What should I do? Treat with fungicide? Remove leaves? Pull plants? I have 7 other tomato plants, planted at least 3 feet apart. These are two of the biggest. Other veggies are nearby, including peppers, but they aren't susceptible, are they? And how would tomato plants get this? You'll find much more info about this over on the Tomato Forum here linked at the top of this forums front page so I hope you don't mind if I just hit the highlights. Early Blight or, in this case, Septoria Leaf Spot are the 2 most common tomato diseases and both are caused by fungus found in the soil and in the air. They are both so common that the real issue is how to be one of the lucky few who avoid getting them, not how you got them. :) The only way to avoid getting them is to use a regular program of fungicide spraying from the day you plant them outside. As to what to do now, first you immediately strip off any and all affected leaves and dispose of them outside the garden and you continue to do this as the affected leaves develop but no you don't need to pull the plants. They will still produce. Then you begin a regular weekly fungicide spraying program to slow it. Fungicides won't cure it but they can prevent new leaves from becoming infected. Follow the label instructions on which ever fungicide you choose for mixing and application rates. Dave

Sign me up for swimming & wine!! I had miserable germination from my WS Shasta daisies so this week I summer sowed both Silver Princess & Alaska SD seeds and set the jugs in the shade on my breezeway. The Silver Princess already sprouted with what looks like 100% germination. Where do I think I'll plant them? HOS in the beds I'm already mentally enlarging of course!!! It rained again here last evening so this morning all the bins I set out to catch rainwater had at least an inch in them. Neighbor walked over and asked if I was trying to catch rainwater in the wide, shallow plastic bins. I was tempted to say no, I set them end-to-end that way so I could easily step from one to the next. Between rainwater and the dehumidifier, so far this summer I've only used the garden hose to fill the birdbaths.

Mark, There are several possible reasons. Tomato plants are individuals and not clones, so they all will not act the same as one another. They'll have their own individual responses to the conditions in which they're living. Once you've grown tomatoes for a while, you'll even notice that a specific variety performs differently (and even tastes differently) in different years. You cannot compare peppers to tomatoes because they are not exactly the same. Hot peppers, in particular, are not as affected by the heat/humidity as tomatoes are, for example, so they tend to set fruit all summer long. Some sweet peppers do so as well, although some of them slow down in the worst of the summer heat. Fish Emulsion isn't really high nitrogen, or at least not high enough to impede flowering in and of itself. Most fish emulsions have an NPK ratio of either 5-1-1 or 5-2-2, which hardly is an exceptionally high amount of nitrogen. Is the issue you're seeing that no flowers are forming at all or is it that flowers are forming and dropping off because fertilization is not occurring? That's a key issue because they are separate problems. If no flowers are forming, then the plants are not mature enough to set fruit and carry a load or there is too much nitrogen (which means your mix has too much nitro because fish emulsion alone wouldn't do it) or some other sort of nutritional imbalance. Or, it could mean they are not receiving enough hours per day of sunlight. If flowers are forming and falling off unpollinated, that's blossom drop and it generally is related to high heat/high humidity. The larger the fruit a plant produces, the more that flowering/fruitset seems to be impacted negatively by heat heat/high humidity. So, even when the heat and humidity are high, many of the bite-size tomatoes (whether they're classified as cherry, grape, currant, plum or pear-shaped) flower and set fruit just fine, but a few of them do not. Varieties that produce really large fruit often do not flower or set fruit well in high heat and high humidity. Some varieties that produce smaller slicer or saladette types will set fruit at high temps almost as well as the bite-sized ones do. Every tomato variety reacts differently, so some may have blossom drop when nighttime lows are exceeding 72 degrees, but others might not see blossom drop until nighttime lows are exceeding 75. The same is true with high temps. For some varieties, 92 degrees appears to be the point at which fertilization ceases but for others it might be 95 degrees. Then, if you have high humidity, that can make pollen sticky so that it clumps together and does not shed from the anthers like it should. Conversely, in very low relative humidity you may see fruit set even at high temperatures. My best guess is that part of the problem is the varieties you chose...most are mid-season or late-season and not early season. So, they flower and fruit a bit later than tomatoes with a shorter DTM. Keep in mind that DTMs are estimates only and your actual results may vary quite a bit from the DTMs. Part of the problem is undoubtedly the high humidity and/or high heat or some combination thereof. If you are getting blossoms and they then abort without setting fruit, it could be the heat or the humidity, but it also could be poor air flow. If the pollen is a little sticky and isn't shedding from the anthers, you can help it along with thumping each individual blossom or by gently shaking the tomato cage. Also, while you don't want to keep the soil heavily saturated, you want to keep it evenly moist and not let it dry out too much in between waterings. This is especially true of tomatoes in containers as uneven watering can contribute to blossom end rot. If your plants are cycling from dry to moist and back to dry again, the plants may not feel like they're receiving consistent enough moisture to carry fruit. With regards to the varieties you listed, Brandywine is late, late, late and produces poorly in our heat. Arkansas Traveler is a late one and usually doesn't bloom for me until sometimes in June, and then those fruit are ready to pick by August. Black Krim and Cherokee Purple usually flower for me in late May, but this year they aren't, so I think it is the weather because they're certainly large enough, have consistent moisture and are in well-amended soil with good fertility. Some years Roma can sit and wait forever before it blooms, but once it does, it sets a lot of fruit and they are ready fairly quickly. Black Cherry sometimes is slow to start flowerings and setting fruit, and sometimes not. Sometimes it slows down more in the heat of the summer than other cherries do and sometimes it doesn't. It is kind of a garden diva at times, but it gets away with it simply because the flavor of the fruit is so good. I don't know what your temperature and humidity have been like for the last two or three weeks, but mine have been too hot on some days for fertilization to occur but not on others. Remember that I said that plants are individuals? I have right around 100 tomato plants and some have already produced several ripe tomatoes, some of which have been quite large, and others haven't even bloomed yet while a few have set and ripened a lot of smallish tomatoes. That is pretty typical behavior. Also, tomatoes in containers do not peform exactly like those in the ground. Remember that tomato plants in the ground can send their roots out searching for more water or more nutrition if they need it, but plants in containers are trapped in the containers so cannot help themselves in that same manner. So, tomato plants in containers have a smaller margin of error than those in the ground and they may stunt or stall if they are not happy. Some years I have as many as 40 tomato plants in containers. This year I have 9. Why? Because I was expecting a hotter-than-average and drier-than-average growing season and I knew that tomatoes in containers would struggle more in those conditions. Thus I put fewer of them in containers, and my smallest containers this year are 20-gallon containers. I have grown tomatoes in containers as small as 5 gallons, but tomato plants in containers that small are hard to keep happy and often do not produce well in our climate. For maximum production, they need larger containers that hold more moisture, that allow their roots to spread out and that keep their roots cool. Don't overlook the possiblity that the heat is just baking the roots of the plants in containers. Dawn

I'm on the western edge of Central Texas where we are hot and dry. I put my tomatoes on the west side of my house to protect from the wind (was awful last year and tomatoes did not produce). It is very hot on this side of the house until late in the day so put up tarps (requested shade cloth but DH bought tarps) which I believe helped to lower temps some. We have been 106 degrees for several days (forecast has us over 100 for a week or more) and over 90 for weeks but while I was watering this morning I was finding new fruit that is setting. I picked my first ever Black Krim which some said does very well in the heat. I'm watching closely for the first color on Yellow 1884 Pinkheart. I have a HUGE (ONE only) tomato on Thessaloniki Oxheart; could feed a crowd LOL! I have had a battle with spider mites...have had to take out some tomatoes in that row. DH brought home shade cloth today so will see if there is a difference. Good luck! Peggy