My spots are more orange than yellow, almost a rusty color, but I know that color is subjective. I have read the feedback and still haven't found a solution, just that many other folks had this problem. I'm in zone 7 and planted some seedlings as I'd arrived too late to plant from seed. They were doing great but the lower leaves of 2 out of 4 plants have these dry looking orange spots. Any ideas of what to actually do about it, what it might be? Thanks!!

Leaf curling alone is a physiological condition caused by stress; it's common in stressed plants, including young plants which don't have the root system to support all their foliage yet, or in times of unusually bright sunlight. If you get it by itself, look to see what may have stressed the plant recently; often it's nothing to worry about. The wilting, dead green leaves symptom resembles bacterial wilt, but that's pretty rare in your neck of the woods, and tends to take the whole plant down very rapidly. Stem borers can sometimes do it; look for little holes in the affected stems. Look for any damage to the stem, in fact. With the yellowing and necrosis -- it's hard to see in that small a photo, but it looks like the dark lesions are following the veins. That's diagnostic of a toxin of some kind -- no virus I know of does that in tomato, no bacterium or fungus is that specific, and no deficiency kills the veins before the interveinal spaces. I've seen a symptom almost identical to that in a case of alcohol poisoning (someone had a cocktail party in a library foyer and apparently the drinks weren't very good, as the potted plants looked pretty rough afterward). It was an unusual enough symptom that it became a teaching example. Toxins can come from outside or from the soil. Pyola is perfectly safe for tomatoes, and the heat wasn't excessive, but make sure the dilution was correct, as too high a concentration can burn leaves much like that. Spray damage can also cause wilted and dead green leaves. If you can sacrifice a plant that's badly affected, dig it up to look at the roots, see whether it has lots of crisp, white, fine roots, not dark or knobby ones. Shave away the skin at the soil line to look for discolorations in the woody stem underneath; cut open wilted green shoots to check for hollow centers from stem borers; and finally split open the main stem to see whether it's hollow or discolored inside. I don't expect much except maybe root symptoms, but you really never know. My personal guess is soil toxicity, especially given that the lower and terminal leaves are the worst affected by the yellowing and dying, and some things take a while to build up in the leaves enough to kill them. One important thing to note is that not all toxins are synthetic chemicals -- an excess of certain minerals or nutrients can poison a plant. pH affects root uptake of anything enormously, especially minerals, but it can have its own effect as well. You may need a soil test -- call your Agriculture Department, Cooperative Extension, or U of O to find an affordable lab. I don't see your symptoms in any of the common nutrient toxicity listings, though, which means it could be something chemical, and there is no general panel for that. Down here in California I'd send it to Sacramento's Plant Diagnostics lab or the extension pathologist at U. C. Davis, but I don't know what pathologists you have at your disposal. This is certainly not a cut-and-dried common disease problem, and even a specialist is going to need some lab work to figure it out, I suspect. I wish I had more answers for you, sorry. --Alison

Yeah I have suffered early blight on my last couple of grows and looks very similar to what you have, remove all infected leaves and spray with a Chlorothalonil based fungicide was what has been suggested to me. It will eventually kill the plant if left untreated but, for me at least, a fair amount of fruit had been harvested by that time.

Okay: I just read the info on my bottle of Daconil concentrate. Cover your skin, wear the appropriate kind of mask and goggles, and a shower afterward would be a good idea. Now I remember why I didn't use it last year. it even mentioned something about not eating the fruit off the plants Where did you see that? Why would they recommend it for use on tomatoes (not to mention other veggies) if you couldn't eat the fruit? What would be the point? It says wash your hands before eating, but I can't find anything about washing the tomato or waiting a certain number of days after spraying before eating. In fact, in the PHI column ("days required between last application and harvest") it says zero for tomatoes. I know Daconil binds to a certain site on tomato leaves (and stems?). Maybe it doesn't stick to the fruit? But I'd think they'd say something about washing the fruit (or, for other veggies, the leaves or whatever)....