Leaf diseases seemed to start early this year, IMHO. I've had to prune lots of bottom leaves already, although so far the tops seem healthy enough. (*knock* *knock*) If you don't get an answer soon, Althea, try posting your note and photo link in the GardenWeb Tomato Pests and Diseases forum. Some VERY knowledgeable people post there, and I'm sure they could tell you by looking at your photo what you've got. Folks there often recommend the TAMU site posted below. To me, your photo looks like some they post as examples of early blight. But it would be good to know. If you're not an organic grower or growing somewhere that allows no chemical sprays of any kind, experts on the Tomato forum highly recommend Daconil, now known as Ortho Disease Control, as a highly effective and very low toxicity preventive measure. (One poster whose opinion I trust indicates that it's lower toxicity than pyrethrins and some of the other natural substances approved for organic growing.) Good luck! If you find out positively what it is, let the rest of us know too! Here is a link that might be useful: TAMU tomato problem solver

Patty, You're welcome. I try to remember to link it occasionally because it is so helpful. I have had a lot of PM on my tomato plants this year, and so far all I've done is remove the sick foliage. Many of the plants have put out new healthy really foliage. I really do need to spray though. I just never get around to it. As far as I am concerned, a BLT is still a BLT even if it is made with grape tomatoes! Maybe your plants that produce larger fruit will get with the program and give you some big tomatoes. I have a Tomato Disease book with great photos and it is very helpful because it covers a lot of tomato issues that are less common and, therefore, not featured on the Tomato Problem Solver website. Before I bought this book, I didn't know, for example, that there are two kinds of powdery mildew on tomatoes. I saw that and thought to myself "C'mon. Is one kind not enough? Do we really need to have two?" Cornell University has a Vegetable MD Online website for all veggies. I am going to link it for future reference. I like it too, but normally use the TAMU one for tomatoes first since it is in our geographic region. On the Vegetable MD Online website, you can click on any listed vegetable for disease information. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Vegetable MD Online at Cornell Univ.

Yes, even large plants can get adult damping off - or call it stem fungal disease if you prefer. Every couple of years, I get a larger transplant, growing well for a couple of weeks, with blossoms or even small tomatoes forming that gets a shrunken dried stem area near the ground, which gradually spreads over days to encircle the stem. At first you may mistake it for insect damage, though at this stage the stems are too big and tough for them. The first time I ran into it was because I had newspaper collars wrapped close around the stem to prevent cutworms, and the lack of air circulation and constant damp is a perfect breeding ground for fungus spores. Be sure you keep any mulch away from actually touching the plants stem. Often the first sign is the plant wilting during the heat of the day, but recovering at night. This can go on for several weeks before the plant succumbs. One year I experimented by spraying the damaged stem with hydrogen peroxide every few days (now I think I should have used a bleach solution instead) and though the plant never grew much larger, the Lauerer did produce some tomatoes on scrawny pathetic vines, even with the daily wilting cycle on hot sunny days. Last year I had a Chornyi Tarasenko develop it - possibly in the very same garden spot as the Lauerer, so I wonder if the spores cluster in "home sites" in the soil once they are there. I had no spare plants so late in June, so instead of pulling it I tried an experiment of mounding dirt up over the damaged area, making sure I had healthy live stem above it from which roots could form. I took the bottom out of a large nursery container and fitted it over the plant and filled the pot with dirt up to the top, hoping it could sustain itself through the damaged stem roots, while it grew new roots in the pot above the damaged area. I tried to water it often, since it was a black pot and dried quickly in the sun. For many weeks, the plant was limp and any reasonable person would have removed it from the garden due to looks alone! But the leaves did not turn crispy, so I left it alone, and finally one day I could see the leaves were getting perky. Eventually the bush continued growing well, and did set lots of tomatoes, but it was very late in the season. So the moral of the story is, these larger tomato plants can sometimes be saved -- but it's not worth it.

The tomatoes have nothing to do with it. Oddly enough, acidic fruits do not make your stomach more acid. More likely it was the lamb and I am wondering how much was a little. Don't eat late at all. Eat a LIGHT dinner EARLY. This problem by the way is why agrarian cultures eat a big lunch and small, snack-like dinner. The post-industrial commuter culture is what causes acid reflux to be a fairly common problem, that used to be rare. Just as Hoosier Cherokee recommended, SIGNIFICANTLY cut the fat in your diet. Fat is hard to digest. Of course you need fat in your diet; give preference to natural, unsaturated fats like those in nuts and whole grains. Olive oil is good and Canola oil OK. Don't eat too much fried food; frying saturates the fat, which is why if you reuse oil too many times it solidifies. Eat more tomatoes, and actually even better, significantly more LEAFY vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, and other fibrous vegetables. These will slow down your digestion. Eliminate alcohol until the problem is solved, and drink only in moderation thereafter. Drink filtered water, preferably after boiling it (tea, for instance). Don't drink sugary drinks either. Sleep so that your upper body is higher than your lower body (figure out how to do this...you might be able to buy a wedge to put under your matresses). It doesn't have to be much. Gravity is what keeps the acid in your stomach and not up in your throat--most of the time, except when you are sleeping. Your esophagus will need to heal, or the problem will get worse. Right now the sphincter separating the esophagus from your stomach is probably weak and too loose. I suggest NOT taking antacids or proton inhibitors (Prilosec, Zantac, etc). The reason is that altering the pH of your GI tract can cause your intestinal flora to change for the worse. The acid-loving "good" bacteria will die off, and nastier bacteria will take their place. I am speaking from personal experience as pill-pushing doctors perscribed proton inhibitors for "acid indigestion" that turned out to be a hiatal hernia that nearly killed me. Contrary to their advice that proton inhibitors are "safe" and "have no side effects", among other things they interfere with digestion and kill off the "friendly" bacteria in the gut, making it more congenial to harmful bacteria which cause MORE GI problems.