Thanks so much for the info. Sorry it took me a few days to reply, my work schedule has been a little insane... I had thought leaf spot was possible, but the beginning stage of this fungus was like nothing I could find (picture or description) describing Septoria. It looked like a black/brown dust (raised) was covering the undersides of the leaves- like someone held the plant upside-down and spilled soil on it :) If two of you think that's what it is, then it must be. I thought rust both because that was the ONLY fungus that looked even remotely similar and we had rust on a jasmine vine planted about 6 feet away in the flower bed (this tomato is potted so it does not share soil with any plants). The good news is- after an all out assault of (Safer) fungicide (every 4 days) and seaweed- the plant appears to be in recovery. A couple of the young tomatoes appear to be a bit deformed so I'm going to keep a close eye on it. The leaf loss was quite extensive, so I may have a problem with sun scald. (btw, in a couple of the photos you can see the whole plant behind me- it's the potted plant on the white stand). QUESTIONs: If I start using Fish Emulsion with the seaweed now will it encourage some more leaf production to help the sun scald problem? Or will any new leaf growth be effected by the fungus? The plant is potted so I have not grown anything in the soil before, it must have picked up the disease at the nursery. This is my ONLY potted tomato and I'm noticing a few spots on my other tomatoes (planted in a garden), if I catch this fungus early enough will it contaminate the soil? Sorry if it was unclear, all of my plants are outside (I brought my laptop out and used the camera built into it to take the pics- GO MAC!!!) Thanks again for all the posts, diagnosing this little fungus had truly been driving me crazy!

Hi. I know of a few apple cultivars that look something like yours. However, given the time of year, my guess would be Milton, a cross of McIntosh x Yellow Transparent, bred by Cornell's New York Agricultural Experiment Station in the 1920's, sister to Early McIntosh.

Camellia flowers have many forms: single, semi double, anemone, peony and formal double. They come in red, pink, white and yellow colors. They also have some striped varieties (white with either a shade of pink or red). Japonica and SasanquaÂs reach 7-12 feet high, 5-7 feet wide. Japonicas are typically upright with a pyramidal form while SasanquaÂs are usually more columnar and spreading. A webite that has lots of pictures is Monrovia's: www.monrovia.com. Click on "Advanced Search". On the next page, type "camellia" in SEARCH BY KEYWORD and click the GO Button. Or set SELECT CATEGORY to CAMELLIAS, enter any other search parameters and click the GO Button at the bottom. Luis Here is a link that might be useful: Monrovia Advanced Search Webpage

Could be a fungus like Vladimir said, could also be an insect egg or just dirt on a bit of fluff. However, I'm more concerned with how dusty the leaves are. I may just be dust or it could be the beginnings of a spider mite infestation. It's a good idea to wash off the leaves from time to time, like maybe every 4-6 weeks. Take them outside and hose them off, or if that's not possible, put them in the shower and shower them off with cool water. Then let them drain well and put them back where they were. It helps prevent spider mites as they're attracted to dusty plants. And your plants love the rinsing off!