Here is another puzzler for you guys. I recently noticed two of my heirloom tomatoes plants have tiny black spots on them. The spots are the size of pins, and some areas have more spots than others.
Does anyone know what this is? Luckily the spots are only on 2 of my tomato plants Italian Heirloom and Green Sausage so I’m not too worried. But still, I’d like to know what caused these spots.
Any suggestions would be great!
~ Mavis
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Sherle says
Here’s a website for bacterial spot and speck that looks like what you have.
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hortcrop/pp736w.htm
Mavis says
Ah Ha! Thank you Sherle! Your Rock!
Katie says
Could be a sucking insect like a potato beetle or stink bug. Here in the southeast this year, we have had a horrible problem with stink bugs. They have piercing mouths and make tiny holes in the fruit, then inject a toxin that turns the fruit into liquid so it can be consumed by the bugs. You should be able to see the bugs, as they are big enough to notice on the fruit.
Warm winters caused a surge in their population this year. We’ve had no luck with our tomatoes…..all 100+ plants. Its been beyond disappointing.
Good luck!
Trish says
Mavis,
I lost all my tomatoes to the bugs also- have to battle them every year. I found a good picture of the little pests on this website:
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/gardening/entries/gardening_101_tomatoes/
They morph from little tiny orange bugs that swarm on individual tomatoes, and then they get bigger and turn into grey flying bugs. They can be killed organically if you check the plants every day (which I did not, so they got out of control). Last year, I would take a large container with a lid and place a small amount of water and dishsoap in it and shake it to make it really bubbly. Then I place the open container under the orange (not yet able to fly) bugs and gently tap them into the soapy water to drown and put the lid on the container. A wide mouthed container is best for this. Once they get to the grey, evil flying bug stage, they are not as easy to dispose of, but I put on a pair of greenish colored gloves, and moving my little pinchy fingers toward them slowly, I snatch out and grab them and squish them or throw them in the soapy water. If you move slowly enough and blend in with the plant color-wise, they are wary, but they won’t fly away right away. Better to catch them when they are small and orange though, as they are much easier to kill that way.