Black spots all over! ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) I had a closer look at my not doing well tomatoe plants and I noticed that there are black spots all over it. These spots can be removed easily and they do not look like bugs. I use my fingernail to remove it and it did not come out as a single piece instead in specks. Could it be somekind of a sucking bug?
Have you looked at these under a microscope or with a loop? Curious things--those spots. Never seen anything like that here. Does your camera have a "macro focus" capability?
Could it possibly be dirt that splashed up ? If you are going organic,, mix a bit of dish soap (1 tbsp) with a pint of water and spray the stem. let it sit about an hour then spray with hose enough to wash off. Use a spray nozzle so you get some spray power. If you have any antifungal you can spray that afterward and let it stay on just in case.
Sojerd I'll try to get another sample an photo it today. Mart it could not be dirt because iot goes up more than a foot maybe higher from the base of the plant. It sounds like a good idea and I'll give it a try later. Thanks and yes I am a organic gardener.
Bugs! ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) Looks like they are bugs sucking on the stem and getting a real high because they do not move at all even when I scrap them off. Definitely Bugs! ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) On a piece of paper under a magnifying glass and there is no movement. ??? ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) Is this normal or is it the result of the sucker bugs? This is at the lower end of the plant from ground level up to about a foot high.
KK, I think the black spots look like dead aphids, myself. I have seen tham on my own and wasn't too distressed about them, so I didn'y do anything with them, try washing them off with some soapy water. Maybe even give the whole plant a good bath just to be safe. The "bumps are normal. They are root bumps. I have no idea what they are really called, but if the tomato fell down or was buried with soil up to these spots the bumps would continue growing forming new roots. Nothing to worry over. ALL is well.
Like Carolyn and I have said, your tomato plants are fine,,all is normal. Just wash those bugs off like I said before.
Hi KK-- Those knobby formations on your stems may well be "nodes" where roots would emerge if conditions were right. I can't really tell if those black things are aphids or not...or exactly what they are. Maybe my eyes are going bad. I am curious about them though. I hope that you can keep those plants alive a little longer, as perhaps they will give you more fruits. Have you been feeding your tom plants on any sort of schedule?
Hi Sojerd, thanks for your comments. I don't think your eyes are going bad it's just my camera macro is not powerful enough. I actually put a magnifying glass in front of the camera to further magnify it. I am not removing the plants yet and one of them have lots of flower and the other is dying. Feeding? .... Oops!!! no I had not .... I thought I had put in enough compost for its life span ... is that a stupid assumption?
No KK--it is not "stupid". Absolutely not. I will tell you though, when I see the first fruits forming I begin feeding the plants and I feed them every other week until I pull the plants out. Tom plants are VERY heavy feeders and if you want to have a continuance of flowering and fruits, then I feel that you can better feed them. It is a misconception to think that compost has a lot of "food" in it. It does not have that much at all. It is good for mulching and soil structure, but typically does not have very many of the elements that your plant needs.
I will jump in here with my two cents worth, We use dried egg shells, all blended in the blender, at the base of the tomato plants. Also Epsom salt scratched into the soil at the base of the plant, then watered. Its quite dry here, so we're using straw all around all the garden plants to retain moisture. Of three rows of potatoes, one was from store-bought which had sprouted, we dug the store bought an have three bags of mashed potato which we froze. We learned last year that frozen mashed potatoes are very tasty in mid winter.
Thanks Sojerd, much appreciated. I'll will definitely bear that in mind and practise it on my next batch of tomatoes. I do agree that compost does not have that much "food" but I am working towards self sufficient very small size veggie garden so I am staying away from chemical fertilisers or anything that is from outside my compound except for kitchen waste and seeds. Thanks Growingpains.
