Research paper: A field-grown transgenic tomato line expressing higher levels of polyamines reveals legume cover crop mulch-specific perturbations in fruit phenotype.
[Read more...]
Some farmers and gardeners like to use the same ground year after year for their tomatoes. Often this works, but often it doesn’t – most commonly because of a few tomato diseases that overwinter on crop debris. The most common disease in the Northeast that leads to a tomato crop failure is early blight. In this article I will point out similarities and differences between early blight and two other tomato diseases that are commonly confused with it, late blight and septoria leaf spot.
[Read more...]
Tunnels and greenhouses are now being used widely to produce early and often blemish free tomatoes. However, high humidity is difficult to avoid under plastic, and it creates an ideal environment for fungal diseases that can spread very quickly and cause widespread damage. Two common diseases of tomatoes in tunnels are gray mold and white mold (also called stem rot), which are caused by two fungus species, Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotina sclerotiorum, respectfully. The similarities and differences in the biology of the pathogens is interesting, and an understanding will help growers control problems.
[Read more...]
Nutrition, weather conditions, sunlight and other environmental and cultural factors can influence the health of tomato plants. Here are some common problems.
[Read more...]