Aggie Tomato Problem Solver

Here is a handy site that helps rapidly diagnose some common problems that occur in tomatoes:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publ ... lemsolver/

The reason this problem solver site is of interest to me is that I'm at risk of losing all twelve heirloom tomato plants I bought from the Cheney Mansion Annual Herb and Plant Sale last weekend. I believe what I’m being hit with is Alternaria solani (early blight).



I bought a fungicide last week and have sprayed the plants three times, which seems to have reduced the problem somewhat, but it’s still there. I've removed all problematic leaves and stems, probably the equivalent of an entire plant or three.

Water on the leaves is not supposed to help…and it’s raining right now in PROP.

Oh, I'm so sorry. That just is rotten. I've been so unbelievably lucky in my tomato growing years - except for whiteflies here in the city, I've never had any blights, pests, fungi, etc.

Is there an extension service center anywhere close by where you could take a leaf and a picture? Some of our Master Gardeners would probably know.

ViewsAskew wrote:Oh, I'm so sorry. That just is rotten. I've been so unbelievably lucky in my tomato growing years - except for whiteflies here in the city, I've never had any blights, pests, fungi, etc.

Is there an extension service center anywhere close by where you could take a leaf and a picture? Some of our Master Gardeners would probably know.

I'm hoping to speak with the gardener at Cheney Mansion tomorrow; at worst, I'll tear everything out and replace with plants from Nichol's at next week's OP Farmer's Market. I've also got a few seedlings that I might try to nurture, but they seem way too small.

Seedlings grow unbelievably fast....a variety that bears in 50-70 days that was 4-6 weeks old and was planted outside on June 1st would still give you tomatoes by end of July, early August...

But...bear with me here. Days to maturity starts from when you transplant, right? I've read (and I don't believe everything I read, but....) that a 6 week old plant that is then transplanted will bear about the same time and same yield as something that is older, but has been in a small pot, and is transplanted at the same time as the much younger/smaller plant. Similar readings reinforced that there was no benefit from starting plants indoors more than 6-8 weeks prior to transplanting.

One year I planted a couple relatively small plants that I'd started along with 1 plant I bought at a garden center that was 3 to 4 times the size of my plants. The older plant yielded fruit about a week before the ones I started. After about 6 weeks of being out, the young ones had almost caught up to the older one.

I also read one time (again, grain of salt) that you were much better off planting tomatoes that were only about 6-8 weeks old because older/larger plants purchased from a store (and I think they meant plants that were already blooming) will not yield as much (something about having been stressed too much early?)

Wanting to know a bit more, I did a bit of Internet research. Here are some reports about the topic:

Transplant size related to yield

Potential contradiction

Review of studies since 1924

Similar results to above

What I can't find is how purchasing a larger/older plant from a store affects yield. I just read several places that say a plant at a store that is large and blooming or that has tomatoes will yield less that a much younger/smaller plant, given both plants are transplanted at the same time. But, I haven't yet corroborated it.