problem with tomato seedlings, possible disease/fungus, need advice

[etherati]

I had considered that - it really does look like it - but these are indoor plants and as of yet, I haven't seen any insects in the room they're in at all, nor any on the plants themselves. Aphids are usually pretty obvious, and I don't know how they or leafhoppers would get into the house. I did have a bad infestation of fruitflies of some sort when I was trying to overwinter some pepper plants, but they were cleared out a month in advance of these and I haven't seen any since.

That all said, if they don't improve quickly with the better soil and nutrients I'll give it a try; it's possible they are just very elusive, and there shouldn't be any harm in the soap.

 

[AmyRey]

I second wifezilla. The purple hue underneath the leaves remind me of a nutrient deficiency that my broccoli had (I think it was magnesium).

One foliar feeding with fish emulsion and the next leaves were bright and green again.

 

[patandchickens]

The purple shading says "physically stressed" to me, whether by drought, waterlogging, too much light, or nutrient deficiency. I don't know about the paler areas one way or the other, but personally I would not hesitate to put 'em out into the garden.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[wifezilla]

Gave them a shot of magnesium. I'll let you know tomorrow if they look any better

 

[lesa]

My black krim's have that purple leaf. Did you plant those?

 

[hoodat]

My black krim's have that purple leaf. Did you plant those?

I was thinking the same thing. The purple color is so even all over the leaf I wonder if they just aren't supposed to have purple leaves. Magnesium shortage is usually blotchy at the edges of the leaves.

 

[etherati]

One of the cultivars in the heirloom pack is black krim, so a few might be - but pretty much all the plants have the purple leaf. It was actually more the spotting on the underside that I was trying to figure out; the purple I'd chalked up to phosphorus deficiency. Or physical stress I guess, yeah. Hm. It's a lot to think about! So complicated, these little plants.

 

[wifezilla]

The magnesium dose worked. A few leaves still looked rough, and I just pinched them off. The rest looked better within a day.

 

[Waylon05]

I used Jiffy Seed Starting Mix, which I assumed was sterile but to be fair, it doesn't actually say so on the bag. That said, I've had zero incidence of damping off, so I'm pretty sure the seed starter was clean.

I started them originally in little Jiffy peat cups, then potted them up to brand new plastic posts, never used before. I suppose it's possible they might have picked something up from the store I bought the pots in, but I don't think many pathogens live long on dry, bare plastic.

I'm mostly just at a loss as to what it could be... after a week of googling, nothing I find looks like what I have going on here.

Let's see if it'll let me post pics now...

http://i.imgur.com/DBJPd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5ZjCl.jpg

Texas A&M University has some great resources for tomato growers. I've found the "Tomato Problem Solvers" tool to be a great resource:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/

To me, it looks like it could be one of the various fungi that affect tomato leaves. Based upon the pics you provided, it looks like it could potentially be one of these:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/leaf/

It might be worth trying to use some sort of mild anti-fungal spray (such as Neem) as that seems to be helpful in preventing/battling many of the leaf diseases.

Assuming the variety of tomato you planted doesn't naturally have purple leaves, my other guess would be phosphorous deficiency:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/leaf/phos.html

I know that early blight seems to be one of the most common culprits of the symptoms you are describing. The following Q&A provided by Texas A&M provides the following suggestions:

Q. I planted the tomato varieties which you recommended and they are loaded with tomatoes. Now the leaves are beginning to turn yellow, then brown, then die from the bottom of the plant. What should I do; will this kill my plants?

A. You and everybody growing tomatoes are having the same problem. Tomato plants are developing brown spots on the lower foliage. This is the result of a fungus infecting the foliage causing a disease known as early blight. Early blight is an annual problem for most gardeners. It normally develops into a problem when plants have a heavy fruit set and the area has received rainfall. Spores from the fungus are spread to the lower foliage by wind and splashing rain. Leaves must be wet for infection to occur. At 50 degrees F. the leaves must be wet for 12 hours for infection, but at temperatures above 59 degrees F., the length of time for infection is only 3 hours. Leaf spot development is most severe during periods of cloudy days and high humidity. To control the fungus, foliage applications of a fungicide must be made every 7 days until moist conditions (dew included!) no longer exist. Applications should begin when the first fruit is slightly larger than a quarter. Chlorothalonil (Ortho Multipurpose Fungicide or Fertilome Broad Spectrum Fungicide) and mancozeb hydroxide (Kocide 101) are fungicides used on tomatoes for early blight. The copper fungicides also are affective against the foliage and fruit-infecting bacterial pathogens. Benlate (Greenlight Systemic Fungicide) should also be added every second spray application to prevent Septoria leaf spot. All listed fungicides can be mixed with insecticides or other fungicides except the copper-based materials (Kocide). The copper fungicides have a high pH which will reduce the life of many insecticides and some fungicides. Kocide is the only effective organic control for this pestilence.


Sorry for all the Texas A&M references but I can't help but turn to my alma mater in times of need!

 

[etherati]

Thank you so much, so much great information! That page is going in my bookmarks immediately, as I know I was hit by something nasty late in the season last year that I'd like to be able to identify if it happens again.

At this point though, I'm pretty sure it was nutrient deficiency; I got them into some good soil with compost and threw a little fish-derived light fertilizer on them and they have once again outgrown their pots. A few are still struggling with what I'm guessing is transplant shock(curly leaves on the bottom, new leaves ok), but the rest are going positively insane. The Brandywine in particular is over a foot tall and has two flowers starting on it. And there's no sign of the yellowing or spotting or the burn around the edges anymore, except on the lower leaves that were already affected. Whatever it was it doesn't seem to be contagious and it isn't killing them, so I think I'm gonna call it good.