tomatos

[lisa]

I have been having trouble with my plants,they are still producing,and growing,but the leaves are turning yellow and dying.Branches are dying back too,they just look ugly,but my question is,on my green tomatos,I have patches,a little bigger than a quarter,that are a lighter color of green,almost white,and it is kind of sunk in slightly.It is only on the green ones.Is this some kind of sunburn or a blight?,And can I still eat them?I live in tulsa oklahoma.thank you

[Newt]

Hi Lisa,

Yellow leaves can be the sign of many different problems including no problem at all as older leaves will often yellow and fall off.* Since you say that branches are dying back, I'm thinking it's the same ones that have yellow leaves.* Take a look at leaf and stem disorders here.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...ver/index.html

...my green tomatos,I have patches,a little bigger than a quarter,that are a lighter color of green,almost white,and it is kind of sunk in slightly.It is only on the green ones.Is this some kind of sunburn or a blight?

I'm thinking it's sunscald aka sunburn, especially if the spots are on the same side of the fruit towards the sun.*
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...nfruit/43.html

Click on 'Leaf' and 'Stem' here.*
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...ver/index.html

Please let me know what you discover.
Newt

[lisa]

Thank you,I did find a web site later that night that showed what sun scald looked like,and yes it is the branches with the yellow leaves that are dying back.I have been to that web site before,and my stems don't really look like any thing there.Sometimes it lookes like they are not getting enough water,but the tomatos show signs of being over watered.I think it might be verticulum rot,or nematoads?thank you for your reply.Lisa

[Newt]

Lisa, you are so very welcome!* Have you looked into any of the virus diseases of tomato?
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...ses_Tomato.htm

This site has a good description of the different stages of verticillium wilt.
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...rticillium.htm

Also take a look here.
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...pottedWilt.htm

I sure hope it's not nematodes.
Newt

[lisa]

yes,thank you,I have spent so much time visiting and reading sites on all the things in my garden,that my eyes are sore.I am just going to salvage what I can for this year,and spend the rest of the winter designing my yard,and killing weeds and ground bugs,and preparing for the onslaught of the cucumber beetle.

[Newt]

Lisa, you are so very welcome, again!* I know what you mean when you say your eyes get sore.* Sometimes my eyes tear from staring at the screen and I have to take a break!* :shock:

I am just going to salvage what I can for this year,and spend the rest of the winter designing my yard,and killing weeds and ground bugs,and preparing for the onslaught of the cucumber beetle.

If you need sites for designing a garden just lmk if you want ones for the veggie garden or for the entire yard.* I have many.*

One on of the best ways to prep your garden for next year would be to do lasagna composting aka strip composting over the winter.* It will smother weed seeds and make a wonderful medium for your veggies for next year.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...Gardening.aspx

Please don't kill all the ground bugs.* Most are beneficial insects.* One that comes to mind is the ground beetle.* There are many, some black and some in pretty colors that are most beneficial as they eat the bad bugs.
http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse002/inse002.htm

The less pesticides and herbicides you use the more diversity of insects you will have.* That diversity leads to some bad bugs that will be food for the good ones.* I stopped using chemicals in my garden 20 years ago as they were making me sick.* After a couple of years I noticed that it all balanced out.* I sometimes plant a little extra so there are some bad bugs to feed the good ones.* Extra parsley allows the caterpillars of swallowtail butterflies to feed and become butterflies that decorate my garden.* Here's some larval foods and the butterflies they become.
http://members.aol.com/YESbutrfly/foodplants.html

Speaking of beetles, soldier beetles will prey on cucumber beetles.* This site has natural ways of dealing with many insect pests.* Here's their page on cucumber beetles.
http://www.ghorganics.com/CucumberBeetles.htm

Soldier beetles come in a variety of colors, but here's some pretty ones that you might see in Oklahoma.
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/okwild/misc/podrug.html
http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/okwild/misc/chamar.html
http://bugguide.net/node/view/438

I think I gave you this site before when you asked about aphids and powdery mildew, but here they are for natural remedies for insect pests and diseases in the garden.

Insect pests:
http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html

Diseases:
http://www.ghorganics.com/page15.html

I hope that helps.
Newt