Problems on Tomatoes: How to Identify, Treat, and Prevent Issues on Fruit
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Problems on tomatoes can be from the onset of a disease, an attack from a tomato pest, or growing conditions that can lead to trouble.
Healthy tomato fruit are smooth. Skins are firm and have consistent color. In contrast, problems on tomatoes show themselves with spots or lesions on skin, other abnormal exterior markings, or inconsistent plant growth. As you monitor your plants daily, look carefully on all areas of the fruit. Look for these red flags on a particular areas of tomato fruit to quickly identify problems
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Top and shoulder
Anthracnose
Bacterial canker
Bacterial speck
Bacterial spot
Black mold
Buckeye rot
Late blight
Stink bugs
Target spot
Yellow or green shoulders
Stem end
Cracking
Early blight
Gray mold
Thrips
Tomato hornworm
White mold
Blossom end
Blossom end rot
Buckeye rot
Catfacing
Entire fruit
Cucumber mosaic virus
Gray wall
Hard core in tomato
Herbicide damage
Irregular ripening/ whitefly
Pysllids
Stink bugs
Sunscald
Tomato fruitworm
Tomato mosaic virus
Tomato spotted wilt virus
Zippering
Steps to take to prevent problems on tomato fruit
- Plant healthy, disease-free plants.
- Stake plants to allow good air circulation to fruit.
- Water at the base of plants. Overhead water spreads disease easily.
- Water in the morning or midday to minimize the amount of time fruit is wet.
- Monitor plants daily to check for pests.
- Avoid working on plants when fruit is wet.
- Remove and destroy affected plants at the end of the season.
- Solarize soil at the end of the season to destroy soil-borne fungi and bacteria.
- Rotate crops each year.
Get more help with tomato problems
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Tomato diseases: how to identify, control, and prevent them ...
Blossom end rot: how to identify, control, and prevent it ...
Tomato pests: how to identify, control, and prevent them ...
Are There Problems on Your Tomato Plant’s Fruit?
Is there a problem with your tomato fruit? Explain what the problem looks like. Share what tomato variety you’re growing and when you first noticed the problem. While you’re at it, describe your growing conditions, the weather, and how much water your plants have had. Any details you can share will help us help you with the problem on your tomatoes!
What Other Visitors Have Said
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Q. Why is the bottom of my tomato rotting while the fruit is on the vine?
Tomato Dirt responds ...
A. There are several possible scenarios that …
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Q. My tomatoes won't ripen on the stem end. Why?
A. There's at least two reasons your tomatoes may suffer from yellow shoulders or green shoulders. …
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A. I'm writing about the tomatoes we grew in a small garden in the Indianapolis, IN area this season. They were "Better Boy" tomatoes. When they first …
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Dear Tomato Dirt,
I picked my first red tomato off the vine. It has a split from stem to middle of tomato. The split if about a quarter inch wide …
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