OK... I know this isn't normal. These are Celebrity tomatoes and I KNOW they're not supposed to have polka dots on them.
Anyone know what's going on with these? I'm suspecting it's something like tobacco mosaic virus or some other virus/disease. Not all of my 'maters are like this. I harvested quite a few already that were "normal". This has happened just within the last week or so.
Thanks for your help!
Leaf footed bugs often cause spotting like that. Have you seen any ugly looking bugs in your garden lately?
I've been killing as many stink bugs as I can, but really haven't seen anywhere near as many as I had in the past. I think the drought has played a part in keeping a lot of insects from multiplying - except for the fleas! Then, too, as much as I hate to use chemicals on anything, we had such a bad infestation of fleas a couple months ago that my husband went to Solutions and picked up some expensive product that the guy said kills *everything*. He sprayed it on the lawn and sure enough, that took care of our flea problem. I noticed that there were a lot fewer insects around after that. (I kinda felt sorry for the birds and the little geckos who rely on insects for food; and while I do feed the birds, there's not much I can do for the geckos.)
I noticed, too, that the stink bugs seemed to be inordinately attracted to the cardoon plant that I have - and I've been able to kill a lot of them just by keeping tabs on the cardoon. But I haven't seen any recently. I really have to wonder if this is some kind of disease. I've never seen this before on tomatoes. I know that the stink bugs will suck the juices of the tomatoes and that that causes hard yellow spots, but these spots aren't hard. In fact, they're actually softer than the rest of the tomato.
Just in case, I don't think I want to eat these 'maters!
This is a shot of my cardoon. It's gotten to be quite large (about 5 feet in diameter) but I love it. In the spring it's a nursery for ladybugs. :)
OK... I think I've figured out what this is - Tomato spotted wilt virus. Caused by thrips. No cure - just pull and destroy the plants.
You have my sympathies :) Janet
Have you had this problem in the past, Janet?
I don't mind TOO MUCH having to pull the plants. I've got some other tomato plants going (Brandywine) in different parts of the back yard. It'll be a while before they're ready to start producing, but at least they seem to be doing ok thus far. Especially since they're shaded from the broiling hot sun for a good portion of the day. And I have a BrandyBoy in a bucket in a small (3.5' x 4') garden in front of my main garden, along with a wonderful tomato call B-B (very small but not the smallest variety of tomato) that I purchased at March Mart. (Wish I'd bought 2 more of these!)
Just about everything else in the garden is shot now. The cukes aren't producing much at all any more, and what's on the vines is taking forever and a year to grow - even though I have shade cloth over them. I pulled the bush beans weeks ago but had left some pole beans because they still had flowers on them. But the beans have been the same size for three weeks, so I figure they're done producing, too. I have one green pepper plant that has given me two peppers so far, but I don't expect more from that plant until the fall - if I can manage to keep it alive long enough. heh (I've never been able to harvest more than a couple peppers before fall and wonder if that's common for Houston.) As for the zucchini, I'm about ready to pull those plants, too, since they haven't produced much at all this year (I think I was over-watering them). The only squash plant that I had an abundance of is called Papaya Pear - but since my daughter didn't like it (she says they have a very bitter aftertaste to them, although I didn't find that to be so), and since I mainly plant a veggie garden for her and her family, I pulled those vines a month or so ago. Well, they got hit with powdery mildew anyway, so they wouldn't have lasted much longer on their own.
I planted a few okra seedlings that I started just a few days ago. But not in the veggie garden. In a couple of my flower beds. I love the okra flowers. Since I don't eat okra (other than in soup), I plan on giving away any produce that I might end up with. Okra does love the heat, that's for sure! I think it's about the only veggie that can really handle Houston's heat/humidity.
I have definitely had the stinkbug problem in years past but not the virus. And I guess since it is time for tomatoes to slow down &/or die here anyway, it's not too horrible if you have to pull them. It's just all the work that goes into the gardening--I hope my plants last a nice, long while! Good luck with the fall garden.
crOak, Have you tried grilled Okra? Brush with olive oil, coat with garlic powder and red pepper and grill on one side until you hear a POP! turn it over and grill the other side and serve as a side dish. Leave a portion of the stem on the okra for folks to use as a "handle" when eating. I grill on a griddle or a frying pan if it's too hot to go outside to the grill. They disappear really fast and I recently found out they have a lot of protein for their size and most veggies (other than beans) do not.
Grilled Okra sounds delicious! Thank you Steadycam!
Those spots look too big to be caused by leaf-footed or stink bugs. Could be a viral disease; how does the foliage look, normal or shoestring like (sign of virus). Another possibility is sun-scald - I have a few of those cause the foliage is scarce on that side of the plant especially from noon to late afternoon.
Ms. Tommie
