septoria leaf spot, bacterial leaf spot, neither?

14 years ago

I embarked on my first garden project this year. I cleared the brush, built 2 10x5 raised beds, had soil delivered and amended it with peat moss, manure (a very small amount), and a good organic fertilizer (from gardens alive). I put weed fabric on the bed where the tomatoes are because I read somewhere that they do better that way. I am really disappointed in the VERY wet weather in Northeastern PA because it has prevented a lot of my veggies from doing well. At least the tomatoes (which I grew from seed with the exception of 3 big boys from Lowes) were doing well.

Until last week. They started to develop spots on the lower leaves (even the ones in containers away from the main garden got the spots). I looked up tomato diseases online and compared photos and it looked just like septoria leaf spot. So, I picked up a bottle of Ortho Garden Disease Control and a nice pump sprayer, followed the directions, and sprayed the plants. That was this past Friday. All the tomatoes are going downhill and whatever the problem is, it is spreading fast. I am trying to remove the affected leaves, but on a lot of the plants more than 50% of the leaves now have spots.

I can't find aphids or other insects on the plants. Also, initially there were no spots on the stems, but now there are. The last two pictures show the big boy plants wet from me spraying them with the fungicide (Ortho garden disease control).

Please, if anyone can ID the problem from the below pics and give me some advice, I would really appreciate it! I put a lot of work in the garden this year and it breaks my heart to see this happening, especially to the tomatoes, which I was most looking forward to.

Thanks, Tina

Pictures:

{{gwi:1370445}}

{{gwi:1370446}}

{{gwi:1370447}}

{{gwi:1370448}}

{{gwi:1370450}}

{{gwi:1370452}}

{{gwi:1370453}}

{{gwi:1370454}}

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

melissel
14 years ago
The tiny spots look like septoria to me, and the bigger yellow patches look like blight, which is why I'm here today too :-( Someone else may have more info, but based on my research, that would be my guess.
raisemybeds
14 years ago
I would concur. When there has been an inordinate amount of precipitation you can usually find more than one fungal thing going on with your plants.
Related Discussions
Septoria leaf spot which way to handle it...
Q
Comments (7)
I posted in MN site, but reposting here: I've been a veggie gardener for years(with some on & offs due to moving), but this is my second year in my new beds - about 40 of them. Last year I got off to a late start due to the time it took to builds the beds and fence & ended up with powdery mildew that killed my cukes and this year, I'm pretty sure my tomatoes have septoria leaf spot. In all my years of gardening, this has never happened! I want to stay organic and I am deciding if I should pull my plants and start solarizing or just wait it out. I am wondering if rather than solarizing, has anyone ever tried using a blow torch to heat soil? I'm just worried if I don't solarize with plastic now, there won't be enough high heat to attempt it later and the blow torch could come in handy? My other idea is to replace my soil - was it bad compost/manure? As I said, this is my second year in my new large garden, I always had a city lot before with about a 10x20 space. Maybe I'm just more susceptible due to the open air and spores traveling? I have drip irrigation and I prune my suckers so air flow was good. I don't mulch, perhaps that would have prevented it?
...See More
Is this septoria leaf spot?
Q
Comments (2)
Neither. Drought stress even though brief. Things to consider: Windy? Or extra warm recently? Or extra warm bright recently? Or set/planted outdoors without hardening them off?
...See More
Leaf Spot or Bacterial Spot on Pepper plants?
Q
Comments (3)
I agree with hab, if its the lower/older leafs, I wouldn't worry about it. As long as the majority of the plant looks healthy, don't mess with them. I do pull the affected leafs as you have, that is fine.
...See More
Is this septoria leaf spot?
Q
Comments (11)
Re: the nutrient issue-- there are folks who post here who grow hydro who may see your post, but I would also ask the hydroponics forum in the meantime. The pale leaves with still-green veins looks like an early nitrogen and/or mag deficiency, but hydroponics is a whole different deal than growing in soil, As for the lesions... It doesn't look like spray damage to me, and it doesn't look much like Septoria. It might be the start of the concentric/target pattern in other diseases like EB or target spot, and botrytis is also a possibility, especially considering the paleness of the lesions. I did spray with a fungacide to kill aphids. Is it possible the fungacide spray caused this? Aphids are not fungus. I guess some fungicides may be somewhat toxic to aphids, and the simple physical action of liquid being sprayed and running off is good at knocking back aphids because it washes them off. A lot of people use just plain water and squirt off the aphids with a vigorous spray. That approach tends to work best outdoors, though, where there are beneficial predators to clean up many of the straggler aphids. If you continue to have aphid problems, you'll need to get something like insecticidal soap to more directly and efficiently address the aphids. Fungicide is an inefficient way to kill insects if it is effective at all. EDIT: if you're using neem, it can work on aphids AND fungus. That said, you apparently needed a fungicide anyway, so it worked out for the best. Are the spots limited to just the leaves in the photo or has it spread to other places on the plant? If only on the leaves in the photo or just a few leaves here and there, I would document well with photos in case you need to refer to them later, prune off the affected foliage, and repeat fungicide application in a week or so. What fungicide are you using?
...See More
talonstorm
Original Author
14 years ago
So, I should just continue treating with the fungicide?

Thanks again, Tina
melissel
14 years ago
From the research I've just been doing on my early blight, which is what I see on yours (not the dreaded late blight), you need to get ALL of the affected leaves off there, because the spores are easily transferred from leaf to leaf, and yes, continue spraying. Serenade is an organic spray that's often recommended, and Daconil is also very popular (I don't know if it's organic though). And when you pluck off all those leaves (very carefully, so as not to spread the spores even more), you should bag them up very carefully and tightly, or burn them. Don't compost them, because you'll just be incubating the spores into your compost, which will cause further trouble.

Good luck! We're in NJ and were nailed by the same rainy weather you probably had, so it's been quite the uphill battle for us too.
recluse
14 years ago
I have both early blight and bacterial speck this year. Your pictures look like my plants.

I know what early blight looks like because I had it last year. But when the spots/specks starting showing up I did some research and Bacterial Speck looks like the culprit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Leaf Disorders
talonstorm
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the advice. Did you treat for the bacterial speck? I would hate to have to hit the plants with copper. It is my understanding that copper is the treatment of choice for bacterial speck. I would almost rather let them die than treat with copper. :-(

I have removed the majority of the affected leaves. Hard to get to everything on the big plants. I brought a container to the garden with me and put everything in it. I will bag it tonight and get rid of it.

Tina
liz63
14 years ago
Looks like what I have on my mortgage lifter. It hasn't grown at all in 3 weeks. Everything else is thriving. I'm not sure if I should dump the plant or get a stronger spray - I only used an organic sulfur spray. I have one tomato on it that is stunted.

septoria leaf spot, bacterial leaf spot, neither?

Comments (7)

melissel

raisemybeds

Related Discussions

talonstorm
Original Author

melissel

recluse

talonstorm
Original Author

liz63

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

septoria leaf spot, bacterial leaf spot, neither?

Comments (7)

melissel

raisemybeds

Related Discussions

talonstormOriginal Author

melissel

recluse

talonstormOriginal Author

liz63

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

talonstorm
Original Author

talonstorm
Original Author