Four Common Tomato Problems

There’s nothing quite as delicious as homegrown tomatoes. My favorite way to eat tomatoes are in fresh bruschetta or cucumber tomato salads! If you grow these plants, you know that a juicy tomato comes with a lot of hard work and often a little problem solving along the way. There are a variety of insects, diseases, and problems that affect crops during the growing season. The hard part? Identifying what is causing the problem.

Below are four common problems you may face if growing tomatoes:

• Tomato Leaf Roll: If you notice moderately or severely curled leaves with edges of leaves rolling inward, your tomato plant may be experiencing leaf rolling. Many people see something wrong with their plants and assume it’s a disease. But leaf roll is not a disease. These characteristics often occur after heavy production, heavy pruning, and wet soils. It’s important to note it is harmless and shouldn’t affect production yield or quality.

• Septoria Leaf Spot: This easily recognized disease can destroy the leaves of tomato plants and affect the overall fruit yield. Septoria leaf spot is caused by long periods of moderate temperatures, dew, and high humidity. Round lesions with dark margins and tan or gray centers develop on the leaves. A yellow ring often develops around spots on leaves.

• Bacterial Spot: Finding the round, brown lesions caused by this disease on tomato leaves isn’t a good sign. As these lesions coalesce, plant tissues may develop dark streaks. Bacterial spot can be a serious disease and can be difficult to control when disease pressure is high and environmental conditions are favorable. On fruit, there will be raised blisters that become brown and scabby.

• Late Blight: This disease develops in moist weather where nighttime temperatures are cooler and daytime temperatures are warmer. Lesions begin as water-soaked spots on leaves and later turn pale green to brown. The infected foliage will eventually turn brown, wither, and die. It’s important to note these lesions can expand to infect fruit as well.

There are several other issues tomato growers may experience, including buckeye rot, Southern blight, and bacterial wilt. For more information and management recommendations on all these issues and more, we suggest checking out the following Extension Publications:

• MSU Extension Publication 3175, “Common Diseases of Tomatoes” 
• MSU Extension Publication 2975, “Tomato Troubles: Common Problems with Tomatoes” 
• MSU Extension Publication 3679, “Herbicide Damage in Tomatoes”
• MSU Extension Publication 3361, “Bacterial Speck and Bacterial Spot in Tomatoes

If you grow other vegetables and are experiencing problems with your crop, you can visit the Vegetable Disease Publications web page or contact your local Extension office for management advice.