Blossom end rot of tomato has been showing up in some protected growing structures. This article reviews the disorder and summarizes preventive practices. Blossom end rot is a physiological disorder caused by a deficient supply of calcium to the developing fruit. It is a common problem on tomatoes, but can also occur on peppers, eggplants,[Read More…]
Tomato
2015 marks the 40th year of my career as an entomologist and I still am surprised on a regular basis by how insects behave. I put out a corn earworm pheromone trap on May 14 and immediately caught 7 moths that night. Over the next three nights, I caught 36 moths. Typically, the few earworms[Read More…]
Symptoms of this disease include tomato plants with lower leaves that become yellow (chlorotic) and die; plants that begin to wilt; a lesion on the lower stem at ground level (Figures 1 and 2). If tomato plants are removed from the soil and carefully split open from the ground level, a discoloration of the vascular tissue[Read More…]
Last year at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center (SWPAC) we conducted a tomato high tunnel trial described here. In this article, I would like to talk about the trial we will conduct in 2015, a repeat of the 2014 trial. In particular, I would like to talk about what we have done for fertility.[Read More…]
This is the time of year when growers often call to complain about tomato transplants that do not look right. One possibility is that the seedlings suffer from heater problems. In particular, tomato plants are very susceptible to damage from the gas ethylene. In Figure 1, some of the seedlings have leaves that are curled down and stems that are twisted (epinasty in[Read More…]
Sometimes newly transplanted crops don’t take off like we’d expect. Consider the newly transplanted tomato seedlings in these images. In Figure 1, lower leaves are chlorotic (yellow) and leaflet edges and leaves curl downward. In Figure 2, lower leaves are chlorotic or bleached and some had necrotic (dead) spots. In Figure 3, some leaves have[Read More…]
In early March, I observed white mold of recently transplanted tomato plants in a greenhouse situation. I have described the symptoms, biology and management of white mold at https://ag.purdue.edu/arp/swpap/VeggieDiseasesBlog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=18 . I have never observed white mold (a.k.a, timber rot) in February before. I have observed white mold of tomato transplants in April. However, the very[Read More…]
One way insects communicate with individuals of the same species is with pheromones. Pheromones are volatile chemicals released by an insect that usually can be detected only by individuals of the same species. There are a number of different types of pheromones, but the most common type is the sex pheromone. Usually the females will[Read More…]
Bacterial spot of tomato is one of the most serious diseases facing tomato growers in Indiana. As described at Vegetable Diseases in Greenhouses (PDF), bacterial spot is more of a problem for field tomatoes than for greenhouse tomatoes. Symptoms and management of bacterial spot are described briefly at Bacterial Spot of Tomato and Pepper (PDF). A more detailed[Read More…]