Tomato question

Hi Folks,

The leaves on my tomatoes have started doing strange things. What does it look like to you? It started happening right around the time I started applying a worm casting tea. Is it possible that the worm castings had an herbicide in the mix? What do you think?

Well, this is embarrassing. I can't find the upload a pic button. How do I upload a pic?

Perplexed and bummed.
Bart

Hopefully this link of the tomato leaves will work.

https://2img.net/h/i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y433/BartJY/IMG_7057_zpstpsjumap.jpg

What do you think it is? Could the company that sold the worm castings have a batch that had herbicide in it?

Bart

Hi Bart, two things for you. First, I have seen something similar to what your tomatoes are doing, but it was after the plant was damaged, it grew back that way. Not sure if that is the case for you though. Hopefully some of the folks here can help you out.
Second, if you want a great video on how to upload pics, go to the home page.
Go to the second topic in the Square Foot Gardening (in the green border) which is "How to" and click the green button-do things on the forum.
Then click on the third sticky-
Sticky: Video Tutorial: How to Post a Picture Located on Your Computer
by gwennifer

It is a very well done vid, it took all the fuss out of pics on this site for me.
Rock

Sorry to hear about your leaves.  Does it start at the bottom leaves or all of them?

It started at the top.

Bart

I haven't seen/experienced this in person, but your photo does look like the pictures I'm seeing of damage to tomatoes by 2,4 D online (I'd guess other synthetic auxin type herbacides would cause similar looking damage.) I'm reading that sprayed herbicide can drift or be volatilized and blown -- so one of your neighbors lawn treatments, or a nearby farmer, or roadside/right-of-way/power line maintenance could have coincidentally sprayed around the same time, rather than your worm castings necessarily being at fault.

I live near a field where corn is growing and my neighbor is doing something to his yard. So, it could be either one......

Bart

Are they curling up or down? Downward could be curly leaf disease transmitted by an insect. I had that in 2014. The good news is that it stops with that plant, it's not contagious unless you have the vector insect. You can reuse the Mix the next year.

Down ward, I don't know. I look to others for information, wisdom and advice.

I'm not sure but you can research this: 2,4-D may be added to glyphosate/Roundup. Talking to the neighbor and corn farmer is one way to find out what they are spraying and when.

sanderson wrote:Are they curling up or down? Downward could be curly leaf disease transmitted by an insect. I had that in 2014. The good news is that it stops with that plant, it's not contagious unless you have the vector insect. You can reuse the Mix the next year.

Have a look at the pic that I provided a link for.

https://2img.net/h/i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y433/BartJY/IMG_7057_zpstpsjumap.jpg

The next door neighbor is using vinegar. So, I don't think it's him

Bart

I can't really tell in the photo.

Hi Folks,

The other leaves are okay. It's just the newer leaves that are effected. We have corn fields near by and a neighbor up the road that has a company that comes by and does work on his yard. I suspect that one of the two areas probably used some sort of herbicide that drifted on the air and wound up on my tomatoes. I hope all is not lost and that the plants can grow through this.

Bart

Bart, Do you feel up to visiting these neighbors? It would be nice, if one of them is spraying a herbicide, that they would give you a heads up so you could cover your plants for a few hours. You could give them some healthy tomatoes or other produce in return if they will work with you in the future.

You may be able to get assistance in confirming whether what you are experiencing is due to herbicide drift, and getting a better idea of what your options are, especially if you feel you need more knowledge/leverage before talking to the farmer neighbor. I don't know if they'll take you seriously, or on the other extreme, take the whole thing more seriously than you may like, but it's something to look into:

http://npic.orst.edu/incidents.html#app:
"Each state has a designated state pesticide regulatory agency that regulates most pesticide-related matters. They have the primary responsibility to investigate pesticide incidents, including potential pesticide misuse, drift, and off-target impacts"

"Whatever the pesticide regulations are in your state, potential violations should be reported to the state pesticide regulatory agency. The types of situations you may want to report include pesticide drift "...

http://npic.orst.edu/mlrDetail.html?lang=en&to=SPE&state=VA#statePesticide
State: VA Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Office of Pesticide Services
Phone 2:804-371-6560 (incident reporting)

Bart, contact your local extension service for a positive ID of the problem, it looks like a virus symptom to me. But the photo didn't really show much.

Yes, extension agent.  

http://today.agrilife.org/2015/01/21/etx-commercial-fruit-and-vegetable-conference-2/

Not sure.  Could be drift, virus, or residue in compost. Do you make your own compost, Bart?  

I think you have a waiting game.