Half of my tomato plants have developed a few dark brown, almost black areas, mostly along the stem. At first, I thought it was dirt and gently scraped at it, taking off some of the epidermis. So far, the affected areas don't feel mushy, but it looks like so kind of rot. The surrounding stems are fine. There is a little bit of yellowing on the lower foilage on just a few of the plants, but doesn't have me worried, as it is normal this time of year. I've ruled out cold damage as that affects the new, tender growth. Are these the early symptoms of late blight? If not, then what is this?

Hunter77 said:


Half of my tomato plants have developed a few dark brown, almost black
areas, mostly along the stem. At first, I thought it was dirt and
gently scraped at it, taking off some of the epidermis. So far, the
affected areas don't feel mushy, but it looks like so kind of rot. The
surrounding stems are fine. There is a little bit of yellowing on the
lower foilage on just a few of the plants, but doesn't have me worried,
as it is normal this time of year. I've ruled out cold damage as that
affects the new, tender growth. Are these the early symptoms of late
blight? If not, then what is this?

Maybe early blight, which usually sets in late (to keep us all confused).

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 23:42:04 +0000, Hunter77
wrote:

late blight or not?

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tomatoproblemsolver/


hth


Penelope
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

Thanks for the comprehensive disease indentification page. Unfortunately, it appears to be late blight. It's strange that I didn't notice this until just a couple of days ago. The disease has progressed rapidly. It is especially bad on the Gold Nugget which had been doing so well all summer. It's nearly completely destroyed the Quali T-23. Almost every branch has those characteric water soaked lesions. Much of the foilage is infected. A half dozen other plants have mild to moderate symptoms. Another half a dozen have not yet shown any signs of late blight. And now it's even gotten to the wonderful Purple Calabash. Just when they finally got well-established. The causes were probably the cool, humid weather, the fact they were planted close together, lack of nutrients stressing the plants, and most importantly, the mistake of planting tomatoes in the same location for 2 consecutive seasons.

Anyways, can cuttings be taken from non-infected branches? Can late blight spread to peppers? Is there a (practical) way to sterilize the soil so tomatoes can be grown next year?

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 00:05:16 +0000, Hunter77
wrote:

The causes were probably the
cool, humid weather, the fact they were planted close together, lack of
nutrients stressing the plants, and most importantly, the mistake of
planting tomatoes in the same location for 2 consecutive seasons.

For home gardeners, there sometimes isn't much choice but to plant in
the same place for consecutive seasons. I have a large lot by the
standards of the area I'm in, but the areas I can put in a vegetable
garden are limited. Raised beds offer some relief, as I can dig out
the soil and replace it every couple or few years, but I'd have to do
without a garden to avoid consecutive plantings.

The advice some of these garden sites give is really unhelpful, but
that's a peeve for another time.


Anyways, can cuttings be taken from non-infected branches? Can late
blight spread to peppers? Is there a (practical) way to sterilize the
soil so tomatoes can be grown next year?

http://www.extension.umn.edu/project...atoblight.html

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3102.html

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/pcapsici.htm

http://plant-disease.ippc.orst.edu/d...?RecordID=1084

Late blight is not much of a problem around here, so I have no
experience with it. A quick google on the subject gives some
conflicting information, too.

Good Luck!

Penelope