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Growing Tomatoes

Black Spots on Underside of Leaves

13 years ago

Hello everyone, I've searched for this and only found something on it under roses. I went to a cousin's wedding this past weekend and when I came back the leaves of my Cherokee Purple were covered with tiny black spots and many of them were wilted and dry, like a leaf in autumn. There isn't any yellowing on the leaves just mainly black spots on the underside. I read under roses to use baking soda, or apple cider vinegar. Which do you recommend, and should I prune the infected leaves?

Also many of the stems are very limp but I think that's due to over-watering, my roommate was left with watering while I was away and I think he got a little over-zealous.

I appreciate the help

Thank you.

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Comment (1)

digdirt2
13 years ago
Sounds like mold, perhaps from just to moist an environments. Is it sort of fuzzy and rubs off with the fingers? If so just drying out, good air circulation, and some good sun exposure will eliminate it.

As an alternative, while I have no personal experience with it, some have posted they have sprayed the affected areas with baking soda (1 T in a quart of water) or with a 10% hydrogen peroxide solution. I wouldn't use the vinegar. The idea is to change the surface pH of the leaf so the mold can't survive.

I would focus the spray only on the affected areas - avoid over-spraying as sometimes the "cure" can do more damage than the disease.

Hope this helps.

Dave
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