Meet Mike next month!
Mike will appear on Saturday, Feb. 23 and Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Capital Home & Remodel Show at the Dulles Expo Canter in Chantilly, Virginia!
What were those spotty specks on my tamatas?!
Tony in Fairfax writes: “How do I identify which tomato plants, if any, are resistant to bacterial spot (Xanthomonas vesicatoria) and bacterial speck (Pseudomonas syringae)? Most seed packets list resistance to common diseases like Verticillium wilt, but I have not come across any that specify bacterial spot or speck resistance — even in your book on tomatoes.”
Ouch, you got me. Now, Tony, I’m sure you’re hurt that your love apples developed small brown circular spots that turned into nasty little holes, but I was not the one doing the rain dance all summer. (And whoever did — and is still doing — it, please knock it off! Enough already!)
All seriousness aside, the wet weather made tomatoes prone to many diseases, especially the fatal bacterial ones that attacked you. So, we’ll spend this (wet) weekend preparing for a bountiful 2019.
(And, no, that is not the same as saying “wait until next year!”)
OK … yes, it is.
Speck & spot not spic & span
These are tough problems, Tony. Leaves and fruit develop small brown circular spots that turn into nasty little holes, and then the plants go boom and die. The symptoms of both diseases are essentially the same, although different bacterial organisms are to blame — and the only tomato I could find that came close to providing inbred resistance is a genetically modified variety that’s still under construction.
These problems are — thankfully — not common, so researchers are not looking madly for varieties that are resistant. What we do know is that the bacteria thrive in the kind of wet weather we just barely endured. Who would have thought that we’d ever miss drought?
More on spot and speck
The University of Wisconsin has some great bulletins about these issues: Here’s one on spot, and here’s one on speck.
It’s a cultural problem — like opera
These diseases can best be avoided culturally, Tony:
- Grow in raised beds that drain well — not in soggy flat earth.
- Water at the base of the plants, never via an overhead sprinkler; and never, ever wet the leaves of your plants at night. Ever!
- Never handle tomato plants when they’re wet (to avoid these and many other diseases).
- Insure good airflow between plants.
- Use cages to keep each plant inside a 2-foot square footprint, and then allow a solid foot of airspace between each cage.
Hey! These are the same conditions that prevent almost all tomato diseases from ruining your summer! Imagine that!
Save a buck now, or eat tomatoes later
When Tony asks how to identify which tomato plants are resistant to bacterial spot and speck, oddly — or, perhaps not so oddly — the answer is quality.
Buy your plants from a local small-scale organic farm or family-owned independent garden center. The worst disease problems have entered home gardens via cheaply grown plants at big box stores. You get whatcha pay for, folks!
And, you can actually rid tomato seeds of a number of diseases by dipping them into water that has been heated to 122 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. Seriously! Here are the supercool details.
And, if you get diseased anyway, spray copper. That’s on your plants, not on you. (Although it might look “great” on some people. It would have to match their hair, though.)
J.L. Hudson: the seed catalog for bohemians
The new edition of the J.L. Hudson “Ethnobotanical Catalog of Seeds” is filled with rare varieties, old favorites and seeds for plants that most people didn’t even know produced seed — all presented in a style both scientific and wonderfully libertarian.
Especially interesting to my eye this season are “Petit Filet,” a well-behaved (tall bush bean/short pole bean) French heirloom string bean (aka “green bean”); “Explosive Ember,” a hot pepper with ornamental purple leaves; and the favorite heirloom tomato of the quirky duo that runs the place, “Purple Calabash,” described as hideously ugly and incredibly tasty.
That’s not all! J.L. Hudson’s is as quirky as their selections:
- They offer impossibly low shipping rates ($3.50 for the first 40 regular-size packets).
- You must agree not to use their seed in genetic engineering.
- And, they have no phone.
- Ah, but you can order online or request a (black and white, old-school type set) catalog at www.JLHudsonseeds.net.
Mike McGrath was editor-in-chief of ORGANIC GARDENING magazine from 1990 through 1997. He has been the host of the nationally syndicated public radio show “You Bet Your Garden” since 1998 and WTOP Garden Editor since 1999. Send him your garden or pest control questions at MikeMcG@PTD.net.
