In the Garden: Tomato disease remains a mystery
No two summers are alike for gardeners. The same likely applies to non-gardeners. This summer, many home gardeners saw their tomato plants with leaves drying up from the bottom of the plant upward. The upper part of the plants looked healthy, but the hope was that the entire plant wouldn't dry up.
A tomato plant is very susceptible to large numbers of problems, including diseases. The tough part is to identify the disease and determine if there is any way to stop it. This is a tall order. To identify most tomato diseases, you need the services of a professional grower or OSU plant pathologist.
OSU-OARDC pathologist Saller Miller works with crop diseases full-time. I talked with her in early August about the tomato leaves drying from the bottom up. She said she needs plant samples and to see a plant to make an accurate identification.
She thought some of the problem this year was weather-related. The many unusually cool days and rainy days created soil unfavorable for warm season plants like tomatoes. Cold soil coupled with too much rain prevents normal root development.
The only way to confirm this is to examine the root system. But the plant would have to be dug up, so not much enthusiasm for that step.
She indicated that application of a suitable fungicide early in the season may have helped. But I told her I don't apply any pesticides to my tomatoes and she said that is common among home gardeners and agrees with it. After talking with her, the source of the tomato problem remained basically unknown. She said rotating plants next year should help, which should be easy to do for most gardeners, unless you have a small garden.
One suggestion that I offer for a small garden is to grow a few disease-resistant plants in large containers in a soilless, disease-free mix. Some gardeners encountering tomato diseases grow plants in heavy plastic half whiskey barrels with good results. Three Celebrity tomato plants in a large barrel produces a good crop — a good option for a small garden. If you've had too many tomato problems, try this method next year.
Deer invades fencing
Ten years ago I installed plastic netting attached to 6-foot stakes around my vegetable garden in response to serious deer damage. In addition, 24-inch hardware cloth was installed around the garden as backup to keep small animals out. Both barriers must be checked daily for new openings.
My mistake was not to make needed repairs in openings in the netting. My thinking was no way that a deer could walk over the hardware cloth and opening to get inside. The deer was a lot smarter than this gardener!
In early August, I was shocked to see tops eaten off all the pepper plants. Small fall beets were eaten off, tomato tops eaten off and I found a few half-eaten green tomatoes on the ground.
At first, it looked like groundhog damage. But a groundhog couldn't eat off tops of staked tomato plants. Otherwise, it appeared like deer damage. But where did the deer get through the netting/fencing?
For the past several years, a mature doe has been a daily visitor to our property. Each year, she becomes bolder and comes up to the house area, causing considerable damage to all kinds of plantings. When you chase her away, she stays on our property and hides in a different area. She is usually alone and quickly identified by her tongue, which hangs out all the time. Amazingly, she feeds well without tongue use.
The morning after I found the damage, I went out to the garden at 5 a.m. with a flashlight and quickly spotted the deer going through the netting/fence to get out of the garden. I was shocked to see this happening.
Openings were repaired and more stakes used to shore up the hardware cloth in several areas. Lesson learned — inspect garden daily for signs of animal invasion!
Richard Poffenbaugh is a retired biology teacher and active home gardener since 1960. He is a member of the Mansfield Men's Garden Club and was editor of the club newsletter (The Greenhorn) for 21 years. He resides in Ontario with his wife, Barbara. Reach him at 419-529-2966.