when poking around on the net...the sites i saw referred to early blight and septoria as one in the same..is this true?

*****

No.

Early Blight is caused by Alternaria solani, a fungus, and Septoria Leaf Spot, a fungus, is caused by a different pathogen called Septoria lycopersici.

And Late Blight is caused by P, infestans, which is quite different than Early Blight.

I'll let others address some of your other questions and come back if needs be.

Carolyn, who would also suggest that you click on the link at the top of this first page and go to the Tomato Pest and Disease Forum and then look for the thread titled Problem Solver #2/ There's lots of great links re disease in many of those posts. Look for one to TAMU. it's often darn hard to make a diagnosis by pictures since pictures are static and disease is progressive.

yeah...i was thinking it might be difficult to dx from a picture too...but i thought if maybe this were common, someone might know right off the bat.

looks like it's off to the nursery for me!!!

thanks carolyn...
a

yeah...i was thinking it might be difficult to dx from a picture too...but i thought if maybe this were common, someone might know right off the bat.

****

Andrea, my comment about pictures was really directed at the difference between Early Blight and Septoria Leaf Spot, not your pictures that you show.

I said I'[d leave that to others and just try to clarify for you that Early Blight and Septoria Leaf Spot are not the same.

Hint: there are two types ( different genera and species) of Powdery Mildew that can affect tomatoes and the symptoms are different. In that regard pictures can certainly help you re your comment about powdery Mildew.

Carolyn

I have looked at all those pictures many times now, and they all just kind of look the same to me. :(

I think Early Blight is killing my Eva Purple Ball. I'm not sure what it is. It's even on the stems now. Perhaps I should just yank the whole plant. All the inner leaves turned yellow first, beginning with a mottling that resembled some of the early blight pictures, but might have easily been any of the other disease pictures as well. From the inside, it has worked its way up to the top. Repeated sprayings with Ortho's daconil hasn't helped any. I have tried to be fastidious in mixing it before spraying and have tried to get in there and spray the inner leaves. Fortunately, nothing has spread to the two other plants on either side of it and touching it (Burgundy Traveler and Marianna's Peace).

I went on the Internet, looking for some of the other fungicides that people have mentioned here and haven't had much luck. I saw some mancozeb (dithane) for sale on ebay, but from what I understand, it's not available for home gardeners in local stores here.

My plants receive no overhead watering, other than the alternating daconil and kelp sprayings. They are irrigated by a soaker hose under landscape fabric and bark mulch.

All the inner leaves turned yellow first,

*****

That's not typical of foliage infections caused by either bacteria or fungi. The spots on the leaves may have a yellow halo around them, but only initially.

It sounds more like a systemic disease, but if so you should see some wilting.

There are several diseases that can cause lesions on the stems, and yes, Early Blight is one of them, but there are many others.

All the anti-fungals in the world aren't going to help if the infections are being caused by bacterial pathogns.

If I were you I'd still go to that Problem Solver #2 in the Pest and Disease Forum and find the post that gives the TAMU link and take a look. Or could you post some pictures yourself?

I in no way inteded to say that looking at pictures is useless, far from it,all I said was that often IDing diseases by pictures can be difficult. But there are many who have done so easily.

Your local extension can also be a great help in helping to ID toamto diseases and I certainly would try there first before going to most nurseries.

If it's Early Blight the spots on the leaves have distinctive concentric rings and the spots may be surrounded by a yellow halo.

If it starts looking more bacterial after you look at some pictures then I'd get a copper containing prep and try that.

If it's a systemic disease such as Fusarium that['s causing the foliage to turn yellow, then there is nothing that can help such systemic diseases. And Fusarium is found in many places in CA. but you should be seeing some wilting if it's Fusarium.\\And yes, there can be more than one infection present on a given plant at the same time.

Carolyn