Tomato Plants Dying

Hi, I hope someone may be able to identify a problem with my tomato plants.

I had some growing from seed in my 10x6 greenhouse, when they reached the top of the greenhouse they developed a sort of leaf problem which killed every leaf on all the plants, the stems even got dark parts too.

I removed the plants and replaced them with some more, these are now about 2 foot and have started with the same problem, the greenhouse has an auto window to keep it cool and the door is open in the day to allow breeze. The plants are in a compost floor/bed which never seems to dry out.

I have tied the plants to canes with plastic ties loosly, not usre if this is relevant or not.

I also have cucumbers and sweetcorn in there which I dont have any problems with.

 

Hi Dennis...

I could be wrong, but that looks like blight to me(especially the first pic)......some of mine ended up with that, and i had to throw them in the garbage.

Someone else will be along, who may know for sure.

 

Thanks for the info, i read up in the forum and although others didnt put photos up they suggested epsom salts as there is no magnesium in the grow bag soil so i was going to give that a try, but if it is the late blight im better off throwing the plants and replacing the soil.. thanks again for the advice

 

Definitely looks like blight to me also

 

Hello Dennis and welcome to the forum.
Sadly your description and pictures seem to point to blight.
Only consolation is we are well into September and the tomatoes would be coming to the end of their natural life anyway.
For next year you could look for a blight resistant variety
OR do as I do and plant really early so that you get the crop before the blight arrives.

Point for discussion maybe - it's only in the last 3 years I ever had blight.
Before that I never had it - indoors or out.
I do hope you managed to get some kind of crop from your tomatoes, Denis.

 

Yes im in the UK, Nottingahm/Midlands. Ill remove the plants, It was a new Greenhouse that I have only had for about 3 months, it was new (bagged) compost and the plants were grown from seeds so im not sure where it came from.

Thanks for the advice though, this is my first growing attemtp and my cucumbers/sweetcorn are fine so ill keep working on them until I can replant again nexy year, I was late starting this year with everything but ill catch it right next year.

The forum has loads of info so im looking forward to reading through and grabbing some good tips.

Thanks again

 

If blight arrives right at the end of the season, is it less virulent than when the plants succumb early? I'm asking because I have the beginnings of what looks very much like blight on my (more or less finished) outdoor tomatoes, but contrary to what the books say it has been fairly slow to spread and has affected the odd leaf and fruit rather than immediately engulfing the whole plant.

 

Thank you, John. Today I've discovered another problem - minute snails attaching themselves to the fruit, making holes and then sucking out the flesh! It's funny, because up till now my tomatoes seem to have been more or less immune to snail attack. I've always thought that the smell of the leaves deterred them. Still, it's mostly only the Moneymakers which are left - and they're welcome to those!

 

When i spotted a bad leaf on the first ones in the greenhouse i took of the whole part the leaf was on/branch ?, the next day there would be more branches affected, it seemed to double daily even after i removed the infected branch. within 3/4 days the plants were down to the main stem only, all the leaves were infected. Even the stems had patches of a few inches where they were dark and even looked mouldy.

The plants were great one day, grew to 6 foot.. then within 4 days the plants were totally destroyed so it moved through the plant very quickly and removing affected branches didnt really help i dont think.

Thanks for all the advice, i wouldnt have known what to do so we live and learn .. ill win next year lol

 

I presume the commercial growers must blitz their plants with chemicals that amateurs can't use?

 

Yes, the commercial growers do spray them ClaraLou.
It is possible to buy Dithane and spray them yourself, but some people don't want to use chemicals.