Not sure if this should go under diseases or containers...

[theheatmiser]

Hello all,

Heatmiser (a newbie) here with a question for all the seasoned professionals out there. I have some plants in containers and one plant in the "regular" ground. The varieties in the containers are Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, and a hybrid green variety. The one in the ground is Amish Paste.

It seems that all of my container tomato plants have some sort of bacterial/fungal disease. I think Krim has alterneria cancker and the others have some kind of bacterial spot/speck. While I realize that these bacterial problems are caused by a splash back of dirt during watering (because of improper mulching ) I don't understand why this would be happening only to the container plants.

The Amish paste that is in my slightly augmented "normal dirt" is fine. I mixed in a little peat moss, epsom salts and lots of coffee grounds. There is not one sign of any spotting, wilting or yellowing of the leaves. And this is the red clay soil of GA I'm talking about. Not the best type of soil for anything. It's planted next to some Bee Balm and that seems to be doing well also. Is the Amish Paste extremely hardy? All plants were watered in the same way and had the same improper mulch.

The container plants are planted in a mixture of peat moss and composted manure, with coffee grounds and some epsom salts added. I have basil planted with Krim and that seems to be doing fine as well.

I just don't understand this. Can someone give me some feedback? I have other young tomato plants that need to be permanently planted somewhere. I thought the container method was a way of keeping plants more disease free, but if this isn't the case then I will prepare my "in ground" dirt instead.

Thanks in advance,
Theheatmiser

[rnewste]

Heatmiser,

Not sure of the benefit of adding coffee grounds in a container mix, but from my own container experience, composted manure is not recommended. In fact, Potting Mix (Not Potting Soil) is the optimum container medium. Others will chime in, but I think you have a problem with the ingredients you've selected for container growing.

Ray

[theheatmiser]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be less crazy on the ingredients next time. There are so many opinions, theories and methods out there floating around, it's difficult to narrow it all down.

Thanks again.
THM

[JohnnyRock]

I've got around 40 plants in containers and 80 in ground. Strangely, only my container plants have had problems with blight and TYLCV. Many of the plants in my in-ground garden seem to have something different, probably curly top, although they are still growing and have quite a bit of fruit set. It's been a very windy spring season, so I'm surprised that the diseases remained localized. Maybe these diseases aren't spread in the wind, I'm not sure. It does make me wonder if the container mix I used had something to do with those plants' vulnerability to blight/TYLCV and resistance to curly top. I wonder if there are any studies on this...

[creister]

I know that compost holds water. If you have too much, your plants could be too wet. Some diseases are carried with the wind. Some years, I'll have sick plants right next to healthy ones, same water, fert, etc., and can't every figure out why. Some have been in potting mix, or in my garden. Have you checked undersides of leaves for insects? You could have also infected you plants if you touched them after you have worked in soil.

[amideutch]

There's a grower in another forum who is growing his tomato plants in 5 gal growbags white on the outside and black on the inside. He's also using composted manure and peat moss for his growing medium. He's using a modified Mittleider grow technique and feeds his plants with inorganic ferts once a week and has an automated watering system. His only problem is 4 out of 24 have developed BER but the other plants are doing great. Heatmiser what type and color container are you using? Coffee grounds and epson salts won't bother your plant and will certainly be good for it. Just don't get carried away. What I tell alot of folks is check out Actinovate. You can use as a drench to protect the rootzone and spray as a foliar for the airborne stuff and a little bit goes along ways. Ami

[karpes]

Hello, I am karpes and this is my first post here. I thank Ami for introducing me to tomatoville and I am very pleased to see a wealth of information on my favorite plant. I am using 5 gallon grow bags (white outside and black inside) with 2 big beef tomatoes per bag. The mixture is 3 parts cow manure compost and 1part peat. The fertilizer is Mittleider Magic + 20 pounds 13-13-13 + 3 pounds of Epson Salt + 3 pounds Calcium Nitrate and it is delivered to each tomato at the rate of one teaspoon per tomato each week. The water is automated to twice a day. One watering (about a quart) at 8 am and the other at 2pm. I may need to increase the water as the days get hotter. So far the only problem that I have experienced is BER on four of the twenty six plants. The first two clusters were severe but the next three clusters are BER free. I have rubbed a bald spot on my head trying to figure out what would cause just a few plants to do that but they seem to be ok now. I know that there is controversy over using Composted manure but so far it is working fine. I do have a regular spray schedule that I use, so maybe this has allowed me to get past the other tomato problems. If you like, I could post some pictures and description of my set up this week end Karpes

[amideutch]

Here's the gentleman I was referring to. Karpes please do post pictures of your setup and anything else you feel would be of interest to the forum. And also elaborate on your spray program. Ami

[dice]

The 4 plants with BER were the same cultivar as the others?

Since the nutrient supply and water supply are consistent,
it sounds like a difference in either heat exposure (maybe
water evaporates faster from those four, or at least it did
early in the season) or in the consistency of the composted
manure or peat (a high level of something in those 4 bags
that was binding to calcium and turning it into an insoluble
salt would do it; as more and more calcium was supplied by
the calcium nitrate, eventually the level of free calcium in
the container mix built up to the level needed to prevent
BER).

If the calcium nitrate is your only calcium source, I am amazed
that you are not seeing more BER than that. (I would have
started off with gypsum and lime mixed in with the composted
manure and peat.)

[karpes]

Dice Yes the calcium nitrate is the only source for calcium. Next year I will add Dolomite lime. I suppose there is not a quick lime fix? Karpes

[mdvpc]

karpes-I grow in 5 gallon grow bags a lot. You may want to use Zeba in your bags-it helps with ber because it helps keep the moisture levels constants.

Welcome to Tville.

[karpes]

Here’s a picture of the grow bags and tomatoes suspended from the overhead frame. The frame is an old automotive A frame that I extended height and width.

[karpes]

This is a picture of the hydroponics end of the set up. To the right are pole beans with eggplants to the left. The tomatoes are in the middle with cucumbers at the far end. 1/3 of the plants are grown in a hydroponics set up while the remainder are in either grow bags or 5 gallon buckets

[karpes]

In the background you can see part of my Purple Martin colony. Over rated for mosquito control, they do help with other insects.

[amideutch]

Karpes, when was the picture taken showing the tomatoes and overhead lines. Folks as you can see he's using tomato clips to support his tomato vines as I do in my mini greenhouse. Very easy to do and works great. The clips can be used over and over again.
Karpes, you can post several photo's per post if you choose to do so. It's not like Daves where you can only post one. Ami