How can I stop the yellow leaves and black spots on my tomatos? A freind says use lime dust. Thoughts?
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I found these tips...
Grow tomatoes in a warm, dry, sunny area. If you have had blight previously, move to a different area if possible, or replace the upper soil layer since "oospores" will carryover in soil.
Water only underneath the plants, not the leaves or fruit. Drip irrigation is preferable to watering with a hose, to reduce water splash. Don’t overfertilize or overwater.
Grow on a light sandy soil if possible or cover soil with a white plastic mulch to increase soil and air temperatures around the plants and reduce humidity.
Growing plants under an overhang or a clear plastic shelter will help prevent spores from being deposited on plants by wind and rain. But plants must be covered before infection has occured. Covering the plants after they are infected may raise humidity and make the disease worse.
Grow the tomatoes on raised beds with well-spaced trellises or in containers off the ground. Tomatoes grown on balconies or roof-tops rarely develop late blight, probably because the environment is warmer and drier.
Remove all of last year’s tomato or potato debris to prevent carry over of disease.
Remove diseased leaves or shoots immediately and all plants that are severely diseased. Bury them, or seal them in a plastic bag and take to a landfill. Do not compost diseased plants. If "oospores" are present, they will survive in compost.
Destroy any volunteer potato or tomato plants in the garden.
Destroy any nightshade weeds along fencerows. Nightshade is related to tomato and potato and is also a good host for late blight.
Apply copper sprays or other home garden fungicides recommended for late blight at least once a week when weather is favourable for disease. READ THE LABEL. Copper, which is accepted by most organic producers, should be applied for prevention more than cure, that is, before the disease has become established.
On this website...
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/latebl...
Pick off the worst leaves and do Not water at night . That can cause tomato mold.
Go get yourself some blossom rot prevention from the nursery.
If the black spots are on the bottom of the tomato its blossom end rot. This is caused by fluctuating soil moisture. Tomatoes get yellow leaves from overwatering too. Water the plants once a week, but deep. Tomatoes have a deep root system and definatley dont need to be watered everyday. Remove all yellow leaves and tomatoes with spots and start watering once a week if it is possible in your climate.
Lime dust would be the absolutely worse thing to do, especially if it gets on the plant itself. I would recommend taking off the yellow leaves. Not much you can do about the blossom rot on the tomatoes. It means there is too much water and humidity. Cutting back on water might help, but if you could get more air around the plant . Take off lots of the leaves (leave a few) to open the plant up.
Yellow leaves on your tomatoes means they don't have enough nitrogen. A fast fix is to spray the tomato plants with fish emulsion. Obviously, you can also buy fertilizer, and they have some that is designed specifically for tomatoes. If that doesn't solve the problem, you have a disease problem. Take a sample to your Cooperative Extension and ask them.
As for the black spots, that's a symptom of disease. If not too bad, you'll still get fine yields. If really bad, destroy the plant so the disease doesn't travel to healthy ones.
Never handle tomato plants when the leaves are wet, as it can cause diseases to travel. Also, if you are a smoker, make sure you wash your hands before handing the plants, as tobacco is a carrier for some tomato diseases.
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