On Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:04:59 -0500, The Cook
wrote:
:On Sun, 04 Jul 2010 10:52:22 -0700, Dan Musicant
:wrote:
:
:Year after year I've been growing 6 Early Girl tomatoes in a patch
:surrounded by concrete, the patch being 11 feet by 25 inches. I usually
:get terrific results. I dig out the soil about 2 feet down (in late
:March if I try to dig deeper I just reach standing water) and mix about
:1/4 compost with 3/4 soil back into the ditch and plant the seedlings.
:
:This year the proportion of compost was even greater. I make my own
:compost from whatever cast off yard waste I have or can find, and had a
:LOT this year. However, the plants are not doing very well. I've seen
:this sort of thing a time or two in the past, but not so pronounced as
:this year. When the plants were about 2-3 feet tall, the growing tips
:and leafy stems started twisting considerably and they seemed kind of
:stunted and were perhaps a darker green than usual. Now, the plants are
:a good 4-5 feet tall and they still seem darker green than usual, the
:leaves are mostly kind of smallish, the stems not very long. Usually the
:plants are taller by now. Also, the lower leaves are dieing (turning
:yellow) somewhat sooner than usual. The fruit bearing seems markedly
:diminished. Yes, the spring here in the S.F. Bay Area was more wintery,
:wet and cold than usual, but I am very doubtful that this accounts for
:how badly the plants are doing now and before summer started.
:
:The only thing I can think to do (I'm watering about the same as usual)
:is to test the PH of the soil. I went to Orchard Supply Hardware and
:checked out their PH testing systems (all by Luster Leaf, "Rapidtest",
:the 3 prong 4-in-1 #1818 (which tests PH, water content, nutritional
:aspects of the soil and light), the two prong #1817 (PH and water) and
:the #1815 single prong (PH only), but didn't purchase yet. Is poor PH a
:likely or possible cause/concern? What do you think?
:
:Dan
:
:
:Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net
:
:
:See if you can find some information here.
:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p...ver/index.html
:
:Helps to know what the problem is.
I quick look around that site has me thinking maybe Cucumber Mosaic
Virus. Nothing else seems to fit:
Symptoms:
Virus-infected plants are stunted, often with poorly expanded leaves.
Plants are bushy in appearance. Leaves may be mottled, and often have a
"shoestring" appearance. Fruit are small and misshaped.
Control:
Aphids often are virus vectors, so an attempt to control the aphids is
the first step. Eliminate weeds and remove infected plants from the
field as soon as they are seen.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p...af/mosaic.html
Dan
Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net