G/House Toms problem - photos included

I have two varieties of tomatoes in the greenhouse, 5 x Moneymaker and 4 x Gourmet plants.

This issue is affecting all of the Moneymaker plants that I grew from seed and this only started around a week ago, the gourmet plants are unaffected and where bought as small plants.

All are planted in half growbags and have recently started being fed, all are regularly watered.

You can see from the photos quite clearly what the problem is, discolouration of the leaves (turning very light green) and eventually the leaves are curling up. I have three trusses on the plant so far and they are nearly 4 foot tall, some fruits are now growing and around pea size.

Discolouration of the leaves.



Reverse of leaf.



Leaf curling.



I have had a good look over the plants "bug searching" and can find none, no eggs or anything, even used a magnifying glass.

Anyone have any ideas on this?

Many thanks.

Steve...

 

It could be a number of things, such as excess moisture, transplant shock, too much nitrogen.
I would try removing the problem leaves and giving them some fertilizer, but make sure that you are watering from the bottom and try not to get the plant itself wet with it.
Good luck.

The other thing you could try is, mixing some Epsom Salt with water and give the tomatoes that as a fertilizer, they LOVE it.

 

Not excess moisture or lack of it, not transplant shock either as they have been in situation for a good month now and not too much nitrogen ether as I have only just started feeding them this last week (Tomorite), and all nine plants have been treated identically.

All the Moneymaker plants are affected, but none of the Gourmet are.

Steve...

 

Hi Steve,

I've been growing moneymaker tomato's from seed this year too and I've noticed a similar problem on mine, only affecting the lower leaves, however I removed the offending leaves and the plants seem to be doing fine, and growing new foliage. I also have many trusses with pea sized tomato's on them, and I've noticed no ill effects due to the removing of the leaves so far, but I'll keep an eye on them.

Hope your plants recover!

Matt.

 

I think its most likely to be Magnesium deficiency for which the symptoms are edges of the leaves yellow, the veins still green.

Spray with Epsom Salts. I don't think the effected leaves recover - so don't worry if they don't improve (you might want to have a Google on that, I've not encountered it before - but I read of it quite often on the forums, so its not uncommon)

If it is mosaic virus the yellow patches would be more blochy

 

Many thanks Kriten and and John, I'll nip out and get some today. As a preventative measure should I also spray the Gourmet variety? They are growing in the same medium and being treated the same way as the moneymakers.

Steve...

 

I'm using "Gardenline" organic grow bags from Aldi, I've just looked to see if there is an ingredient list or NPK info and none exists on the packaging. It does say they are manufactured using chicken manure and a sugar-beet by-product. Perhaps I wont use these bags next year...any recomendations for next year?

Steve...

 

I think you want the cheapest grow bags you can get, and just feed them on the assumption they have nothing in them.

If you grow the Tomatoes until first truss in Pots you can then feed them as soon as they are in the bag.

Actually, I don't like bags! Hard to get the moisture content right. I would cut the bag into two, upend it, and use it as two pots (or use the compost to fit normal 11" / 10L pots, if you have them, but they aren't cheap.

Having said that, if you are only buying a couple of bags then getting a quality name probably won't make much difference, pricewise.

I wouldn't buy organic ones. Peat-free etc. compost is still not a technology that is fully sorted - sadly.

 

Here are some updated photos of these plants, I'm more convinced now its mosaic virus due to the discoloration of the stems and fruits...what do you think?

I'll continue with the epson salts treatment and I'll remove the leaves that are really badly affected too. The gourmet variety are also now showing signs of this. I've attached the photos this time for future use as a reference to others.

Steve...

 

Looks very much like Magnesium Deficiency to me. But I've not seen Mosaic virus, so don't know how to compare, but I think its more blotchy.

If Magnesium deficiency the leaves should get darker green with Epsom salts, and the yellow parts recover on younger leaves (at least), and where the yellowing was minor (most probably on younger leaves towards the top of the plant) it should be seen to be improving within a few days

 

I'll keep up with the epson salts treatment and see what happens, any ideas on the fruit and stem discolouration?

Steve...

 

Don't know about the stem. Might be nothing ...

I ignored the the fruit, first time around, as it looked as though they were ripening from the bottom upwards, which I thought was normal. If the pattern is more "mosaic" than it looks in the picture that could be an issue I guess.

You spraying 1/2 ounce per pint and repeat after two weeks? If so I think you should see a change within a few days of the first spraying.