Tomato leaves developing yellow mottled pattern

[SoCAl_Don]

Hey all,
I'm just moving over to this forum from the Houzz/Gardenweb forum, so I hope this is the correct place to post questions about tomato issues.
I am growing 14 tomato plants in 30 gallon fabric containers and one of my plants, a Mortgage Lifter, started developing a yellowing pattern that I haven't seen before. Its sort of mottled with yellow uneven patches. At first I thought this may be a magnesium deficiency, but it's not looking like it. I'm am growing in new potting mix (Fox Farm Happy Frog potting mix) and have been feeding it with a small handful of Happy Frog granular fertilizer every 2 weeks. I water by hand approximately every 3 days with a hose at the base. Checking moisture levels regularly so not to dry and not too wet. Spray every 2 weeks with bonide copper fungicide. Any thoughts as to what this could be. Its only affecting one plant out of 14.

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[Shule]

If it's really hot, that might be causing the magnesium deficiency symptoms. In that case, a foliar spray of magnesium (if you have a form compatible with that) might help (as opposed to watering it in the soil).

Otherwise, I would guess it's either zinc deficiency or a fungal disease: maybe alternaria or something. Those black specks look fungal to me. I'm not sure, though. I would think copper would help against a fungal disease like alternaria though. It might be something spread by an insect or mite. The leaf looks curled like it might have microscopic creatures living on it. Some pests induce curling in leaves and live in the shelter provided by it.

If it's not a fungus or zinc deficiency, I'm not sure what it is. When I have a plant with an unidentifiable deficiency, I find that giving it some wood ash sometimes cures it. It should have small amounts of most of the minerals plants need (since it's plant ash). But, it raises soil pH, since it's high in calcium (so be careful).

I'm not sure about with plants, but zinc and copper compete in humans. So, maybe all the copper is inducing zinc deficiency.

Your plant's stems don't look particularly tender, but rather nice and tough. Am I right? So, I'm guessing they have enough potassium and that the roots are not rotting.

[Shule]

Do nematodes cause foliar patterns such as this? I agree that the patterns don't look like magnesium deficiency (but I could be wrong).

[peebee]

How about some pics of the underside of leaves & the whole plant?

[Cajun-Hydroponics]

I want to follow this thread. I have had this issue the last few years in my old GH with hydro tomatoes.

Totally wrecked the plants as it seems to start around the bottom then work its way up the plant. The stems of the plant stay strong and look great but the leaves just do that and die.

Had the county agent over to look at them and he had some ideas. Was supposed to come back to take some leaves and send them off, but has never been back and I lost his number.

I did try some copper spray, and it lookes like it helped. The issue with that was the plants were so far gone that it was hard to tell. Also the new growth at the top always seemed not to have the issue at first but with in a week would have it.

I have not grown tomatoes for almost 2 years as I am moving the GH to my house in town. But hope someone can help with this!

Good luck with your tomatoes!!

Gro Dat!

[JosephineRose]

Start looking for tomato russet mites now.

[MissS]

I think that it is a nutrient deficiency rather than a disease. It could be either Magnesium as mentioned by Shule or potassium. I would mix 1 tablespoon of Epsom Salts to 1 gallon of water and drench the plant and perhaps spray it too. If there is not a quick greening in 3-4 days then I would feed it a high potassium feed. Different varieties just respond to nutrients in different ways. There is still the possibility of mites so look closely for those.

@Cajun-Hydroponics, almost all tomatoes grown in a greenhouse on drip irrigation seem to have a magnesium deficiency. Just add some Epsom Salts to your mix or spray your plants with it once a week and you will be good to go.

The Haifa Group has great info on deficiencies. Here is a link, it is a great resource. Haifa Group - https://www.haifa-group.com/crop-guide/ ... -nutrition

[Cajun-Hydroponics]

I think that it is a nutrient deficiency rather than a disease. It could be either Magnesium as mentioned by Shule or potassium. I would mix 1 tablespoon of Epsom Salts to 1 gallon of water and drench the plant and perhaps spray it too. If there is not a quick greening in 3-4 days then I would feed it a high potassium feed. Different varieties just respond to nutrients in different ways. There is still the possibility of mites so look closely for those.

@Cajun-Hydroponics, almost all tomatoes grown in a greenhouse on drip irrigation seem to have a magnesium deficiency. Just add some Epsom Salts to your mix or spray your plants with it once a week and you will be good to go.

The Haifa Group has great info on deficiencies. Here is a link, it is a great resource. Haifa Group - https://www.haifa-group.com/crop-guide/ ... -nutrition

Thank you MissS. When I am back up and running I will give it a shot with adding more epsomsalt to the solution. Right now I was using the master blend formula and already using epsom salt.

My pops GH is having the same issue as in the picture just as mine did. We already ordered what was recommended about the mites. Gonna give it a shot to see if it helps. Hes about at the end of the season so might be hard to judge.

Thanks for the response!

[patihum]

Take a leaf to your county extension agent if they're open. I'd be looking for some type of mosaic disease - there's several.

[Ginger2778]

I will say I am very familiar(unfortunately) with Tomato Russet Mites, and This appears to be a nutrient deficiency, not at all a mite infestation.

[SoCAl_Don]

Hey all,
Thank you for your replies. So I checked for russet mites and the plant is showing no signs of any infestation. The yellowing pattern is intermittent, affecting only some of the leaves, primarily in the middle of the plant. Lower and upper leaves are mostly fine. I think what may have happened is that we had a heat wave here in Southern California a few weeks ago. During that time the plants may have gotten stressed and the leaves that were young at that time may just now be showing the signs of that stress. I understand that extreme heat can affect the plant's uptake of some nutrients. I did a foliar spray of epsom salt solution (1 tbsp/gal) yesterday and today I top dressed the plants with some additional epsom salt. I also watered with some compost tea to give it some additional micro nutrients. I'll watch over the next few days and see how it goes. The plants are otherwise very healthy and producing fruit and flowers. I've included a couple of additional pics showing the underside of one of the yellowing leaves and also a section of the bed showing the plants.
Really appreciate all of your recommendations.
Best,
Don

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[SoCAl_Don]

...one more thing. I have a lot of experience with mosaic viruses and I know the warning signs of that. I had an entire season decimated by TMV one year. This is not a mosaic virus. But yes, it's good to rule that out!!

[heirl00m]

Hi, [mention]SoCAl_Don[/mention], what size are those containers? 15 gallons?

[SoCAl_Don]

30 Gallons.

[PlainJane]

That’s a nice setup, by the way.

[SoCAl_Don]

Thanks Jane...In the past those were raised beds. Last year I got a really bad spread of Tomato Mosaic Virus that consumed my entire garden. Really decimated my crop. TMV stays in the soil for years and can stay on anything in touched for a long time. In order for me to grow this year, I decided to change up my growing technique. I removed all the soil from the raised beds. I lined the beds with plastic and laid wooden struts along the bottom to create an aerated support structure. Then I placed 30 gallon fabric pots on top of those, so the pots will get aeration all around it and not sit in water, the roots wont penetrate into the potentially contaminated soil, and any plants that get hit with pathogens can easily be removed without disturbing the other plants. It's been a great solution so far. The only challenge is that the plants and fruit seem smaller than they did when they were planted in ground. Not sure if I need some additional amendments to help boost their growth, beyond what I'm already giving them. It's an interesting test!