Category: Tomatoes
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Preliminary Tomato Pricing Data From SC Farmers Market Price Reporting Project
From Kevin Burkett, Clemson Agribusiness Associate Vine-ripe juicy tomatoes are always a summertime favorite and one that can even cause a bit of competition. This can range from seeing who can grow the largest, who has the best variety, how oddly shaped one may appear, and of course which one makes the best tomato sandwich.…
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Gray Leaf Spot on Heirloom Tomatoes
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath Gray leaf spot has been found in a home garden in Greenville County and on a farm in Charleston County, South Carolina. This disease is the most common foliar problem on heirloom tomatoes. ‘Cherokee Purple’ is particularly susceptible. The recent hot, humid, rainy weather is ideal for the gray…
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Stem Rot on Transplanted Tomato in March 2024
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath and Food Crops Agent Zack Snipes “Stem and root rot” is the term used to describe a disease on recently transplanted vegetable crops, like tomato, pepper, watermelon, cantaloupe, and cucumber. Tomato transplants with stem rot were observed last week along the coast of South Carolina. A proper diagnosis of…
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Watch for Late Blight in Tomatoes
By Clemson plant pathologist Tony Keinath. The unusually cool weather in South Carolina the past two weeks and the rain from the tropical storm system over the Memorial Day weekend create favorable environmental conditions for late blight to develop on tomatoes that have not been sprayed with a fungicide in the past week. However, I’ve…
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Bacterial Spot on Tomato: Are the Cures as Bad as the Disease?
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath and Extension Agent Zack Snipes. Now that tomatoes are in the ground in coastal South Carolina, it’s time to think about a tomato spray program for a disease that shows up every year: bacterial spot. Current recommendations are based on a tank mix of copper + mancozeb. The comments…
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Managing Southern Blight on Tomato and Pepper After Detection
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath. As reported in the June 6 edition of SC Grower, southern blight is showing up in crops of tomato and pepper. At this late date in the growing season, the best fungicide option for conventional growers is Priaxor, two applications made 2 weeks apart at a cost of $34…
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Field Testing for Bacterial Wilt
Bacterial wilt and Southern blight have been showing up in SC over the last couple weeks. While both diseases cause indistinguishable wilting in the infected plant, it is important to determine which disease is present in order to appropriately manage it. The test shown below is a quick field test that will help distinguish between…
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Why Tomato Crops Today Are So Susceptible to Diseases
Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath was recently named as a columnist for American Vegetable Grower. Dr. Keinath’s first article was recently published featuring tomato disease. Check out an excerpt below. Why are tomatoes so susceptible to disease? Of three possible answers — aggressive pathogens that specialize on tomato, the tomato plant itself, or the growing…
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Grafting Reduces Southern Blight on Tomato by 83%
From Clemson Plant Pathologist Tony Keinath. Southern blight has become more common on tomatoes grown without fumigation throughout the southern United States. A joint project between the University of Georgia and Clemson University looked at grafting as a management option. In the 2021 trial in Charleston, SC, grafting reduced the percentage of diseased plants from…
The South Carolina Grower 