Ripped out my big boy tomatoes....

12 years ago

...due to a bad case of Septoria (or at least that's what I think it was). The leaves were covered with spots and the branches/flowers were literally falling off the plants. Anyone know if BB's are particularly susceptible to disease?

Interestingly, the Jet Stars that I planted seem to be fine.

We've had a lot of rain so far and it's not unusual to have some problems when it gets humid in August, but not in June!

Anyway, I picked up a few "beefsteak" transplants over the weekend just because I had the space. We'll see what happens....grrrrrr.

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Comments (4)

lizbeth_pa
12 years ago
I'm sorry to hear that. I tried growing bb tomatoes last yr, w/ little luck. I've given up trying to grow them. It could be that the tomatoes were already diseaded w/ that when you brought them home from the greenhouse, nursery or wherever you bought them from. I won't buy veg plants from the box stores like HomeDepot, etc., as I think they don't care for the plants too well at those kind of stores. We have had a lot of rain storms here in PA, also this spring, right up thru June. I am kind of wondering how well a tom plant will do that I bought, also. My cherry toms are doing great in their little container, also are my patio toms in a container. You never know from yr to yr! Good luck w/ the new ones. I'd be interested in hearing how they do. I might put one more large tom plant in my veg garden if I see something this week.
terrybug
12 years ago
I planted 2 patio tomato notice this week that the leaves are curling. What causes this also on another plant something chewed hole in it n i think i might have alphids as well they are black. what can I do to fix these problems any advise would be helpful.
Thanks terry
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Repotting stimulates them. I would repot at least 3 times before they went outside. I live in your zone and many times I couldn't put them out until late May. You need to make sure the weather is stable and the soil temps warm or they will rot. Don't even try to grow them indoors unless you have a greenhouse. I use a regular bagged mix for tomatoes. They grew like weeds! Jane
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Try some of the copper-based products, Bordeaux Mixture, Kocide, Tenn-Cop,Liqui-cop, Basicop, etc. Apply for two weeks. Pick off as many of the affected leaves as possible. Pruning those leavs away from the bottom of the plant may actually end up producing more fruit for you, as well. Stake up your plants and do not let the leaves or branches touch the ground. Avoid overhead watering (I'm sure you're doing this, already). And, try to make sure water doesn't splash up from the ground onto your plants. You can try lay down some sort of mulch underneath your plants, but not right up against the stems. At the end of the season, be sure to remove all plant material from your beds and dispose of the dead plants. I would not compost these, as the spores can sometimes survive a compost pile. Patty S.
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My mother grew Big Boy in her open ground garden in zone 4 for decades as her main variety. She never pruned them either or staked em, but she did fertilize the transplant water with MiracleGro and fertilized about half strength when she watered after that. I do not remember her ever having a crop failure with this variety. This was a farm garden and got a good spreader full of raw fertilizer plowed down in the fall. And then was retilled in the spring. It was also a clay based Iowa black dirt that had been garden for decades before I came along too; so it had to be handled carefully especially when wet, but we got very little BER. Try augmenting the soil with dolomite or epsom salts and if you use Peat Moss try switching to Coir for better pH which will help with the calcium and magnesium uptake problems that lead to BER. I have been very impressed with Burpee's Fourth of July for an early snack tomato and Parks Better Bush ISI (I never saw one plant set so many slicer sized tomatoes - the squirrels around here got em all, too; so I didn't even get a taste test). For heirlooms try Delicious. IMO the Brandywines are over-rated and under productive on top of it. Recipes for cooking squirrel would also be appreciated ... (only about half kidding) IIRC Burpee started the whole "Boy" line of hybrid beefsteak tomatoes in the first place, I see nothing wrong with them continuing to develop it. Or anybody else either for that matter.
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It is my first time growing tomatoes. I have a 2 1/2' by 1' rectangular container with a Big Boy tomato plant and a cherry tomato plant in it. The bottem has an area that water is stored so it will not dry out no matter the temp. I live in town but put it in an area that gets plenty of sun. The cherry tomato plant is growing great and producing lots of fruit (less my squirrel problem) but my Big Boy plant is yellowing at the bottem. It has two tomatoes growing from the tallest branches. Should I let it keep growing upwards or start cutting the top off? It is getting quite tall and I am afraid it wont be able to hold such big tomatoes. I am also wondering why it is yellow at the bottem and some leaves are wilted in the middle of the plant. The tomatoes growing on it look healthy and strong. If this is a disease, will it eventually effect my healthy cherry tomato plant?
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bumble_doodle
Original Author
12 years ago
lizbeth_pa, These plants were all from a small nursery as I don't trust the big box veggies either. It's odd that it only happened to the bb's. I think you're probably right and that they were diseased when I bought them. :(

terrybug, I think there was a recent post about curling leaves but I don't recall the cause - possibly a nutrient deficiency? Try checking these out: http://search.gardenweb.com/search/nph-ind.cgi?term=curled+tomato+leaves&forum=cornucop&forum_name=Vegetable+Gardening
nygardener
12 years ago
I had to throw away half a dozen tomato plants from a local nursery when they developed those symptoms a few days after I brought them home. Thankfully, I hadn't planted them out yet. I hope the spores didn't stick around.

My first year growing tomatoes, about five years ago, I got fantastically healthy plants with not a hint of disease. This year, I'm rotating tomatoes completely out of one garden, and I may stop growing them altogether for a few years if disease strikes again. And those spores can be transported on tools and clothing, so it's tough to eradicate them without spraying.

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Ripped out my big boy tomatoes....

Comments (4)

lizbeth_pa

terrybug

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Ripped out my big boy tomatoes....

Comments (4)

lizbeth_pa

terrybug

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