This year I took a chance and planted my tomatoes in mid April. I did good things this year, too, using tons of compost, slow release fertilizer, and mulch.
It all paid off until I'm mid May when we started getting constant, heavy rain culminating in a horrible hail that beat my huge beautiful plants up badly. I cleaned them up as best I could and they seemed to recover but now they are turning yellow and sickly. I pick off the yellow leaves and the next day there are more. It's moving from the bottom up.
I hadn't done any liquid fertilizer this year and I'm thinking they really needed it with all the rain, but I'm worried with as fast as this is spreading it is actually a disease, especially since the leaves I have in my hand in the picture is so near the growing tip.
Is it a disease? Should I rip out my plants and start again? I used liquid fertilizer today.
by CrystalStarshine
1 Comment
In pic #2, do you see the section of branch that’s turning black, before all the yellow leaves? That’s disease, not nutrient deficiency.
I would clip that whole branch off at the base.
I have had plants survive after looking like this, but it’s a battle. I recommend spraying the whole plant with copper fungicide (repeat every 1-2 weeks), and starting a growth-focused fertilizer regimen. If the plant puts out enough leafy growth, it’s possible to win the race against the disease creeping through the stem. But it’s not guaranteed.