A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Help with white stuff on tomato plant leaves!

I read it might be mildew but i need confirmation! These are my first plants and i want to get some tomatoes. Please help with this disease or whatever it is THANKS~!

It does look like Powdery Mildew to me. Good Luck
Christine

looks like mildew to me too

so how can i get it off? is it there forever? and is it safe for my plant?

heres what my book says,improve air circulation by thinning or pruning.Plant in full sun. Use overhead watering system. Spray with a mix of baking soda and horticultural oil. Prune out affected areas. Hope that helps, also google powdery mildew and you'll find alot more info.
Christine

Looks to me like the soil is much to rich for seedlings or you're trying to foliar feed with Miracle -Gro. Hate to say it, but those plants are in bad shape. You could help us help you if you could give details on where they're growing, what you're using for light, and all that sort of information. I notice you didn't list your location or growing zone under your nickname, so I can't advise you on whether it's time to plant them out, which would be best for plants that size. Transplanting to containers inside, under those same conditions, won't help unless you take care of the issues that caused your problems. I would not try to treat for powdery mildew, even if that is the problem, a healthy tomato plant should never succumb to powdery mildew.

I started my mater seeds in straight compost, so from MY experience the soil being too rich may not be a factor? I'd put some liquid dish det in a spray bottle and spray them down. then put a fan on them for air circulation.
my tomatoe seedlings are outside full time right now. we are having lows in the 40's. if temps get close to freezing I'll bring my indoors for the night.
I don't know where you are so I can't give too much more advice.
tomatoes are pretty hardy in general though. I believe if you kill the mold and prevent them from molding again you'll be fine.

Nice bra there!

You have transplants outside at 40F?! What variety is that?

mine are big boy hybrid. but, like I was saying on another thread a day or so ago, down here the lowes, walmarts, ect, have their tomatoes and peppers out in the parking lot for sale. they stay out with 40's during the night. I used to baby my seedlings until I realized what they were doing.
you can't believe everything you read. sometimes you just gotta try it yourself and give mother nature a bit of credit.

yes, well, the problem here is lack of information. Powdery mildew should go away if the plants can go outside where they can get plenty of sun and air circulation, but we don't know anything else about where they are, etc. I'm not thinking rich soil had anything to do with powdery mildew, but some of those leaves have tip burn and lesions which could be from excess nitrogen. Depending on the variety, those leaves could either be showing curl from stress, or that could be the natural shape for that variety.
I know what you mean about those plants at WM etc., cricket...they leave them out in ALL kinds of weather, what kills me is that they aren't destroyed by 50 plus mph wind the first day they're set out! hehe
I let mine endure some extremes myself when I harden them off.

Those leaves appear to be rugose on a plant like a Red Robin. I would turn a fan on the plants to help dissipate the PM and wipe them with some very diluted soapy water or milk. If you are using Miracle Grow, use it quarter or half strength, but not if you are using Miracle Potting Mix. I've grown Red Robins successfully in the house in Colorado winters (I have some sprouts now) but in addition to natural light I sat them under fluorescents too, for longer periods of light. It takes a bit more attention, but it can be done. I would also add some potting mix to that planter to give the roots a bit more room. I don't think your plants are a lost cause at all, just need a little attention. :)

Well i live in Hawaii so it doesnt get that cold here although its been pretty cold for a few nights(another cold front came in).cold as in probably 68-70 degrees at the lowest.I'm 15 and these are my first tomato plants so a lot of help would be nice.I bought them from home depot and the tag thing says "Better Bush Cherry". Thanks
oh yeah and I might be crazy but I'm just trying to grow these indoors the whole time. I live in an apartment so thats my only option.Until spring comes, i wont be able to get any sun

OK, Sean, we've got some of the best tomato growers helping with this advice.

Pepp was right. You are over fertilizing. Don't kill them with kindness. Knowing the variety and where you are growing helps a great deal, thank you for that. :)

1. flush the soilmix by deliberately overwatering to wash out the excess fertilizer.
2. let it dry out until almost completely dry.
3. try to raise the temp and give them more sun. They particularly need more sun.
4. let a small fan breeze your plant. Not a strong one, just a little breeze.

Let the surface soil dry but not so much that the rootball dries out.

When you start watering again, use the diluted Miracle Gro as I suggested previously. Don't use it as it tells you to. K? I'll keep tabs on this to see how you are doing. Pepp knows me. Sorellina knows me. Elk knows me. I will do my best to help you, Sean. :)

One more thing... make sure there are enough drain holes in that pot for the water to wash the salts out of the soil. Good luck, Sean. You can do it!

Shelley

yep, I'll try to help, too, we can help you make the most of the situation. Some helpful info would be, what light source do you have? window? What exposure, North, South,.....are you using supplemental light, grolight, flourescent? Did you transplant from the original containers? What soil? You've got a little advice to start with from everyone, good advice, use a non-scented dishsoap that is NOT the antibacterial type to knock back the PM and get air on them immediatley, flush soil a shelley said and then lets address light, etc.
You have some good gardeners to advise you, please keep working on this!

okay let me a try again. I live in an apartment and its winter so i basically dont get any sunlight. I'm trying to grow these indoors forever so I have to wait for spring to get sun. A small amount of sun is starting to hit the leaves already but its probably 1% of what the plants need.I have miracle grow potting mix and miracle grow slow release food(not the liquid). I also tried a baking soda remedy which killed my other plant but because I sprayed a lot and because(now i know) i didnt give it any air.oh yeah one more thing, my tallest plant has a yellow bud and it didnt open yet.what does that mean. I hope this info helps and thanks everyone for your advice.

Gotcha on the indoor growing, Sean. What Pepp and I are saying is the potting mix would have been enough fertilization for the plant. It is overdosing on fertilizer right now. What you need to do is flush the extra fertilizer out of the soil. I would put the planter under the sink faucet and turn it on. Take the drain pan off. Let the plant sit and drain for a bit to get the excess water out. Put it back on the drain pan. Let the soil get dry. Use a fan to help. Then slowly start watering it again. No more fertilizer for awhile.

The light is VERY important to tomatoes. You can do it inside -- but you are going to have to help it with artificial light. Doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. Do you have a drafting lamp or something like that? Put a 23W (100W incandescent equivalent) compact fluorescent bulb in it and turn it on the plant from above, shining down on the plant. To capture more natural light, you can make a reflector with some cardboard and foil or mylar. I did this with Red Robins. You cover two or three sides of a box covered with foil or mylar and wrap it around the planter. That will help more of the natural light onto the whole plant. You can do this in a three-sided U shape or a two-sided V shape behind the planter. (See the one sided one I used in the photo below.)

I didn't know you had sprayed it with baking soda. OK. That might be the residue and the cause of some of the leaf burning. I always start with dawn dish soap or milk very diluted with water and gently wipe them. You should gently wipe the leaves with a damp cloth to get any more residue off of them.

Glad to hear you have a flower bud, but I honestly would pinch it off. You need to get the plants healthy first. A healthy plant will produce for you. I know, I hate it too, but it will be better for the plant in the long run. That first bud is exciting but you've got some doctoring to do first. Stay with it. :)

By all means, yeah, pinch off that bud, the plant doesn't need to put energy into fruit right now, and in fact, flowering in this case is a sign of stress. The reflecter will add considerably to natural light...any way you can add artificial light?

I cant get artificial light because my mom would get real mad if there are extra stuff around the house and also because if she sees a light on all i'll here is "Your wasting electric turn it off now!". okay so regarding the fertilizer, can i just dig it out? And if i can, when will it be alright to put it back in my container? and regarding the baking soda, i had to throw the plant away because it wa messed up in the morning so i bought a new one so the white stuff and leaf burning is not because of it. I only sprayed it on one plant to test it out.And as soon as i get regular sunlight into my room ill definetly put those reflectors. Thank you very much for all of the help so far. Here's a pic of my "garden" space because maybe it would help out more.

Good Luck with your garden :>) You have a very nice view out that window....
Christine

That is a wonderful view, Christine. We envy your view, Sean. Very nice! :)

Sean, I honestly wouldn't go poking around in the soil with my fingers or a spoon or the like. The plants are stressed from the fertilizer and poking around in their roots would probably stress them more. It would be best if you could take the planter and put it under the faucet and flush the soil, but if you can't do that, we'll deal with it. Just no more fertilizer for awhile. :) Did you use Osmocote or something like that? For plants the next time around if you use Miracle Grow potting mix (or any that has fertilizer) don't use any fertilizer with it until several weeks later.

Even though you don't have any direct sun yet, it would really help to put a reflector around them to capture what natural light you do have. At least turn the planter around every day so both sides get some natural light.

They look a little better in the latest picture. Just hang in there, Sean. We have all tried to help our plants and gone a little overboard. I sure have and I bet every gardener in here has done it too. :)

Stay with it.

thanks for the very encouraging words and i use to use osmocote which was 14-14-14 but then i did a soil test and my nitrogen and something else was really high so i downgraded to the miracle grow slow release thing which is 10-10-10.thanks a lot though everyone. i really appreciate it

Hi, Sean, I was just wondering how your plants are doing. Hope they are doing ok. Take care!

well. not good:( We have had very very chilly weather(hawaii standards) and so I have given up on them except my tallest plant because it is blooming flowers.dont worry though. im waiting till spring so I can really start making tomatoes.Im going to replace my soil and get new plants so that i can start fresh again since i know what to do now

Well, I'm sorry things seemed to snowball on you -- it happens to most of us at one point or another -- but it was a learning experience. You are a gardener because you care about your plants and you will keep trying. Good for you! Good luck and keep us updated. spring is just around the corner and plenty of sun for that window garden.

This is just an idea, but what do you think about starting some new plants right now. Your growing season is just beginning, and your regional weather conditions are ideal for growing tomatoes. I'm a little bit late to help with your situation, but I may be able to offer some additional advice, considering that I have attempted to grow a tomato crop indoors (however unsuccessfully). In my experience, the biggest obstacle to growing tomatoes inside is the soil and the light. The window (with the spectacular view) will probably provide enough quality light, but tomatoes are very hungry plants requiring a ton of organic matter. If you are interested, I can give you some details about my successes and failures with indoor tomatoes.

Hi,

I was happy to see your post and all the responses vice more than 3 years later. Everyone's feedback helped me understand what went wrong with my tomatoes.

I too had PM. My husband insisted my plants needed more light. There wasn't a lot of air circulation in their tucked away corner too.

Over the Labor Day weekend, we constructed a wicking box with an old 55+ gallon cooler. It's pretty awesome. I'm still impressed. The tomatoes started growing faster than I'd ever seen. Once they grew past a certain height, say 12", we noticed white stuff on the leaves.

Ok, I was pessimistic. Before I transplanted the seedlings into the wicking box, actually even before they were "born", I threw about 25-30 seeds into a pot. To my surprise, they started growing. Then, rather than separate the seedling bunches, I transplanted them, bunches intact, into the wicking box. I think that might've contributed to their demise.

So, lack of sufficient sunlight, poor air circulation, and overcrowding contributed to unhealthy, dying tomato plants.

In the same wicking box, today, I transplanted 2 types of basil and green onion. The tomatoes were kinda traumatizing for me. I'll try again another time. It was kinda heartbreaking to pull all of those vines out of the soil.