Early Blight or Septoria?

[NathanP]

I'm just trying to identify what is hitting my tomatoes this year. It looks to me closer to Septoria from what I can tell. Any guesses? Sorry the pictures are blurry. The lense cover on my phone makes them look hazy.

Pictures 1 and 2 are from a mix of assorted seeds, some seem to be somewhat resistant.

Pictures 3 and 4 are from Mark Twain, which is getting hit fairly hard, and shows the most dramatic markings on the stems.

Pictures 5 and 6 are from Skykomish (a Tom Wagner offering), which really seem to be getting hammered. Losing all the lower leaves and this is the only tomato line which has not yet begun to set fruit. They only have leaves on the top 12-18 inches of the plants.

I've been removing damaged branches daily. I do not like putting chemicals on my veggies, so I'm just going to try to manage this as best I can otherwise.

[RayR]

Through the foggy haze of your camera lens, it is Septoria for sure.
Take it from someone who knows the defoliating power of Septoria gone wild, you can't manage it just by just clipping off infected stems and hoping for the best. It is already making spores and spreading them around looking for new infection points.
The least resistant foliage to fungal infections like Early Blight and Septoria is the oldest growth, followed by the newest growth, the middle growth is most resistant, so it typically spreads up the plant, but sometimes it will also show on some new growth.

You don’t want to use any nasty chemicals, I don’t blame you, I don’t either. You have two options, but both are made more difficult when the disease is at an advanced stage and the plants health has been weakened considerably.

1.) You can try a copper fungicide, preferably a copper soap fungicide which has a low copper content. OMRI approved for organic production even though they are man made chemical compounds. A potassium bicarbonate fungicide like GreenCure is another safe chemical option; I know it is supposed to work on Early Blight, not sure about Septoria. I’ve not tried it.
2.) You can use a biological fungicide like Actinovate or Serenade. Fungal killing bacteria can be very effective at killing fungal pathogen spores.

I use Actinovate regularly as a foliar application, but the best method includes first inoculating your young transplants roots early on with Mycorrhizae, Trichoderma and beneficial bacteria. Among their many other benefits they known to trigger the plants own Systemic Acquired Resistance pathways, making the whole plant more resistant to pathogen attack. It makes it much easier to manage Septoria and Early Blight when they are able to successfully infect a leaf since the plants immune system is always on high alert and fighting from inside. My plants used to get hammered badly by Septoria this time of year too, but now it is just a minor nuisance that is easily taken out with Actinovate. It works great for me and is also less expensive than buying a bunch of chemical fungicides.

[b54red]

Ray is right if you let Septoria go it will defoliate your plants especially if you get much rain. I'm not as finicky about using some fairly proven chemicals like Daconil or copper fungicide as a preventative. The dilute bleach spray is very good for slowing the disease and killing off the spores thus slowing the spread of the disease. I like to hit the plants with the bleach spray then wait a day and apply a preventative fungicide. Septoria is one of the more difficult foliage diseases to stop once it gets a hold on your plants so repeated applications are usually required. I have not used Actinovate so I can't comment on its effectiveness.

Bill

[Labradors2]

Originally Posted by RayR

You don’t want to use any nasty chemicals, I don’t blame you, I don’t either. You have two options, but both are made more difficult when the disease is at an advanced stage and the plants health has been weakened considerably.

I use Actinovate regularly as a foliar application, but the best method includes first inoculating your young transplants roots early on with Mycorrhizae, Trichoderma and beneficial bacteria..

Ray,

Where do you get the Mycorrhizae, Trichoderma and Bene bacteria? This sounds like a great plan for next year!

Linda

[tnpeppers]

Still battling here in New England...it has been nice for nearly two weeks; comfortable temperatures and low humidity. After treating with your bleach spray, some copper spray, and a good feeding with Texas Tomato food; plants have recovered nicely. HOWEVER...downpours today. What should be my regimen? The steady rain is scheduled to wind up around four, with showers after. Would I wait until very early tomorrow (Saturday); hit them with the bleach, and then hit them with the copper the following evening (Sunday)?

[ArthurDent004]

I've had Septoria on my Early Wonder and was surprised how fast it appeared. I'm using the GreenCure and hoping for the best.

I had also treated it with Myco Madness - http://www.plantlightinghydroponics....oz-p-2638.html

This is one of my favorite online shops. I've had nothing but good experiences with them.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by tnpeppers

Still battling here in New England...it has been nice for nearly two weeks; comfortable temperatures and low humidity. After treating with your bleach spray, some copper spray, and a good feeding with Texas Tomato food; plants have recovered nicely. HOWEVER...downpours today. What should be my regimen? The steady rain is scheduled to wind up around four, with showers after. Would I wait until very early tomorrow (Saturday); hit them with the bleach, and then hit them with the copper the following evening (Sunday)?

If your plants are relatively disease free now then the bleach treatment may not be needed after just one day of rain. Since you are having low humidity if the diseases are not present just another dose of a fungicide should be adequate. I rarely get low humidity but even I don't use the bleach spray after every rain unless my plants are under extreme disease pressure.

If however after the rain and showers stop you see good evidence of new disease then by all means use the bleach spray before applying a fungicide.

Bill

[tnpeppers]

Once again; I appreciate your help!

[NathanP]

It's funny, but up until today it has been low humidity here, and I still have this issue. Raining buckets today, so maybe this weekend I'll try something.

Thanks for the help.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Ray,

Where do you get the Mycorrhizae, Trichoderma and Bene bacteria? This sounds like a great plan for next year!

Linda

Not sure what you have available in Canada, probably best to check with the Hydroponics stores. Some U.S. sellers ship to Canada, I know Fungi Perfecti does where you can get MycoGrow.

Originally Posted by ArthurDent004

I've had Septoria on my Early Wonder and was surprised how fast it appeared. I'm using the GreenCure and hoping for the best.

I had also treated it with Myco Madness - http://www.plantlightinghydroponics....oz-p-2638.html

This is one of my favorite online shops. I've had nothing but good experiences with them.

Please keep us updated on how effective GreenCure is on Septoria.

I used Myco Madness this year too on my containered plants, I got a free sample of Great White last fall that I used on my in-ground Tomato plants this year.

[nnjjohn]

I am not sure what happened here..if I neglected and should have bleach sprayed is it worth spraying or is normal with mature plants?

[Labradors2]

Thanks. I'll check out Fungi Perfecti.

Linda

[Sun City Linda]

I saw a post on another site that Septoria was soil born. I always thought it blew in on the wind and rain.

[ArthurDent004]

I sprayed my plant with GreenCure last night, according to the package directions. I was looking this evening and I'm seeing leaves with black edges, some leaves have a little more black and have started curling. I've included three pics of what I'm seeing. Time to do a little more pruning.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by ArthurDent004

I sprayed my plant with GreenCure last night, according to the package directions. I was looking this evening and I'm seeing leaves with black edges, some leaves have a little more black and have started curling. I've included three pics of what I'm seeing. Time to do a little more pruning.

I see the directions say "Mix 1 to 2 level tablespoons of GreenCure per gallon of water". What rate did you use?
When you get edge burn on leaves with any product, either lower the concentration of the solution or apply it more lightly so that excess doesn't bead up on the leaf edges.
No need to prune those leaves if only the edges got some burn.