Identifying and Treating Tomato Diseases: Blossom End Rot (BER), Early Blight, Leaf Spot

I talk in depth about Blossom End Rot and why it occurs and how to address it. I also show you how to identify tomato leaf spot diseases. I covered spraying in other videos but do a quick review of different products you can use. I also talk about strategies for growing tomatoes so you can manage diseases and still get tomatoes.

Please Help Support My Channel: The Rusted Garden - Thanks!

Here is The Rusted Garden Link to Amazon for Seed Starting & Gardening Supplies

[THERUSTEDGARDEN]

I have Neem Oil, Peppermint Oil, Sprayers, Seeds and so much more at my shop...Please check out my Seed & Garden Shop for your gardening needs at www.therustedgarden.com

[lika]

I felt like I was the only fustrated gardener. Thanks for this video

[abuxxx]

just subscribed not just because you have good vids but the reply in every comment. means a lot,

[prettypothosme]

The last two years I have had a big garden. While I love it, it really does tie me down in July and August and my family is upset because I had to duck out of vacations with them because of the garden, so I may have to cut back. I found that the early garden is my favorite, the greens, radishes, and stick onions.

[gazellerose]

This is d best garden chanel on you tube

[denisea]

what do you do with the soil in the pots of the plants that have diseases? I have a tomato plant that died from the top down in a 25 gallon grow bag can you reuse that soil?

[andrewkim]

First time gardener, tomatoes are starting to come in and I'm excited. Thanks for all your help! Sorry to see your fungus problems

[garden_geek]

I was convinced that my tomato plant had early blight so I just sprayed a copper fungicide. Now you’ve taught me it’s actually brown leaf spot. I’m glad the treatment is the same!

[browntownorganics]

I used your suggestion of baking soda spray and I see really no signs of blight on mine, I'm in south east Virginia. I really enjoy your videos and have learned a lot from you.

[LiliansGardens]

I remember this video when you posted it. Thanks always for showing how we can rescue from blight disease

[Donnybrook]

I believe I have these problems solved...I used to deal w/ early blight and leaf spot every year which seriously limited my harvest and shortened my season. This year, I built proper 4x8 beds with deep soil. I use no chemicals other than one or two early rounds or organic fertilizer until the plants are well established. Nothing once blossoms appear. Collected rain water when I have it... I also decreased my watering to once per week. Let your plants tell you when they want water. I feel the soil hand at a depth of 4-6 inches and if it's still moist, no watering. I started pruning any affected leaves at very first sign of problems. I keep an eye on the area I pruned and if I see more blight or spots, I prune the entire branch with scissors. I grow San Marzanos and other heirloom paste varieties which have no resistance and are very susceptible to these problems. As the plant gets bigger, I prune the entire lower branches at the stem at least 12 to 16 inches from the ground. I now have a full 2 feet from the ground with no leaves or branches because I pruned them as they grew. This prevents any spatter during watering. I put cheap walmart box fans at one end of my beds at the ground level which I use to ventilate the lower parts of the plants often...especially after watering or rains. I duct tape plastic garbage bags on the tops of the fans to protect them from rain. They are gong strong. It's now August. I have 70+ plants at 6-8 feet each. No disease, no yellow leaves, no spots and heavy production of perfect tomatoes. They are thriving. I also bought 16' cattle panels from tractor supply and bent them in half making A-frame type trellises. They are an easy method to keep your tomatoes growing upward with strong structure. You will have them forever. These also provide the ability to protect your plants w/ plastic tarps during prolonged rains and heavy winds. This forms a makeshift greenhouse when needed which can be easily rolled up and tied at the tops or removed. I had a short bout with Blossom End Rot in a few tomatoes but sprayed a healthy dose of dissolved Tums onto the leaves, stems and extra roots growing out of the stems. The BEM are all gone. Harvest will be heavy and beautiful. I will invest in soaker hoses or better irrigation next season and probably put black or red plastic down over the soil. Azomite was also added to my soil this year and the plants are phenomal. The taste is much better than past years.

[superjake]

I attempted to fight a bad outbreak of septoria leaf spot on my tomatoes and downy mildew on my cucumbers, but sadly I think I was too late. By the time I sprayed almost all leaves had had brown spots (within a couple days of the first sign). The serenade I used fought it off for a week or so, but it was already established in the plant and mostly all the leaves have died off and the fruit has rotted from the leaf spot! Same thing with downy mildew....It's amazing how quickly these diseases get going! Great video, Gary.

[charliewilliams]

Thank you thank you thank you I'm sorry you had this problem but I'm glad you shared it with us. I'm new at gardening so it's hard for me to tell different diseases and natural end of plant life. I use both the products you mentioned. The first yr I did use the actinovate the problem with it is that it cost a 25$ to 35$ and the shelf life isn't very long and I'm on a budget I'm disabled so it really helps that you mentioned the products that I'm using. I'm not gonna lie the actinovate seems to be a very good product. Mostly I never know if I should just pull the plant so by the end of the yr only my cherry tomatoes be still going I havent had a really big tomato plant that last to the end of the yr and it may have been I just pulled it hoping to keep down disease. But once again thank you for sharing. So if I get early blight in my container plants I can re use that soil late blight I cant how can I tell the difference between late blight and early? I'm so glad to have found you been with you since I started and learned alot God bless

[fatheadfathead]

Best advice yet! I started my garden just by watching your videos! Keep up the good work

[mitzizintel]

Like your videos very helpful it would be nice if you could zoom in on plants showing signs of dieases just a observation .

[SuperKingslaw]

I wonder if you could crush up dried egg shells in a mortar and pestle, then treat it with a tablespoon of white vinegar to make the calcium more readily available for immediate use in the garden to treat BER? I would love to hear your opinion or demonstration of this.

[amalzohair]

Thanks Gary for all the information you share

[tlgardens]

Very valuable video. Thank you for sharing the various challenges tomatoes can face and how to best deal with them. You're the best!!

[rayray]

Good video, very good information!

Folks, here’s my experience. if you already have blossom-end rot in your tomatoes, or better still, BEFORE IT HAPPENS, simply dilute cows milk (any milk, 1%, 2%, 3 weeks old, totally spoiled, half price, rotten, doesn’t matter) and sprinkle it all over the plant with a watering can and then saturate the root area. The effect is virtually instant, is ‘organic’ (whatever that means), and will stop BER completely - UNLESS YOU’VE WAITED TOO LONG (more than a couple of days) until the condition is endemic, ie, has spread through the entire plant. I’ve also used human calcium supplements crushed and dissolved in water but this is a bit expensive and was only used the first time I experienced the issue when I panicked a bit. Did it work? YES! Is it organic? Who cares - if it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough for my tomatoes. In any case, I’m pretty sure these things don’t drop out of the backend of a cow but it got me a truckload of tomatoes that year. Survival of the smartest.

As for early blight, the baking soda - dish detergent - vinegar - blah, blah - whatever stuff DOESN’T WORK!! DONT WASTE YOUR TIME or your baking soda…use it to make muffins. The ONLY cure for early leaf mould, in my experience, is cooler less humid weather. For late blight it doesn’t matter, your plants are going to die in 2 weeks anyway. Pick everything you can get that’s ripe and turn the rest into hotdog relish.

And finally, DON’T KILL SQUASH/CUCUMBER BEETLES!!! During years when there is a low bee population, they’re about the only thing pollinating your cucurbits - they’re the very reason you have more zucchinis than friends. In my humble many-season experience, they spend most of their time inside squash blossoms and cause NO damage to the plants. If you have a total infestation it might be different but that’s not been my experience. Anyway, that’s it. Happy gardening.

[amandacribb]

Hi, like your videos.
I always put an egg into base of tomato to stop this. I also use pond water every day.
I don't have this problem.