thanks for the help, guys that was exactly what I needed. I've been looking up pictures, and they match exactly with the damage I'm seeing. I've also been reading threads on how to handle them, and I'm hoping it works. being in Costa Rica, I don't have access to Neem oil or buttermilk, which some folks recommended. I'll try with diluted alcohol and repeated sprays to see how it goes. thanks so much!! Jimena

They were all started in pots in mid april. The potting mix is my own and it is 1 part peat 1 part vermiculite 1 part perlite. The pots are 2 gallon. I have begun transplanting them into the ground. I live in RI btw. I admit that I have left them outside in the hot sun in the pots and that some of them have dried out before. I just don't have the time right now between trying to sell my plants and trying to til my yard to get the plants in the ground. I water them once a day but I know it should probably be 2. I did not harden them off but the worst temp that any of them experienced was 45 and they were covered and it was only 2-3 nights at different times. Thanks for your time and help.

Hi. Tobacco varieties that are grown for commercial use are resistant to Tobacco Mosaic Virus. There may be pockets of TMV in some greenhouses that are growing heirloom varieties for their own use (or for decorative plants), but the smoker who uses commercial cigarettes/cigars will not transmit the virus. No problems there. I see some black specks on the leaves in the photo that's 3rd from the bottom. Could there be some pest activity going on there? Your plants look generally healthy. I think most of the problem is attributable to the need for fertilizer. It looks like you are doing a good job with watering too - not too little and not too much. Good on ya. The last photo, of the fruit, looks like blossom end rot. Most of what I've seen indicates that you need to fertilize the plants. With container plants, you need to fertilize regularly with a fast-acting fertilizer that has nutrients that are immediately available to the plant. Most potting soils do not contain nutrients and they don't hold nutrients because they wash out from watering. Get some inexpensive, water soluble, fast-acting fertilizer, such as Peter's or Miracle-Gro or one of the others. Dilute according to package directions for INDOOR plants. This is important. If you make it too strong, like for outdoor plants that are in the ground, it will damage the plants. Feed every 2 or 3 weeks or as suggested by the directions. Slow-acting fertilizers will not be useful to potted tomato plants so don't bother with things like Tomato Tone or bone meal or other amendments that take a long time to break down. They will be washed out before they get a chance to be useful. This should vastly improve the health of the fruit and leaves. Your fruits, with regular fertilizer and watering evenly, will stop getting blossom end rot. It should also help with the leaf issues. I don't see any disease. Maybe a little pest activity but that's easy to resolve with your favorite garden insecticide. Fertilizing is your most important issue. It will make a big difference. Enjoy!

I have a gut feeling that the Old Blush may have Rose Spring Dwarf. I have seen it on roses and I've finger pruned all the growth off and had it come back normal. What makes me think this about Old Blush is that all the growth looks the same. RRD doesn't do that. It starts at one site and moves out. Looking at the canes on OB, they were all good last fall; also the leaf margins are normal, without the odd patterns that are so common on RRD infected growth. About the Purple Splash, the two close ups are of leaf axil breaks with bad (as in lethal) canker problems. That is a deeper purple than we usually see, but I'd expect that depth of color is more of a BC thing. Solution is to cut off below the cankers; the one at the end of a cane is easy; the second one farther down on a cane is probably going to spread and gird the cane. The problem with leaving it is that the final death may come later in the summer and will be less likely to be replaced this year. The real problem with canker is that nobody talks about it .....much less talks about what they see in their own gardens. It's out there and common. I take major efforts to clean my secateur blades whenever I cut into (or even near) canker, because I've seen in the past how I've spread it to new areas when I've pruned fast and furiously.