Need help figuring out what is wrong
 

Hi. I am relatively new to growing tomatoes. I live in Atlanta, GA. I am growing
San Marzano tomatoes and Goliath tomatoes. The leaves are turning yellow on the Goliath and the San Marzano have some kind of brown spots on them. Does anyone know what this is and how to correct it? The little leaf is the San Marzano and the larger one is the Goliath. Thx.

Are they turning yellow on the bottom leaves and working there way upward? If so, these pictures could be Early Blight. It could fit some other issues as well, which is the reason for my question. If you aren't spraying for foliar diseases, get on it right away. If this is early blight, it will spread quickly up your plant is you don't address it. Daconil, actinovate and various teas all help.

yes, exactly. the leaves are turning yellow from the bottom on upward. where can i get those sprays you are talking about and are they organic? thanks for your help.

Do a search for early blight and you'll see a ton of suggestions. I don't think daconil is considered organic, but a lot of folks use it and think as far as non organics go, it is low on the list of things to avoid. Actinovate is definitely organic (it is a naturally occurring bacteria). You may find it at very good gardening centers, seed and feed stores, and it can definitly be found on line, Amazon and lots of other places.

I've hear that serenade works, but can't confirm that, hopefully someone else will weigh in on that. It is also a naturally occuring bacteria, bacilus subtilus or something. In Dallas, it sells at Lowes under the name Activa.

Howard Garrett, a/k/a the dirt doctor recently sent out a missive on this topic, which I've posted below. (Hopefully, he won't care as this comes off like an advertisement for him, though that isn't my intent).

FYI - I'm fighting this battle now and not doing too well, so all of the above things are not a cure, but I think they do at least slow the spread. Good luck!

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[CENTER][CENTER][FONT=Times New Roman][B][B][COLOR=black][COLOR=black]Spider Mites or Disease[/COLOR][/COLOR][SIZE=3] on [COLOR=black][COLOR=black]T[/COLOR][/COLOR]omatoes? [/SIZE][/B][/B][/FONT][/CENTER][/CENTER]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]One of the most common questions I get about the vegetable garden is how to stop the yellow leaves that begin on the bottom of tomato plants and move up the plant to ruin the production of food. Almost everyone's plants get this fungal disease at some point, but organic growers have far less problem with it and it tends to hit their plants later in the season. [COLOR=black][COLOR=black]It is often misidentified as spider mite infestation because those pests will sometime attack as a result of the stress caused by the disease.
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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]It is a fungal disease that infects ornamental plants, fruit trees, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and shade trees. Brown to black spots form and enlarge on lower leaves developing concentric rings like a target. Heavily infected leaves turn yellow, dry up and die as spots grow together.
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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Target-like, sunken spots will sometimes develop on tomato branches and stems. [COLOR=black][COLOR=black]F[/COLOR][/COLOR]ruits[COLOR=black][COLOR=black] other than tomatoes[/COLOR][/COLOR] and [COLOR=black][COLOR=black]some [/COLOR][/COLOR]tubers can also develop[COLOR=black][COLOR=black] this same disease[/COLOR][/COLOR]. Spores are carried by the air and are a common cause of hay fever allergies. [/SIZE][/FONT]
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[COLOR=black][COLOR=black][FONT=Times New Roman]You can c[/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]ontrol this disease by planting resistant cultivars and soaking seed in a disinfecting solution such as a hydrogen peroxide mixture before planting. [COLOR=black][COLOR=black]Soaking the seed in Garrett Juice also seems to work. Proper organic bed preparation helps greatly. [/COLOR][/COLOR]Spray plants with [COLOR=black][COLOR=black]Garrett Juice[/COLOR][/COLOR], treat soil with whole ground cornmeal and spray infected plants with [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.green-living.com/bio-wash-botanical-plant-wash-concentrate.aspx"][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0033ff][B]BioWash[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. Also sold as Plant Wash, Bio Wash[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] sets up a condition on the plants that the disease organisms can't survive.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]The best long term control is to prevent the disease by planting well adapted varieties in healthy, biologically active soil and spraying and drenching the root zone with [/FONT][URL="http://www.green-living.com/garrett-juice-plus-concentrate---soil-mender.aspx"][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#336633][B]Garrett Juice[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and [/FONT][URL="http://www.green-living.com/thrive-concentrate.aspx"][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#663333][B]THRIVE[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman].[B][B][COLOR=#996633][COLOR=#996633] [/COLOR][/COLOR] [/B][/B][/FONT]
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[URL="http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/3333/"][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#663399][COLOR=#663399][B]Click here[/B][/COLOR][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] [SIZE=3]to listen to more on this topic from my Green Living show.

Visit the [URL="http://www.green-living.com/index.aspx"][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#006600][B]Green Living store[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] for great garden, home, kids and pet products and to purchase the products to treat tomato blight.
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[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]If you have any questions regarding this newsletter or any other topic, join me this weekend for my [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/content/code/radio/"][B][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#3333ff]Green Living and Dirt Doctor radio shows[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/B][/URL][/FONT][/SIZE][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3].

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Naturally yours,[/SIZE][/FONT]

thx for all your help. i will let you know how it goes.

If a whole stem of a tomato goes bright yellow and wilts during the heat of the day, you may be dealing with Fusarium wilt.

looks like you have alot of "leaf litter" around the plants, it can harbor disease, rake up and put a good mulch down before any more plants go in.may not help whats going on now but will help down the road
also trimming off the bottom stems seems to help bacteria spread in my tomato beds...worth the effort,tomatoes don't mind a bit of trimming off the ground

Use Actinovate or Bordeaux fungicide mixture. Use one or the other but not both. Ami

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