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Growing Tomatoes

Compost plants with Septoria leaf spot?

14 years ago

My tomatoes so far have escaped the dreaded late blight (knock wood), but several have Septoria leaf spot. The maters are maturing but some of the leaves are wilting and drying up, starting at the bottoms of the plants.

Once the plants have finished fruiting, I'll pull them. Should I compost the vines or, on account of the leaf spot, bag them and throw them away (or burn them)?

My compost piles sometimes heat up, but don't always reach super-high temps.

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Comments (10)

joe-il
14 years ago
I had a great crop going until septoria showed up. I burned mine, then jumped up and down on the ashes screaming why why why ;( (I did remove and burn)

Seriously though I would get them out of there as septoria can overwinter. I may put plastic down next year to prevent or slow it occurrence.
mulio
14 years ago
throw them out

you'll reduce potential inoculum
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Hi Carol. So far my 6 plants look good. I bought two organic tomato plants at Whole Foods where I purchased some last year and they did ok. I also bought one flat of 4 Sunsugar plants at Russell's and those look ok at this point too. We really do have to be careful with the tomato plants this year. There's been discussion on the Organic Forum about the late blight that hit the Northeast last year. Evidently if you have infected plants the disease spores can travel in the wind for miles. So careful atttention to leaf spots and pulling the plants if you think they have blight is very important this year. I think it's a great idea to report foliar problems on plants and figure out where they are being purchased.
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I have plenty of leaves that look like that on my lower leaves. As the plant gets older the older leaves get leather and get spots. Chop them off if they bother you that much. You have a problem when the rest of the leaves start to spot and or die. Spray with daconil if spotted wilt or septoria is a prblem in your area.
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I honestly try very hard NOT to be overparanoid about things like this. I do not ever use anything in my garden except for homemade compost. I don't even add things to my soil as most gardeners do. I am also the person who uses steam to clean her house instead of chemicals when at all possible. I also figure though that for the times I do need to buy things in the stores, like right now when my garden is being moved and my canned goods are running out, I have little control over what they have done to the plants they grew my food on and they probably did WAY worse than a little copper fungicide. I don't have pets, but I do have a now 3 and 4 year old. Last year when they were 2 and 3 I didn't let them in the garden for the day I sprayed , but after that I let them back in. BUT, my kids also don't munch on leaves (well not of the tomato plants anyway) so I am not sure how I would feel about that. I am not sure what your plan for next year is, but I did my research before deciding to move my garden for other reasons. I was going to do solar sterilization. You will obviously need to do something otherwise you will have the same issue next year that you have this year. I will add a link below to solar sterilization. I haven't tried it, but with my tomatoes dying off early I figured I had enough time to cut my losses cover the garden up and bake the soil if I needed to get it ready for this year. I would be curious if anyone on GW has tried it. Here is a link that might be useful: Soil solarization
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Septoria leaf spots are taking over my tomatoes this year too probably facilitated by the nonstop raining. The variety I observed so far (in my garden) that resists the virus are Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby German's Green, Cowlick's Brandywine and Kellog's Breakfast. They grow right next to the ones that suffered from it.
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danincv
14 years ago
I don't compost any of my tomato plants, healthy or diseased, I pull them all after first frost and dump them in the pasture for the horses to eat. And I rotate the tomatoes from one end of the garden to the other every year- and since I added a new corn patch this year it will be a three year rotation. Between that and pruning the lower foliage to prevent soil contact and using drip irrigation (and living in an area with almost no rain in the summer) I haven't lost a plant yet this year and all 40 tomato plants look very healthy.
nygardener
Original Author
14 years ago
Joe, Septoria doesn't seem to be instantly fatal. Did it kill the whole plant, or did you pull them as soon as it appeared?

Good point about the inocolum. I guess I'll pull and trash them when at the end of the season. Not worth giving the fungus a head start for the compost value of some tomato vines.
joe-il
14 years ago
I pulled them when there werent any leaves on them and everything was crispy. I was amazed at how fast it took the plant. Few others are hanging on.
korney19
14 years ago
I make it a rule to never compost tomatoes or cucurbits (pumpkins, squash, cukes, zukes, melons, etc.)
compost_pete-grower
14 years ago
danincv, have you had any problems with your horses eating nightshade (tomato) plants? They are reported to be toxic although deer, rabbits, and others eat them routinely. Do your horses like dead, slimy, post-frost plants? I usually try to pull my plants right before frost so they are easier to handle and burn them, dz or no dz.
danincv
14 years ago
Some of the horses are more partial to tomato plants than others and they are all still kicking (literally) so the toxicicity of tomato foliage doesn't seem to be a problem in low doses. I have one yearling that loves tomatoes- as a foal he was always first in line for the bird-pecked or BER fruit I took out for horse treats. Some act like you are trying to poison them when you try to feed them a tomato, this little guy will try to knock you down to get at them.

I guess, in a way, I do compost my tomato plants- as horse manure.
compost_pete-grower
14 years ago
Thanks danincv, maybe I'll see if any of mine will go for some plants, certainly more "green" than burning. I've got 3 large (45#) sulcata turtles on bad fruit duty.
nygardener
Original Author
14 years ago
Turtles? Pics!

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