A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Need Help With Tomato Plants

Every year we have been trying to raise tomato's, and they start out great, then right before the tomato's start to ripen, the leaves on the bottom of the plants turn yellow and die. We have tried different varieties, and rotate our crops, every year, but keep having the same problem. This year we put cow manure and lime on the garden, before we tilled it. I water them every morning, and miracle grow, once every one to two weeks. I took a picture of the leaves. Has anyone ever had this problem, and if so, how can I stop it from happening. Thanks.

Hi Lunangel,

Welcome to The Gardener's Forum.

Here is link to recognizing tomato problems from Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.

Please see figure 5.

Lunangel,
Lot's of time those disease's are in the soil
and if the conditions are not met for growing
tomatoes, you just get the disease..

I have the Septoria leaf spot and it's about the same conditions as you have....

I have it down now to raised beds, good spacing between my plants *over crowding doesn't allow good air circulation between the plants...
And I put landscaped fabric under all the plants.
***I have to dig you out the name of the kind I just found, works THE BEST!!! and that was my 5th brand to use...
***I only water at the base of the plant, NO SPRAYING THE LEAVES, UNLESS BY RAIN AND DEW!
***I only water in the morning hours, (okay, it's been up to 11:30 when I'm done waterin' but it's still in the morning!)
***I NEVER touch the plants when they are wet or my hands are wet..~passes on disease'~
***I snip off the leaves at the bottom, that have those dots, and BURN THEM!

I have more to say on this.. but it's midnight here, and I've had a whoppin' day..
I'll finish up on some of the things you posted about!!!

Thank you both. I guess it looks like a disease, that stays in my soil, and will be hard to get rid of.

But don't worry, it is very managable...
And as long as you follow those guidelines..
You'll still have a good crop of tomatoes..

Also, try to find a tomato brand that has
letters like VFN on it...
They are more resistant to those disease's...
*I found some seeds of Beefsteak VFN's at Wal~Mart this year.*

It's not as bleak as some disease's could be..

Thanks Weezie,
You've been a big help. I snipped off all the yellow leaves, and they look much better. Next year I will try to find the VFN tomatoes.