Looks like herbicide damage. Anyone around spraying lawns? It sure doesn't look nice, but provided the contamination stops, plants will outgrow it.

Agree. Looks like herbicides. Either someone was spraying lawn products recently or the oil is contaminated with tainted manure or compost. Could be clopyralid.

Not that I know of... however my property backs into a sort of community track... maybe the city was spraying the grass?
None of my other plants are affected (cucumbers, broccoli, etc)... Other than that both neighbours have tall wood fences so I would imagine that would stop any kind of spray from traveling?

Is there anything I can do?

One thing that comes to mind is as soon as I put my broccoli plants in the ground I had caterpillars on them. I read (oh, dear google) that if you mixed one part vinegar and 3 parts water with dish soap and sprayed it on your plant it would get rid of them. So I did that... and it worked, but it killed my cucumber plants that ended up getting some mist on it- but they turned brown and died... and this was over 2 weeks ago. Do you that my vinegar mix is now affecting my tomato plants?

Agree that it is herbicide damage but that is some poor looking soil too and why is there no mulching around the plants? Surely by now your soil has warmed enough to mulch.

maybe the city was spraying the grass?

Call the city. If so then insist on a warning next time so the plants can be covered.

None of my other plants are affected (cucumbers, broccoli, etc).

Tomato plants are 10x more susceptible than other vegetables.

Other than that both neighbours have tall wood fences so I would imagine that would stop any kind of spray from traveling?

Not at all. The many other discussions here about herbicide drift problems talk about drift patterns and the long distances it travels if you want to read through them. So ask the neighbors and insist on a warning next time so you can cover your plants.

if you mixed one part vinegar and 3 parts water with dish soap and sprayed it on your plant it would get rid of them.

That recipe is one of the standard weed killer recipes - 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water with 1 T dish soap - not a pesticide. The pesticide recipe is 1 T dish soap in 1 gallon of water (no vinegar) although it isn't usually listed as effective for caterpillars. One needs to evaluate the sources of such info carefully before using and to test on one plant before applying randomly.

Is it possible that is what did the damage? Unlikely as the yellowing pattern of the leaves in pic 2 is classic Glyphosate damage.

What can you do? Keep them well watered, mulch them. Trim off the worst of the damage, do NOT feed them until you see new growth, and then hope for the best. Sometimes they grow out of it.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: 2-4D weed killer damage on tomato plant pics

Thanks for your reply..
Like I said, I am new to this... mulch? What is the purpose?
Do you put it around all the plants?

The soil is crap... I had purchased the plants before I moved in. I didn't know what kind of earth would be here... and it's horrible. Whoever lived here did not take care of the gardens... Because there's a layer of wood chips and some rocks, some kind of soil, then the black material, some clay, and a layer of clear plastic... not to mention the whole garden was a mess of roots from the 2 foot tall grass that was growing here...
I cleared out an area large enough to get the plants in the ground because they were not doing well in the teeny tiny pots they were sold in. But I am not done clearing everything out of the garden because it's extremely hard with all of the roots and the clay etc etc... and I'm doing it by myself with very few tools. As you could appreciate buying a house by yourself is expensive enough, not to mention all the garden tools!

I had to dig out a small tree?? which half of was dead and half was sort of not-dead... a small tree stump, rose bushes, etc etc.. so I imagine the soil isn't too great in that spot. There is also a huge tree in the yard, which might be sucking some nutrients from the soil?

I will get some of this mulch you speak of, some time this week...

Hi Manda,

When most gardeners are talking about mulch they are referring to compost, straw, hay, rotted leaves, grass clippings, even shredded paper and cardboard, etc. Wood chips are not usually recommended as a mulch because it binds the soil nitrogen as it decomposes and makes the nitrogen less available to your garden plants, however, if you have no other mulch available, wood chips will do. Mulch should be applied heavily, 6 - 8 inches is usually considered a good depth, though even as little as one or two inches is better than no mulch at all.

I hope that helps.

Betsy

Given all the work you need to do on the garden plot and improving the soil there for effective use you might want to consider using large containers for your gardening instead - at least for the couple of years work it will take to create a good garden bed. Over time you will be be able to turn and mix the soil there as well as add the additives it needs to improve its color, nutrient levels, texture, and tillth.

As Betsy said, vegetable garden mulching - no naked soil in a garden ever is the goal - normally means things like straw or hay or shredded leaves, compost or grass clippings layered several inches deep at least around the plants if not on the whole garden. Even cardboard and newspaper works. Wood chips of any kind is a last resort only.

Mulching accomplishes many things - helps retain soil moisture, helps prevent soil-borne diseases, insulates the plant roots, helps keep down weeds, helps feed the plants, and improves the soil as it decomposes to name just a few. Just Google 'vegetable garden mulch' or check out the Compost & Mulch forum here for much more info.

But even with container gardening you'll need to track down the source of the weed killer that was sprayed to prevent future problems. In the past city/county governments and commercial yard care companies have been forced to make monetary compensation for spraying weed killers without prior notification so that plants can be protected.

Dave

Thank you all for your replies... this is very helpful!

Did you add any manure? Fresh or composted? Bagged or from a farm?

If so, check the info about contaminated organic matter, the clopyralid issue mentioned above. (The same effect with several related compounds also.)

See the extensive info here: http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/clopyralid.htm

And do the easy bio-assay to determine if your soil is contaminated.

Here is a link that might be useful: contaminated manures, etc

manda: Ontario has pretty strict rules on herbicides. For the most part they are banned, but allowed for health reasons such as poison ivy elimination. Townships are allowed a bit of leeway for road maintenance, but not pathways. If you have neighbours using them, you have good reason to tell them to stop. It may be that if you can identify the source, you can ask them to stop for legal reasons.