Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Tomato Problems, Diseases, and Pests
Check out the latest gardening video on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website. Learn how to identify and manage common problems that can affect tomatoes at all stages of maturity. To access this video, click on the link below:
Tomato Problems, Diseases, and Pests
Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org, click on the ‘Gardening Videos’ tab at the top of the page, and select the video from the list provided.
What can go wrong with growing tomatoes? Almost everything! What can go right with planting tomatoes in our home gardens? Enough to keep us growing them!
What’s the problem?
Let’s face it—there are lots of challenges with homegrown tomatoes. They wilt, they spot, they crack, they dot, they blotch, they rot. Whew! The list goes on. Few vegetables—or fruits, which are what tomatoes are—are more challenging.
Helpful hints
Try following these guidelines:
What to watch for
Although there are myriad tomato problems, most are rare. Five of the most common concerns and their solutions:
Preventing problems
To prevent disease in future years, do not compost plant debris. Plant tomatoes in a different location at least every third year. Then, watch your tomatoes grow! If you have a bad year, don’t give up! There’s always hope for the following season.
Consider the wisdom in John Denver’s song from his 1988 album Higher Ground:
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy
That’s true love and homegrown tomatoes!
Article written by Mary Alice Ramsey, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.
Learn more
Gardening in the Mountains lecture:
All Things Tomato
by Dr. Randy Gardner, Professor Emeritus, Horticultural Science, NCSU
July 19, 2018, 10 a.m. to noon
Folk Arts Center, Asheville, NC
Watch for details in early July blog announcement.
Growing Tomatoes in the Home Garden
by NC State Extension
Late Tomato Blight Is Here
by Debbie Green, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer, July 2015
Late tomato blight was discovered in Buncombe County last week. This is a reprint of a post written by Debbie Green, originally published two years ago.
Tomatoes should be reaching their prime, and if you have lush green plants with ripening fruit, enjoy your harvest. If your plants aren’t looking so good however, they may have one of the many tomato diseases that sometimes thwart even the most experienced vegetable gardeners. One of the most serious of these is late tomato blight, which typically affects plants later in the growing season, but has been confirmed on plants in West Asheville as of early July this year. This disease can spread spores as far as 20 miles, so identifying the disease and destroying the affected plants may spare others’ tomatoes from developing the symptoms.
Rain and high humidity are both favorable conditions for the spread of late blight. Once your plants are infected they can’t be cured; fungicides containing copper or chlorothalonil are currently the only treatments proven effective to prevent late blight. If you spray your plants, follow label directions. Take care to cover all leaf surfaces; use eye protection and other precautions to prevent contact with the spray.
The good news is there are less devastating diseases that are not late blight, so getting a positive diagnosis is important. The first signs are irregular dark spots that look water-soaked on the newer leaves at the top of the plant, often with a lighter-colored “halo” around them. As the spots enlarge, the leaves shrivel and die. You may also see white cottony growth on the underside of the leaves. Both ripening and green fruits are also affected, with greasy looking spots that turn brown and leathery.
There are many images available online to help you determine if you have late blight; one of the most comprehensive series of photos is this one prepared by Dr. Meg McGrath of the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center: http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm#images. If you are unsure about the diagnosis, you can bring photos and samples of your plants to the Master Gardener Clinic at the Buncombe County Extension Office.
If you do have late blight, bag up your plant as soon as you can, but do it on a sunny day to reduce further spread of the disease. You can salvage already ripened fruit or green tomatoes that don’t show symptoms; these are safe to eat. Take care to look for affected plants other than tomatoes, especially potatoes and petunias. Weeds in the nightshade family may also show symptoms and should be removed and bagged.
If you lose your plants, there is always next year. There is ongoing research on less susceptible varieties and some evidence that ‘Defiant,’ ‘Mountain Merit,’ ‘Mountain Magic,’ and ‘Plum Regal’ tomato varieties are resistant to late blight. Consider planting these varieties next season if you want to increase your chances of a blight-free crop.
For more information see http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/publication/tomato-late-blight/