August 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Is your summer tomato crop struggling with strange spots, brown mushy bottoms, or mysteriously vanishing leaves? You’re not alone! Mid-season brings a whole host of challenges for tomato gardeners, but with a little know-how, you can keep your plants thriving through to fall.
Today on Just Grow Something, I dig deep into the four biggest summer tomato problems: blossom end rot, tomato hornworms, nutrient imbalances, and common leaf diseases like Septoria and early blight. Learn how fluctuating moisture leads to blossom end rot (hint: it’s not just about calcium!), practical mulching and watering tips for every growing setup, including containers, raised beds, and in-ground gardens, and why choosing the right fertilizer at the right time can make all the difference.
I share a trick for spotting hornworms at night, how often to feed tomatoes in pots vs. beds, the signs and treatment of tomato leaf diseases, and the most effective organic control methods (from copper sprays to simple sanitation practices). I also share how to manage disease outbreaks, when to prune, and why fall tomato harvests are totally worth the effort.
Whether you’re a first-time tomato grower or a seasoned gardener facing a tough summer, this episode is packed with easy, practical solutions to keep your plants producing. Let’s dig in!
Save 20% on your new own-root rose plant at Heirloom Roses with code JUSTGROW at https://heirloomroses.com
Full show notes available at https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/summer-tomato-problems-ep-262
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
OK, my gardening friends, today we are talking tomatoes.
Specifically, what in the world is going on with your tomatoes
in the middle of the summer? So if the bottoms of your fruit
are turning brown and mushy, if the leaves have been
mysteriously disappearing overnight, the plants just look
pale and puny, or they are suddenly covered in funky spots,
(00:22):
hang tight. We are digging deep into what I
would consider to be probably the four biggest Midsummer
tomato problems Based on what you all send to me, Blossom and
rot, hornworms, nutrient imbalances and diseases.
So today on Just Grow Something,I'm going to break it down with
practical steps that you can take whether you're growing in
(00:44):
ground, in raised beds, or in containers.
Let's dig in. Hey, I'm Karen, and what started
as a small backyard garden 20 years ago turned into a lifelong
passion for growing food. Now as a market farmer and
horticulturist, I want to help you do the same.
On this podcast, I am your friend in the garden teaching
evidence based techniques to help you grow your favorites and
(01:04):
build confidence in your own garden space.
So grab your garden journal and a cup of coffee and get ready to
just grow something. So I get direct messages all the
time with pictures from people, especially this time of year
when it's like, Oh my gosh, whatis going on with my tomato
plants? I also see this in a lot of the
(01:26):
Facebook groups that we're part of.
I haven't seen very many this year in the Just Grow Something
gardening friends Facebook group, which hint, hint, nudge,
nudge, if you're not in there, get in there.
So either I have educated you guys a lot about this and nobody
has any problems or it's just that, you know, you're not
asking in the group. But these are all the things
that I see, especially with beginning gardeners or somebody
(01:49):
who hasn't grown tomatoes beforethat they start to freak out
about. So that first one is blossom and
rot. Generally speaking, we can see
this at two times the year. Sometimes it is very, very early
in the season if you are living in a very rainy area or an area
where that you get like the heavy spring rains to start
(02:09):
with. And oftentimes this is shortly
after you have gotten your tomato plants in the ground.
That fluctuating water is going to tend to produce some blossom
and rot, at least in the first few fruits.
But then the plant kind of acclimates and it gets its thing
going. But then we also can see that
again here in the Midsummer and leaning in towards the late
(02:30):
summer, blossom and rot is a calcium deficiency, but it is
not a deficiency necessarily with the soil.
We don't necessarily have low soil calcium.
It is actually a physiological disorder disorder that is caused
by a calcium deficiency in the fruit itself.
(02:51):
Calcium is notoriously slow moving in soil and in plants.
This has a lot to do with its charge, the charge of the atom.
But essentially when we have fluctuating water availability,
that is going to block the calcium uptake.
(03:12):
So even if your soil has plenty of calcium in it, the plant
can't access it as well. And So what you'll see is these
sunken brown or black patches atthe fruit blossom end, hence the
term blossom end rot. And oftentimes this starts to
(03:33):
happen around the mid summer. This, by the way, is not
restricted to tomatoes. You can get this in your
squashes, your zucchinis. You can get them in eggplant or
Peppers. So this isn't just, you know,
relating to our tomatoes, but itis something that we see most
frequently in tomatoes. The way to combat this number
(03:54):
one is by using mulch. If you can mulch really, really
heavily, that is going to help keep that soil moisture more
consistent. And then if you are having to
water once again, less frequent,more thorough waterings, we, we
want the roots to have access tothe water.
(04:15):
That's what we mean by consistent moisture, not
necessarily that you are watering all the time.
We want to water deeply, but we want it to be sort of that
access to be fairly even. So less frequent, more
thoroughly, so deep and regular,but not short and sporadic
essentially is what we're going for.
(04:35):
OK, that's for your in ground beds, but also for your raised
beds. I mean, the same rules apply in
terms of using mulch to help trap that moisture and also to
keep the root zone cooler. But also in, in raised planters,
we want to double check our drainage.
So make sure that the runner, the water is not running off
before it soaks in, or make surethat you know when you're
(04:58):
watering very, very deeply or you're getting a very deep
rainfall that the bottoms of those beds are draining properly
as well. You don't have that those roots
sitting in water all the time. It's kind of a double edged
sword, like too dry and the calcium can't move, too wet and
the calcium can't move. So we just want to make sure
that it's a consistent level of moisture.
(05:19):
And then with containers, you might actually see this a little
bit more frequently than those of us gardening in like raised
beds or in ground. So because it is a little bit
more difficult sometimes to manage the moisture level in
pots. So I would always recommend
planting in the largest container you can for the plant
(05:42):
that you are growing. So for tomatoes, I would
recommend something that's a minimum of 5 gallons.
If you can get away with 10 gallons, that's even better if
that larger volume of soil is going to allow you to hold on to
more of that moisture. And so that's going to be better
for the plant. I would also recommend using a
balanced slow release type of a fertilizer that includes some
(06:06):
calcium because once again, remember we have a limited
volume of soil, which means thatsoil can hold a limited amount
of nutrients. So we need to be replacing those
nutrients. And oftentimes, you know,
potting soil and stuff isn't going to include a ton in terms
of calcium. So you want to make sure that
you are including some of this. Now you might hear, you know,
(06:28):
people talking about adding crushed egg shells or even a
Tums tablet that sort of can help, but it it isn't going to
help immediately. It's something that you would
want to do like as you are putting the soil together at the
beginning of the season or when you're planting the plant, so it
gets a chance to break down and release into that soil.
So just look for amendments thatactually have some calcium in
(06:52):
them or something that says it'sgot the micronutrients right.
Once you see this blossom and rot on the fruit, there is no
way to reverse it. So you immediately just need to
go ahead and pull that fruit. If you want to, you can cut that
part off and the rest of it's going to be fine.
Obviously you have to use it right away.
(07:12):
So once you see it happening, you want to sort of take these
steps to make sure that you havea really good mulch around there
you are, you know, kind of seeing what the the moisture
level is like. Now, obviously, if you've been
in an area like us where it has just dumped buckets of rain off
and on it it the most of the summer, then there's only so
much you can do to fix that. Mulch is going to help.
(07:36):
So if you have a good layer of an organic mulch, this is going
to help to slow some of that water down and it gives the
chance of the soil to be able toabsorb it rather than it just
running off and then hold on to it.
So this is going to help you a little bit, but at some point,
you know, the soil can only takeso much and there's only so much
(07:56):
you can do. So, but if it's a case of
watering, then you can prevent the next fruit from getting that
blossom and rot if you can modify what it is that you are
doing as the gardener. OK, the second thing is those
tomato hornworms, If you've never experienced these guys
(08:18):
before it, it is amazing the devastation that these little
buggers can do just overnight. It can completely strip the
foliage off of a plant just in the overnight hours.
They're like these little ninjasright?
One day your plant looks fine, the next day you come out it
(08:38):
looks like someone took a weed whacker to them or just went
through and cut all of the the leaves off It's insane.
If you have seen these guys theyare big fat green caterpillars.
They have a horn like thing on them.
That's hence the term hornworm. They blend in to your plants
like camouflage. You really have to know what you
(09:00):
are looking for when you are looking for these guys.
And they will mow down leaves, they will munch on the fruit and
they leave behind little dark droppings.
This is like their calling card.You almost know that you have a
hornworm before you see the defoliation.
If you recognize the worm poop, OK, This is how you handle them
(09:20):
because they have to be handled.They are so destructive.
It's it's it's crazy. A little trick that I learned
was to take a black light out after the sun goes down.
Hornworms glow neons on green under UV light and so if you go
out with a handheld black light after dark, you will be able to
(09:42):
very easily see them and then just hand pick them off.
OK, if you are squeamish, you are going to want to have gloves
on. Even if you're not squeamish,
you might want to have gloves onbecause these guys can really
grab on and you it's just very disconcerting to have them like
grab onto you while you're trying to throw them into your
(10:03):
bucket or whatever. OK, so, but you as soon as you
see this defoliation starting tohappen, you need to go out and
inspect like every day, OK, because they, they likely there
are more of them than what you might think.
So check them early in the morning if you can look again in
the evening. If you've got the black light,
(10:24):
go ahead and use the black light.
They're going to glow like a neon sign.
Trust me. But if you don't have the time
to be doing that after dark, then just be vigilant about
going out there every time you're in your garden and just
look for them. Pick them off by hand, drop them
in some soapy water, or if you've got chickens, feed them
to the chickens. I will caution you, people have
said to hang on to the hornwormsand for people who have bearded
(10:47):
Dragons so they can feed them totheir bearded Dragons, please
don't do this. Because if those hornworms have
been feeding on the tomatoes or even your Peppers, I've had them
stripped by Peppers too, that means that they have been eating
a nightshade. And this can actually be toxic
to the lizards if they eat thesehornworms.
So if you see that somebody is buying hornworms, most instances
(11:10):
these hornworms have actually been grown specifically to feed
to these bearded Dragons. And they aren't ones that have
been growing up wild and, and eating on these, you know, these
plants that can be toxic to them.
So don't do it that way. But their chickens, the chickens
aren't going to have any problemwith them.
They can't eat enough of them tomake them sick and if you have
(11:31):
your plants are in containers and you can isolate the affected
plant immediately, that makes iteasier for you to keep them from
spreading until you actually canfind them on the plant.
I'm telling you they are. They are really good at
camouflaging themselves so just check frequently and and get rid
of the little buggers as soon asyou find them.
As a new rosebush Mama, I have been keeping an eye out for
(11:54):
pests and diseases in my plant from heirloom roses as it goes
through its first full season here.
The weather has been crazy wet and the humidity is high and
that's usually the perfect breeding ground for things like
black spot and surprisingly I haven't seen any problems thus
far. But if this is something that
you've struggled with, it helps to be sure that we are watering
(12:16):
at the base of the plant to keepthe foliage dry, removing any
infected leaves so the fungus doesn't spread, and don't
compost those. Please get rid of them and be
sure to clean our pruners between cuttings to avoid
spreading it to other plants. Now, I've also been watching out
for aphids, which are notoriously attracted to roses,
which I did see early on on my plant, but I knocked them down
(12:38):
with a spray from the hose and waited for the ladybugs to come
in and do their job, which they did.
But there are sprays that you can use and beneficial insects
that you can purchase if you have a lot of roses and a lot of
these issues. In fact, heirloomroses.com has a
selection of recommended treatment items on their
website, including fungicides, natural insecticides, and even a
(12:58):
beneficial insect subscription. They truly do care about the
fate of your roses and they are ready to help.
It is not too late to get your own beautiful rose Bush settled
in this season by going to heirloomroses.com and using code
Just GROW to Save 20% at checkout.
I have bookmarked several new varieties to add to my garden
(13:19):
this year because I've been so impressed with how healthy and
resilient mine is, even while being grown in a container in a
very disease and pest prone location. heirloomroses.com with
code Just grow at checkout to save 20% on your new rosebush.
The link is in the show notes. So the third thing that we might
see at this point in the season is nutrient imbalances.
(13:43):
You know, our tomato plants by this point likely have been
fruiting pretty heavily and thatheavy fruiting can deplete the
nitrogen and the iron and the magnesium in the soil and also
from within the plant. So you might start to see some
pale or yellowing leaves. This might signal that it's time
(14:05):
for you to give them a little bit of of food, some plant food,
or to amend that soil in some way.
Just be aware to not overfeed. We don't want excess nitrogen,
OK, because we're going to get awhole bunch of less lush
foliage, but we're not going to get much in terms of blossoms or
(14:25):
than actual fruit. So if you are gardening in
ground, then you can just add a balanced granular fertilizer
when your plants start to bloom or when you start to see them
having a problem and that's going to kind of be a slow
release. You can absolutely do like
compost tea or just side dress with some additional compost in
(14:48):
the mid season. This is going to help, although
I would say that, you know, the compost is probably not going to
do is not going to be quick acting, right.
We have to wait for that compostto sort of be bio active and
allow the microbes to come up and start to be able to move
those nutrients around. So I would recommend something
that is a liquid that is fairly fast acting.
(15:09):
It's going to get into that soiland it's going to be immediately
available to the plants while it's still feeding the microbes.
OK, if you're gardening in raised beds, same thing, you
know, you don't have as a restricted amount of soil volume
as if you were doing them in pots, but you do still need to
replace those nutrients probablymore frequently than you would
(15:33):
if you are in in any ground bed.So if you can feed a little bit
more frequently, again, avoidingthat high nitrogen once the
fruit has started to set, if youare in containers like pots,
then you likely want to be feeding at a minimum once a
month, but I would say every couple of weeks probably
depending on the volume of soil.And you can use things that have
(15:58):
those sort of calcium supplements.
So tomato tone I think is one ofthem.
That's kind of rebalances thingsa little bit.
But just make sure that you are using something that is, you
know, broad spectrum or I wouldn't say broad spectrum, but
that has a a wide variety of nutrients in it so that you're
not overfeeding one thing and underfeeding another in that
(16:19):
smaller volume. So if you have used a potting
soil that says, you know, it feeds for six weeks or it feeds
for three months or whatever, don't rely on that too much,
especially when it comes to liketomatoes, they are they are kind
of heavy feeders. And so I would absolutely, you
(16:41):
know, probably start feeding your plants within the first
month or so of of getting them planted transplanted, and then
just continue to do that for therest of the season.
And no matter where it is that you are growing your tomato, you
kind of want to just watch the plant and not the calendar when
it comes to to feeding the soil.You know, if, if the plants are
(17:03):
starting to show signs that theyjust don't look healthy and if
we're looking at them turning yellow or pale or just kind of
looking sad, right? Like, yes, there is some natural
die off with some of these leaves.
The plant leaves usually lower down on the plant, they start to
die off as the demands move further up the plant because
(17:24):
that's where the plant is fruiting.
And so that's naturally going tohappen.
But if it's excessive and it's moving further up the plant,
then we really need to make surethat we are feeding the plant.
So don't just go off of whateverthe calendar says.
Oh, I'm, you know, I'm feeding once a month.
If your plants look like they need it, then absolutely give
them some nutrition. And then problem #4 is leaf
(17:44):
diseases. We talked about this last week
in terms of some of the fungal diseases that we might see.
But if you, you know, are in some place where these this
summer has been wet and it has been humid, it is absolutely
fueling outbreaks of Septoria leaf spot and early blight in a
(18:05):
lot of areas. A lot of the experts, the
horticultural experts are are just reporting a lot more fungal
pressure than usual during this year.
So Septoria leaf spots, right? You get these small little
circular spots with a Gray or a tan center to them.
They have a dark border. And inside these spots, you're
(18:27):
going to see these little black speckled fruiting bodies.
This is all going to start on the lower leaves and it moves
upward in the plants. Generally speaking, Septoria
doesn't actually affect the fruits directly, but it can
affect the foliage. And the effect of the foliage is
(18:48):
interrupting the photosynthesis.And that of course, is going to
affect how your plant's fruit. Not to mention, it's just going
to start to continue to take outall that foliage, which is
eventually going to take out theplant.
So the sooner you can get a holdof it, the better.
Early blight, which is an altenaria, this has larger brown
(19:08):
targeted like ringed leaf spots.They could be up to 1/2 an inch
and these absolutely can affect the fruit.
You also may see it on the stems.
So anytime you see a stem that has like this brown, you know,
it looks like a bull's eye almost, or it's got the rings
like you would from a, from a dart board, that's early blight.
(19:30):
This actually causes more severedefoliation than Septoria does.
And oftentimes here, it always seems like I get like the early
blight first and then it moves into Septoria 1 follows the
other. But again, usually this is in
the early spring, but Midsummer right now, we're seeing a lot of
(19:50):
this throughout the US because we just have so much more rain
than normal. We're also have areas that are
seeing so much more humidity than usual.
So if you start to see any of these start to occur in your
plants, you want to remove that infected lower foliage.
Now, we don't want to remove more than 1/3 of the overall
(20:12):
leaf mass because then you're really going to start to affect
the growth of the plant, the photosynthesis.
So do your best to kind of balance this if it's if it's
just the bottom, you know. 1218 inches or so and your plant is
already 3 foot tall? Then yes by all means pull all
of that off and do what you can.You also want to make sure that
when you are working in these plants that you sanitize all of
(20:34):
the tools that you are using. So a bleach solution like one
part bleach to 9 part water is really a good way to do this.
You can just have it in a bucketand swish it in there in between
plants. That way you are not moving it
from one plant to another. Same thing goes with your
gloves. If you're using gloves, you want
to make sure that you are using gloves specifically isolated to
these plants and that you are cleaning them in between uses.
(20:58):
Just like we talked about last week, increasing your airflow so
you know, proper spacing or staking up your crowded plants
is a really good way to sort of slow this down.
Making sure that we're using drip irrigation, making sure
that we're using mulch to prevent the splash dispersal of
these spores. And then if you have the
(21:18):
opportunity and you have had these problems in your tomatoes
before and you have the room to do it, you you likely want to go
ahead and rotate your crops and you don't want to put anything
in the same space that's in the Solon ACA family for about two
to three years. I know it's very difficult for
some of us to be able to do thatbecause we just aren't gardening
(21:39):
in a very large space. But if you can do it or even
just take a year off from growing anything in the Solon
ACA family, then that's going tohelp with this.
You do have fungicide options. We talked about some of this
last week, sulfur or copper based sprays or dusts you can
use about every week to two weeks when you've got that
(22:00):
really wet weather going on. And that milk spray that we
talked about is going to help toa certain extent, not quite as
well on these two diseases as you would see on sale, a powdery
mildew, these are a bit more aggressive.
So I honestly would stick to in my instance, I stick to the
(22:21):
copper based sprays. I do not do any kind of
conventional, you know, synthetic things, Mancoseb or,
or any of those types of things.If it's going to require me to
spray something like that, that I'm just not going to, I'm going
to pull the plant or I'm going to, you know, try to prune off
as much as I can and then, you know, just let the plant do what
(22:42):
it's going to do. I, I, I'm not going to give up
the idea of using everything organic just to save a plant.
It that's, it doesn't make it worth it to me.
So that's on you. That's what you can decide for
you and your garden. But for me, I just, I tried to
stick with the organic methods. OK, so blossom and rot, right?
(23:03):
We want to mulch. We want to switch to some more
consistent watering. If our watering has been the
problem, supplement with some calcium in your raised
containers if that is a problem.If you haven't done any of that
yet, hornworms you want to be checking nightly, you know, go
out there with a black light or every morning, go out there.
You're just going to be hand picking these little buggers off
(23:25):
of there for nutrient issues. We want to feed moderately.
So if you are in a small container, this might mean
weekly that you have to be feeding these plants.
If you're out in a raised planter or in an in ground bed,
you might want a side dress. You just want to avoid excess
nitrogen once these plants have started to set their fruit.
And then of course, our buddies Septoria leaf spot and early
(23:48):
blight. Prune those lower leaves,
sanitize your tools, make sure that you've got a good airflow
going around your plants, use irrigation and mulch, rotate
those crops and then use a fungicide like copper when the
early signs appear. Tomatoes can sometimes be fussy
mid season. I mean, they, they start to seem
like they're just over it and they don't, they don't want to
(24:12):
be here anymore. And so they, they look, you
know, for all different kinds ofways to like just give up the
ghost and be done. But if you have a little bit of
know how, then you can keep yourplants productive and very, very
happy right through into the fall.
And I tell you, if you're looking at a fall garden, don't
discount your tomatoes because once that heat sort of breaks
(24:33):
from the Midsummer into the latesummer and we get to that fall
weather, tomatoes seem to kind of perk up a little bit.
They do still need the heat, butthey just don't have the same
disease pressures and stuff or even the insect pest pressures
as they normally do. So if you can keep them going
until then, then I think that you will be very happy because
(24:57):
even tough seasons can be managed.
Until next time, my gardening friends, keep on cultivating
that dream garden, and we'll talk again soon.
OK, my gardening friends, today we are talking tomatoes.
Specifically, what in the world is going on with your tomatoes
in the middle of the summer? So if the bottoms of your fruit
are turning brown and mushy, if the leaves have been
mysteriously disappearing overnight, the plants just look
pale and puny, or they are suddenly covered in funky spots,
(00:22):
hang tight. We are digging deep into what I
would consider to be probably the four biggest Midsummer
tomato problems Based on what you all send to me, Blossom and
rot, hornworms, nutrient imbalances and diseases.
So today on Just Grow Something,I'm going to break it down with
practical steps that you can take whether you're growing in
(00:44):
ground, in raised beds, or in containers.
Let's dig in. Hey, I'm Karen, and what started
as a small backyard garden 20 years ago turned into a lifelong
passion for growing food. Now as a market farmer and
horticulturist, I want to help you do the same.
On this podcast, I am your friend in the garden teaching
evidence based techniques to help you grow your favorites and
(01:04):
build confidence in your own garden space.
So grab your garden journal and a cup of coffee and get ready to
just grow something. So I get direct messages all the
time with pictures from people, especially this time of year
when it's like, Oh my gosh, whatis going on with my tomato
plants? I also see this in a lot of the
(01:26):
Facebook groups that we're part of.
I haven't seen very many this year in the Just Grow Something
gardening friends Facebook group, which hint, hint, nudge,
nudge, if you're not in there, get in there.
So either I have educated you guys a lot about this and nobody
has any problems or it's just that, you know, you're not
asking in the group. But these are all the things
that I see, especially with beginning gardeners or somebody
(01:49):
who hasn't grown tomatoes beforethat they start to freak out
about. So that first one is blossom and
rot. Generally speaking, we can see
this at two times the year. Sometimes it is very, very early
in the season if you are living in a very rainy area or an area
where that you get like the heavy spring rains to start
(02:09):
with. And oftentimes this is shortly
after you have gotten your tomato plants in the ground.
That fluctuating water is going to tend to produce some blossom
and rot, at least in the first few fruits.
But then the plant kind of acclimates and it gets its thing
going. But then we also can see that
again here in the Midsummer and leaning in towards the late
(02:30):
summer, blossom and rot is a calcium deficiency, but it is
not a deficiency necessarily with the soil.
We don't necessarily have low soil calcium.
It is actually a physiological disorder disorder that is caused
by a calcium deficiency in the fruit itself.
(02:51):
Calcium is notoriously slow moving in soil and in plants.
This has a lot to do with its charge, the charge of the atom.
But essentially when we have fluctuating water availability,
that is going to block the calcium uptake.
(03:12):
So even if your soil has plenty of calcium in it, the plant
can't access it as well. And So what you'll see is these
sunken brown or black patches atthe fruit blossom end, hence the
term blossom end rot. And oftentimes this starts to
(03:33):
happen around the mid summer. This, by the way, is not
restricted to tomatoes. You can get this in your
squashes, your zucchinis. You can get them in eggplant or
Peppers. So this isn't just, you know,
relating to our tomatoes, but itis something that we see most
frequently in tomatoes. The way to combat this number
(03:54):
one is by using mulch. If you can mulch really, really
heavily, that is going to help keep that soil moisture more
consistent. And then if you are having to
water once again, less frequent,more thorough waterings, we, we
want the roots to have access tothe water.
(04:15):
That's what we mean by consistent moisture, not
necessarily that you are watering all the time.
We want to water deeply, but we want it to be sort of that
access to be fairly even. So less frequent, more
thoroughly, so deep and regular,but not short and sporadic
essentially is what we're going for.
(04:35):
OK, that's for your in ground beds, but also for your raised
beds. I mean, the same rules apply in
terms of using mulch to help trap that moisture and also to
keep the root zone cooler. But also in, in raised planters,
we want to double check our drainage.
So make sure that the runner, the water is not running off
before it soaks in, or make surethat you know when you're
(04:58):
watering very, very deeply or you're getting a very deep
rainfall that the bottoms of those beds are draining properly
as well. You don't have that those roots
sitting in water all the time. It's kind of a double edged
sword, like too dry and the calcium can't move, too wet and
the calcium can't move. So we just want to make sure
that it's a consistent level of moisture.
(05:19):
And then with containers, you might actually see this a little
bit more frequently than those of us gardening in like raised
beds or in ground. So because it is a little bit
more difficult sometimes to manage the moisture level in
pots. So I would always recommend
planting in the largest container you can for the plant
(05:42):
that you are growing. So for tomatoes, I would
recommend something that's a minimum of 5 gallons.
If you can get away with 10 gallons, that's even better if
that larger volume of soil is going to allow you to hold on to
more of that moisture. And so that's going to be better
for the plant. I would also recommend using a
balanced slow release type of a fertilizer that includes some
(06:06):
calcium because once again, remember we have a limited
volume of soil, which means thatsoil can hold a limited amount
of nutrients. So we need to be replacing those
nutrients. And oftentimes, you know,
potting soil and stuff isn't going to include a ton in terms
of calcium. So you want to make sure that
you are including some of this. Now you might hear, you know,
(06:28):
people talking about adding crushed egg shells or even a
Tums tablet that sort of can help, but it it isn't going to
help immediately. It's something that you would
want to do like as you are putting the soil together at the
beginning of the season or when you're planting the plant, so it
gets a chance to break down and release into that soil.
So just look for amendments thatactually have some calcium in
(06:52):
them or something that says it'sgot the micronutrients right.
Once you see this blossom and rot on the fruit, there is no
way to reverse it. So you immediately just need to
go ahead and pull that fruit. If you want to, you can cut that
part off and the rest of it's going to be fine.
Obviously you have to use it right away.
(07:12):
So once you see it happening, you want to sort of take these
steps to make sure that you havea really good mulch around there
you are, you know, kind of seeing what the the moisture
level is like. Now, obviously, if you've been
in an area like us where it has just dumped buckets of rain off
and on it it the most of the summer, then there's only so
much you can do to fix that. Mulch is going to help.
(07:36):
So if you have a good layer of an organic mulch, this is going
to help to slow some of that water down and it gives the
chance of the soil to be able toabsorb it rather than it just
running off and then hold on to it.
So this is going to help you a little bit, but at some point,
you know, the soil can only takeso much and there's only so much
(07:56):
you can do. So, but if it's a case of
watering, then you can prevent the next fruit from getting that
blossom and rot if you can modify what it is that you are
doing as the gardener. OK, the second thing is those
tomato hornworms, If you've never experienced these guys
(08:18):
before it, it is amazing the devastation that these little
buggers can do just overnight. It can completely strip the
foliage off of a plant just in the overnight hours.
They're like these little ninjasright?
One day your plant looks fine, the next day you come out it
(08:38):
looks like someone took a weed whacker to them or just went
through and cut all of the the leaves off It's insane.
If you have seen these guys theyare big fat green caterpillars.
They have a horn like thing on them.
That's hence the term hornworm. They blend in to your plants
like camouflage. You really have to know what you
(09:00):
are looking for when you are looking for these guys.
And they will mow down leaves, they will munch on the fruit and
they leave behind little dark droppings.
This is like their calling card.You almost know that you have a
hornworm before you see the defoliation.
If you recognize the worm poop, OK, This is how you handle them
(09:20):
because they have to be handled.They are so destructive.
It's it's it's crazy. A little trick that I learned
was to take a black light out after the sun goes down.
Hornworms glow neons on green under UV light and so if you go
out with a handheld black light after dark, you will be able to
(09:42):
very easily see them and then just hand pick them off.
OK, if you are squeamish, you are going to want to have gloves
on. Even if you're not squeamish,
you might want to have gloves onbecause these guys can really
grab on and you it's just very disconcerting to have them like
grab onto you while you're trying to throw them into your
(10:03):
bucket or whatever. OK, so, but you as soon as you
see this defoliation starting tohappen, you need to go out and
inspect like every day, OK, because they, they likely there
are more of them than what you might think.
So check them early in the morning if you can look again in
the evening. If you've got the black light,
(10:24):
go ahead and use the black light.
They're going to glow like a neon sign.
Trust me. But if you don't have the time
to be doing that after dark, then just be vigilant about
going out there every time you're in your garden and just
look for them. Pick them off by hand, drop them
in some soapy water, or if you've got chickens, feed them
to the chickens. I will caution you, people have
said to hang on to the hornwormsand for people who have bearded
(10:47):
Dragons so they can feed them totheir bearded Dragons, please
don't do this. Because if those hornworms have
been feeding on the tomatoes or even your Peppers, I've had them
stripped by Peppers too, that means that they have been eating
a nightshade. And this can actually be toxic
to the lizards if they eat thesehornworms.
So if you see that somebody is buying hornworms, most instances
(11:10):
these hornworms have actually been grown specifically to feed
to these bearded Dragons. And they aren't ones that have
been growing up wild and, and eating on these, you know, these
plants that can be toxic to them.
So don't do it that way. But their chickens, the chickens
aren't going to have any problemwith them.
They can't eat enough of them tomake them sick and if you have
(11:31):
your plants are in containers and you can isolate the affected
plant immediately, that makes iteasier for you to keep them from
spreading until you actually canfind them on the plant.
I'm telling you they are. They are really good at
camouflaging themselves so just check frequently and and get rid
of the little buggers as soon asyou find them.
As a new rosebush Mama, I have been keeping an eye out for
(11:54):
pests and diseases in my plant from heirloom roses as it goes
through its first full season here.
The weather has been crazy wet and the humidity is high and
that's usually the perfect breeding ground for things like
black spot and surprisingly I haven't seen any problems thus
far. But if this is something that
you've struggled with, it helps to be sure that we are watering
(12:16):
at the base of the plant to keepthe foliage dry, removing any
infected leaves so the fungus doesn't spread, and don't
compost those. Please get rid of them and be
sure to clean our pruners between cuttings to avoid
spreading it to other plants. Now, I've also been watching out
for aphids, which are notoriously attracted to roses,
which I did see early on on my plant, but I knocked them down
(12:38):
with a spray from the hose and waited for the ladybugs to come
in and do their job, which they did.
But there are sprays that you can use and beneficial insects
that you can purchase if you have a lot of roses and a lot of
these issues. In fact, heirloomroses.com has a
selection of recommended treatment items on their
website, including fungicides, natural insecticides, and even a
(12:58):
beneficial insect subscription. They truly do care about the
fate of your roses and they are ready to help.
It is not too late to get your own beautiful rose Bush settled
in this season by going to heirloomroses.com and using code
Just GROW to Save 20% at checkout.
I have bookmarked several new varieties to add to my garden
(13:19):
this year because I've been so impressed with how healthy and
resilient mine is, even while being grown in a container in a
very disease and pest prone location. heirloomroses.com with
code Just grow at checkout to save 20% on your new rosebush.
The link is in the show notes. So the third thing that we might
see at this point in the season is nutrient imbalances.
(13:43):
You know, our tomato plants by this point likely have been
fruiting pretty heavily and thatheavy fruiting can deplete the
nitrogen and the iron and the magnesium in the soil and also
from within the plant. So you might start to see some
pale or yellowing leaves. This might signal that it's time
(14:05):
for you to give them a little bit of of food, some plant food,
or to amend that soil in some way.
Just be aware to not overfeed. We don't want excess nitrogen,
OK, because we're going to get awhole bunch of less lush
foliage, but we're not going to get much in terms of blossoms or
(14:25):
than actual fruit. So if you are gardening in
ground, then you can just add a balanced granular fertilizer
when your plants start to bloom or when you start to see them
having a problem and that's going to kind of be a slow
release. You can absolutely do like
compost tea or just side dress with some additional compost in
(14:48):
the mid season. This is going to help, although
I would say that, you know, the compost is probably not going to
do is not going to be quick acting, right.
We have to wait for that compostto sort of be bio active and
allow the microbes to come up and start to be able to move
those nutrients around. So I would recommend something
that is a liquid that is fairly fast acting.
(15:09):
It's going to get into that soiland it's going to be immediately
available to the plants while it's still feeding the microbes.
OK, if you're gardening in raised beds, same thing, you
know, you don't have as a restricted amount of soil volume
as if you were doing them in pots, but you do still need to
replace those nutrients probablymore frequently than you would
(15:33):
if you are in in any ground bed.So if you can feed a little bit
more frequently, again, avoidingthat high nitrogen once the
fruit has started to set, if youare in containers like pots,
then you likely want to be feeding at a minimum once a
month, but I would say every couple of weeks probably
depending on the volume of soil.And you can use things that have
(15:58):
those sort of calcium supplements.
So tomato tone I think is one ofthem.
That's kind of rebalances thingsa little bit.
But just make sure that you are using something that is, you
know, broad spectrum or I wouldn't say broad spectrum, but
that has a a wide variety of nutrients in it so that you're
not overfeeding one thing and underfeeding another in that
(16:19):
smaller volume. So if you have used a potting
soil that says, you know, it feeds for six weeks or it feeds
for three months or whatever, don't rely on that too much,
especially when it comes to liketomatoes, they are they are kind
of heavy feeders. And so I would absolutely, you
(16:41):
know, probably start feeding your plants within the first
month or so of of getting them planted transplanted, and then
just continue to do that for therest of the season.
And no matter where it is that you are growing your tomato, you
kind of want to just watch the plant and not the calendar when
it comes to to feeding the soil.You know, if, if the plants are
(17:03):
starting to show signs that theyjust don't look healthy and if
we're looking at them turning yellow or pale or just kind of
looking sad, right? Like, yes, there is some natural
die off with some of these leaves.
The plant leaves usually lower down on the plant, they start to
die off as the demands move further up the plant because
(17:24):
that's where the plant is fruiting.
And so that's naturally going tohappen.
But if it's excessive and it's moving further up the plant,
then we really need to make surethat we are feeding the plant.
So don't just go off of whateverthe calendar says.
Oh, I'm, you know, I'm feeding once a month.
If your plants look like they need it, then absolutely give
them some nutrition. And then problem #4 is leaf
(17:44):
diseases. We talked about this last week
in terms of some of the fungal diseases that we might see.
But if you, you know, are in some place where these this
summer has been wet and it has been humid, it is absolutely
fueling outbreaks of Septoria leaf spot and early blight in a
(18:05):
lot of areas. A lot of the experts, the
horticultural experts are are just reporting a lot more fungal
pressure than usual during this year.
So Septoria leaf spots, right? You get these small little
circular spots with a Gray or a tan center to them.
They have a dark border. And inside these spots, you're
(18:27):
going to see these little black speckled fruiting bodies.
This is all going to start on the lower leaves and it moves
upward in the plants. Generally speaking, Septoria
doesn't actually affect the fruits directly, but it can
affect the foliage. And the effect of the foliage is
(18:48):
interrupting the photosynthesis.And that of course, is going to
affect how your plant's fruit. Not to mention, it's just going
to start to continue to take outall that foliage, which is
eventually going to take out theplant.
So the sooner you can get a holdof it, the better.
Early blight, which is an altenaria, this has larger brown
(19:08):
targeted like ringed leaf spots.They could be up to 1/2 an inch
and these absolutely can affect the fruit.
You also may see it on the stems.
So anytime you see a stem that has like this brown, you know,
it looks like a bull's eye almost, or it's got the rings
like you would from a, from a dart board, that's early blight.
(19:30):
This actually causes more severedefoliation than Septoria does.
And oftentimes here, it always seems like I get like the early
blight first and then it moves into Septoria 1 follows the
other. But again, usually this is in
the early spring, but Midsummer right now, we're seeing a lot of
(19:50):
this throughout the US because we just have so much more rain
than normal. We're also have areas that are
seeing so much more humidity than usual.
So if you start to see any of these start to occur in your
plants, you want to remove that infected lower foliage.
Now, we don't want to remove more than 1/3 of the overall
(20:12):
leaf mass because then you're really going to start to affect
the growth of the plant, the photosynthesis.
So do your best to kind of balance this if it's if it's
just the bottom, you know. 1218 inches or so and your plant is
already 3 foot tall? Then yes by all means pull all
of that off and do what you can.You also want to make sure that
when you are working in these plants that you sanitize all of
(20:34):
the tools that you are using. So a bleach solution like one
part bleach to 9 part water is really a good way to do this.
You can just have it in a bucketand swish it in there in between
plants. That way you are not moving it
from one plant to another. Same thing goes with your
gloves. If you're using gloves, you want
to make sure that you are using gloves specifically isolated to
these plants and that you are cleaning them in between uses.
(20:58):
Just like we talked about last week, increasing your airflow so
you know, proper spacing or staking up your crowded plants
is a really good way to sort of slow this down.
Making sure that we're using drip irrigation, making sure
that we're using mulch to prevent the splash dispersal of
these spores. And then if you have the
(21:18):
opportunity and you have had these problems in your tomatoes
before and you have the room to do it, you you likely want to go
ahead and rotate your crops and you don't want to put anything
in the same space that's in the Solon ACA family for about two
to three years. I know it's very difficult for
some of us to be able to do thatbecause we just aren't gardening
(21:39):
in a very large space. But if you can do it or even
just take a year off from growing anything in the Solon
ACA family, then that's going tohelp with this.
You do have fungicide options. We talked about some of this
last week, sulfur or copper based sprays or dusts you can
use about every week to two weeks when you've got that
(22:00):
really wet weather going on. And that milk spray that we
talked about is going to help toa certain extent, not quite as
well on these two diseases as you would see on sale, a powdery
mildew, these are a bit more aggressive.
So I honestly would stick to in my instance, I stick to the
(22:21):
copper based sprays. I do not do any kind of
conventional, you know, synthetic things, Mancoseb or,
or any of those types of things.If it's going to require me to
spray something like that, that I'm just not going to, I'm going
to pull the plant or I'm going to, you know, try to prune off
as much as I can and then, you know, just let the plant do what
(22:42):
it's going to do. I, I, I'm not going to give up
the idea of using everything organic just to save a plant.
It that's, it doesn't make it worth it to me.
So that's on you. That's what you can decide for
you and your garden. But for me, I just, I tried to
stick with the organic methods. OK, so blossom and rot, right?
(23:03):
We want to mulch. We want to switch to some more
consistent watering. If our watering has been the
problem, supplement with some calcium in your raised
containers if that is a problem.If you haven't done any of that
yet, hornworms you want to be checking nightly, you know, go
out there with a black light or every morning, go out there.
You're just going to be hand picking these little buggers off
(23:25):
of there for nutrient issues. We want to feed moderately.
So if you are in a small container, this might mean
weekly that you have to be feeding these plants.
If you're out in a raised planter or in an in ground bed,
you might want a side dress. You just want to avoid excess
nitrogen once these plants have started to set their fruit.
And then of course, our buddies Septoria leaf spot and early
(23:48):
blight. Prune those lower leaves,
sanitize your tools, make sure that you've got a good airflow
going around your plants, use irrigation and mulch, rotate
those crops and then use a fungicide like copper when the
early signs appear. Tomatoes can sometimes be fussy
mid season. I mean, they, they start to seem
like they're just over it and they don't, they don't want to
(24:12):
be here anymore. And so they, they look, you
know, for all different kinds ofways to like just give up the
ghost and be done. But if you have a little bit of
know how, then you can keep yourplants productive and very, very
happy right through into the fall.
And I tell you, if you're looking at a fall garden, don't
discount your tomatoes because once that heat sort of breaks
(24:33):
from the Midsummer into the latesummer and we get to that fall
weather, tomatoes seem to kind of perk up a little bit.
They do still need the heat, butthey just don't have the same
disease pressures and stuff or even the insect pest pressures
as they normally do. So if you can keep them going
until then, then I think that you will be very happy because
(24:57):
even tough seasons can be managed.
Until next time, my gardening friends, keep on cultivating
that dream garden, and we'll talk again soon.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.