Chance the Gardener

Experts Comment on Tomato Gardening Issues

The Great Big Plants team just returned from the Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago. In response to many customer requests, we are attempting to make the Great Big Plants line of liquid organic composts available on retail shelves.

Of interest to many at the show were the difficulties with tomato gardens this year. The consensus from dozens of professionals was that the Northeast U.S. experienced the worst tomato growing year in many decades. Many cited the cooler, later arriving summer as the major culprit. This situation manifested heavy disease pressure, especially Late Blight Fungus. See the NY Times article on this: Late Blight Fungus. Several experienced gardeners said that they had to abandon their tomato gardens completely.

Along a similar theme, a new customer in the mid-Atlantic area sent us pictures of her ailing tomato plants and asked for our opinion. The Great Big Plants team forwarded the pictures to several professionals who manage tomato growing operations. The following are some of the comments regarding the same pictures.

"Looks like it could be powdery mildew. It's a new strain that is very aggressive and is rolling through fields right now. Also, the purple leaves suggest N or P deficiency."

"The photos look like phosphate and potassium deficiency."

"First, heat stress; secondly, disease, i.e., powdery mildew, bacterial spot, etc. And most likely a combination of these."

"Jeez, bacterial spec + over watering + under fertilizing are my guesses."

"Barring disease, salinity and/or poor drainage looks to be probable there."

These responses point at two things. One, you can't be a plant pathologist from pictures. Two, don't take caring for your tomatoes lightly - lots of bad things can happen to them!