Common Tomato Diseases & Cures

A common problem in todays gardens are treated as epidemics and often treated with the wrong things; come along with me as i show you just how easy it is to …
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Question by IRanOverUrCat: Please Help me with pests on tomato plants?
I have worms eating my tomato plants. They are black, green, and yellow striped worms. So far I have been removing them from the plants and disposing of them. I would like to know if anyone can help identify these culprits, and if you have any suggestions on how to keep them out of my garden, I would greatly appreciate your help.

Best answer:

Answer by matthew
I don’t like to use chemicals, but have you tried sevin dust? If not, you might want to try that. And be sure to get the dust, not the granules. Wash the tomatoes before eating.

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29 Comments

  1. Great video, nice to see a guy interested and knowledgeable about gardening. I just wanted to add a few suggestions. I’ve been dealing with Bacterial Canker for the first time ever this year. It’s often confused with, Early Blight & Bacterial Spot but is its own disease. It’s a seed borne disease. The only way to combat it is to purchase Bacterial Canker-free seeds. Anyway, I had no idea what it was until it destroyed my 12 tomato plant crop this year. It’s devastating and spreads easily.

  2. what is the ratio for epson salt do you dilute it with water?

  3. Me to, only mine is BLACK, only had 2 tomatoes so far and both have this black spot on it, almost half of the tom. What is it, and how do I stop it.

  4. Ahhhh, don’t you have to BUY Miracle Grow? Compose tea comes from your compose pile, just mix it with water

  5. Love your video but my problem is, we got 2 tomatoes so far and they both are black. Flat black on one side and I can’t find anything on u tube about my problem. They were not sitting on the ground.

  6. sounds like that could be your problem!

  7. yea but its affecting all but 1 of my tomato plants which would be odd for a bug to do such dont you think? I water once a day (most are in 5 gal buckets) and the other plants like watermelon and peppers are fine so I doubt its watering issues. Maybe the buckets arn’t draining properly, we dont have full sun. Happend last year also and the plant shriveled up and died about this time last year…dumb me used parts of the same compost but mixed in new compost and coir, perlite, rockdust.

  8. rock phosphate is a great source of phosphorus.

  9. i didnt notice this comment before i made my comment….what do you suggest for fast acting phoshorus uptake….cornmeal soak?

  10. just noticed a problem….i just got back from vaca and it looks like my container tomato plants are developing a purple like color at the ends of the outer most leaves…..it looks spore like and leaves are starting to curl down…pots are on a auto system that get watered 2x daily starting last week about 1.5 gal. each time…….i was told that it was a possible phosphate deficiency and to soak cornmeal in water for 7 hrs then strain so i can add to a strayer…i dont have the exact numbers

  11. That my friend is called curley top virus. it is transmitted by a bug and only effects that one plant, it won’t spread. once your plant has it, there is no hope for it. super sorry buddy.

  12. how about leaf curl and little growth… heat, sun?

  13. Very informative video as I do currently have some tomatoes with early blight. Thanks for the great suggestions! Great to see someone as young as you with the range of gardening knowledge and passion for being healthy by growing your own food!

  14. dont know how old you are but I love seeing a young gardener with passion !
    Your opinions about STUFF will change as time goes on …… but you dont have to lose your passion !
    …..Usually Organic…. Geno

  15. If you use plant tone can you still use compose tea or fish fertilizer and how much epsom salt do mix in the plant-tone?Thanks

  16. Also watch this guy: growingyourgreens

  17. Thank you so much!

  18. usually its caused from a lack of sunlight. easy fix, just space the plants out more next year.

  19. Luke, what about browning around the edges of the leaves? I’d like to take care of that problem!

  20. IMPORTANT!!! You need to specify that the diatomaceous earth needs to be FOOD GRADE!!! If you buy it from a pool place or big box they will sell you the poison!!!

  21. Agreed!

  22. Organic or dieeeee

  23. I only have a problem with people going crazy for growing 100% organic, it is not possible or realistic, the general population would starve, it has been tried in China, they quit buying fertilizer, try to live and work on 1300 calories a day, it is pretty tough. I try not to use anything, all the time, but switch up. I hope this is a little clearer for you.

  24. Miracle grow does not stay in the soil, it is 100% synthetic, it builds up salts which will kill plants and lower fertility, and it is blue….. I respect your opinion, however I strongly disagree that miracle grow would beat out compost tea.

  25. I like Miracle Grow, Compost tea is UNreliable! maybe it will do good, maybe nothing. Repellent is organic, right, like most things advertised as organic, just a hype to sell you something.

  26. The only really troublesome worm I ever had in my tomatoes was the Hickory Horned Devil. They can get really big, grow horns–I’m not kidding!–and eventually pupate into regal moths. If these sound like your worms, then you’ve got a couple options. They don’t often show up in large enough numbers to cause a real problem, but when I wanted get rid of them, I went the organic/old-school route of picking them off and stomping on them. That can be difficult, though, because they’re so well camouflaged. If that doesn’t work for you, there is an organic spray called Bacillus thuringiensis, or just BT in most circles, that works on caterpillars by interrupting their digestion and thus killing them off. In my experience, it doesn’t hurt mammals–people, pets, and the like–or, more importantly, your pollinators! Good luck!

  27. I believe Jenn has the correct answer. I used to use those buggers as BB- gun practice as a kid. None the less, BT is the safest answer and will get rid of them without hurting anything else.

  28. Is this what you are describing.

    http://www.gardengrapevine.com/TomatoWorm.html

  29. You need Bacillus thuringiensis, it is a pathogen that affects only caterpillars. They stop eating and die. It was discovered by graduate students at Oregon State University studying caterpillars. They notice some of the caterpillars they were studying would stop eating and die. They were able to isolate the naturally occurring pathogen and cultivate it in the lab. Now it is used on everything from Tobacco Horn Worm to the caterpillars in corn ears.

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