brown and dead leaves as the plant grows and matures. If its just a few leaves or one or two branches and the rest of the plant is good and green I wouldnt worry about it at all. Miracle Grow is fine for fertilizer supplement and is pretty hard to overdo it. Get on a water, water, miracle grow, water, water, miracle grow cycle and you cant go wrong or even just a weekly or bi-weekly miracle grow feed will work. You may be watering too much. I water most days, but just use a sprayer on the hose and do individual plants and skip those that dont need it. If you stick your finger down into the soil approximately one inch and the soil is good and damp you dont need to water. Best of Luck! If we could get more than 4 days in a row of good sunshine I may actuallyget some red tomatos! __________________ *Most of my life I've spent hunting,... the rest of it I've just wasted*

07-16-2009, 05:11 PM	#4
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 14,098 Images: 18 Blog Entries: 4	I took these pictures yesterday. The tomato vines are loaded with green fruit...but no ripe ones have been picked yet. I think it's because of the large amount of cloudy days we've had. To prevent rust on lower tomato leaves, I've been planting "Jet Star" plants for several years now. Also, I put nearly all my grass clippings in a compost behind the garden as well as leaves and small tree limbs which I've broken up. Each fall around mid October I mow up all the old tomato vines and turn them back into the soil. Also, I add two sacks of pelletized lime to the soil, and then spread all the composted materials back on top of the garden before rototilling it many times...till it's almost powdery. This procedure has been followed for several years and has caused the soil to become very porus. Even with a heavy rain, within two days I can walk on the garden soil without getting muddy. This means that the roots of plants are also getting plenty of water. I cannot say for sure what causes your plants to get "spots" on them. One suggestion is to contact a "Master Gardener" from a lawn and garden supplier for his/her advice. Another suggestion is to contact your local County Extension agent and submit samples of your soil for them to test. They can tell you the "PH" factor...which needs to be as close to "7" as possible. Otherwise, even with plenty of fertilizer applied your soil may be missing certain minute chemicals which allow the plants to absorb the fertilizer you apply. That is the main reason I apply pelletized lime...it helps break down the lawn clippings, etc. ...and helps neutralize the soil closer to "7." Good luck. Ox Attached Thumbnails __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right". Last edited by Oxford; 07-16-2009 at 05:16 PM.

07-16-2009, 05:28 PM	#5
nathangdad Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 5,170	In the Texas Panhandle there are times a sudden blast of heat for a few days can cause the problem you describe. When the temperature returns to the more or lessly normal range the tomatoes grow new leaves and the vines continue to grow. I don't know if this applies to your situation but I thought I would share it.

07-16-2009, 05:39 PM	#6
rebel727 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Heidelberg, Mississippi Posts: 2,209	It's rained here the last two days but before that I don't think my plants had but one or two small showers since I planted them. Temps have been in the high 90's. I try to water every day before ten AM when my work schedule permits. Watering in the evening doesn't do much good. My plants all have dead leaves and branches on the bottom but the plants are alive and producing. I've been getting tomatoes off mine for four weeks but they're starting to get smaller. I think they're about ready to play out. Now my corn is another story. It never did grow enough to say anything about. __________________ North-1 South-0 HALFTIME!

07-16-2009, 05:45 PM	#7
Johnnycat Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Tupelo, MS Posts: 498	Nice spread you have there, Ox! __________________ I reserve the right to be wrong.

07-16-2009, 07:59 PM	#8
Cross Hair Long Tail Squirrel Hunter Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Central Illinois... Middle of Nowhere Posts: 1,305	Great lookin' plants Ox! __________________ *Most of my life I've spent hunting,... the rest of it I've just wasted*

07-16-2009, 08:02 PM	#9
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 14,098 Images: 18 Blog Entries: 4	Thanks Cross Hair and Johnnycat. __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".

07-16-2009, 08:54 PM	#10
Deersniper Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 3,611	Ox nice stand of fruit. White fly got my first crop of tomatoes but more are coming up. It's so hot here in Texas the tomatoes stopped for a while. But the okra and squash love it. I put up 40 % sun cloth and a sprinkler system over head with a timer. This guarantees consistent watering. Brown leafs indicate stress, look under the leaves for bugs. Change to fish emulsion and seaweed mix to feed every other week. You over fertilized. Tomatoes like 5-10-10 mix. Hasta grow, Ladybug, and Seaweed. Re-pot with a mixture of peat moss, compost and vermiculite or pear-lite. I use a little sandy loam. Then add active soil with turkey manure. The humus factor makes them thrive.

07-16-2009, 09:49 PM	#11
jtuck Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Missouri Posts: 1,299 Blog Entries: 1	Not to confuse things with one more answer; but that sounds like the spotted leaf fungus. Get yourself a good fungicide (Ortho makes one). Prune the plants, cutting all of those branches off, then spray the plants really well, make sure to get the underside of the leaves as well. Also make sure you take the branches that you prune far away from the garden. __________________ I give people respect, not because of who they are, but because of who I am.

07-16-2009, 10:17 PM	#12
ArkansasHunter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South Arkansas. Posts: 17,215	The two most harmful fungal diseases that attack tomato plants are fusarium and verticillim wilt. Infected plants display yellowing and wilting of the older leaves about midsummer. The yellowing moves up the stem until the whole plant is dead. Unfortunately, there are no controls which are effective against either fungus. Instead, gardeners should be proactive and practice crop rotation and plant only wilt-resistant tomato varieties which are designated by a VF after the cultivar name. A plastic mulch such as The Red Mulch Now yall know I didn't type this. I went to Google and typed in matter problems...A.H __________________ IN GOD WE TRUST NRA MEMBER

07-16-2009, 10:20 PM	#13
Oxford Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Gladstone, Missouri Posts: 14,098 Images: 18 Blog Entries: 4	AH...I'm impressed for sure. But...it seems logical what you wrote...so I plant Jet Star because they're made to be "rust resistant." __________________ "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".