Pestsdisease Of Tomato

/Pestsdisease Of Tomato/

Pestsdisease Of Tomato

Its hard to say from the photo what the issues are, but the plant appears to have have more than one issue. We can see what looks like insect damage from Leaf Miner, but they don't cause any damage other than the "mining trails" you see on the leaves, and they wouldn't account for the white dots you mention. The plant appears to be "stretched out" with weak stems and few leaves. This is typically caused by a lack of sunlight. Is it in full sun? In the picture it appears to be right next to a hedge row or tall plant, which would indicate they may be shaded some part of the day. Tomatoes need at 6-8 hrs of direct sun every day. Is the plant getting fertilized? Its important to fertilize tomato plants as they begin to flower and set fruit. If the plant is growing in a pot, is it getting enough water? Tomatoes can grow very extensive root systems and fill out pots very quickly, so they require more frequent water under those circumstances. All of these things, taken together, could be causing abnormal growth and development. As for the white dots, its impossible to say without seeing them. We've included a link all about tomatoes that may be helpful (its from the University of California, but tomatoes are tomatoes so it should be useful to you.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/tomato.html

By | 2016-01-24T03:35:18-08:00 January 24th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Rush Skeletonweed

This one is a stumper! Several regional experts have been searching for the perfect ID on this one, and the closest we come to is a rush skeletonwood. Unfortunately many of the plants with basal, rosette style growth such as this are difficult to identify from their juvenile winter growth. Add to that the propensity of many weeds to self hybridize in the wild, and you get some weeds that are impossible to accurately pin down early in the season. Should you be able to return to this area later in the spring or early summer, and take a photo of this plant in flower, we'd love to take another shot at it!

Plants that grow rosettes in this manner are often biennials - they grow one year, stay low to the ground over the winter, and bloom the next season. Many of them also have tap-roots that allow them to be very drought tolerant or grow in rocky, well drained soils. When they seed in an area where the conditions are right for germination many plants can grow in a single year making it look as if they are a ground cover. In dryer seasons when fewer seeds sprout, however, such biennials are more widely scattered.

We'd love to keep looking at this if you can take a photo of a flower. The distinctive edges of these leaves lead us to lean toward a skeletonweed, but once spring hits and the plant continues to fill out and grow it could change in leaf-shape significantly. We hope you can keep us posted!!!

By | 2016-01-23T20:02:37-08:00 January 23rd, 2016|Weeds|0 Comments
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Scale Insects On Hibiscus

This looks to be either Cottony Cushion Scale, or Newman Snow Scale, or Lesser Snow Scale. All of these scale insects are plant sap-suckers and can be very damaging to Hibiscus if their populations are high (numerous insects causing leaves to yellow and fall off, or many scales on the stems). If these are the only ones you've found, just seal the leaves up and throw them in the trash and continue to keep an eye out for more of them by inspecting the plant (other plants close by and other similar plants) on a regular (weekly) basis. If the population is large, we recommend you seek advice from local Master Gardeners (there may be a group associated with your regional agriculature/horticulture University or County Ag Dept. You could also check with your local nursery. One more note - it looks like there may be one or two scale (on the leaves to the right of the photo) that are swollen and dark in color? If so, these may have been parasitized by another insect (referred to in general as natural enemies) that use these scale as a host to lay its eggs in. That's a very good thing to help you maintain control of the scale, so don't use pesticides because those products kill the natural enemies too.

By | 2016-01-23T18:56:56-08:00 January 23rd, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Curling Leaves On Artichoke

Curling leaves could be several things, and we'll go from the most common to the least. First check carefully under the leaves for signs of insects. Look especially for very fine webs and a "dirty and dusty" look. These are both signs of spider mites or other mites. (Be sure to look in good lighting and don't expect to see the mites themselves - they are very small.) Other insects to look for are aphids, scale or white fly. All of these are sucking-insects in that they suck plant juices out of the leaves, causing the cells to be deformed and the leaves to curl. If you find the webs/dirty undersides, get a product that's labeled for mites at your garden center. If you find green or black juicy bugs (aphids), tan bumps (scale) or tiny white flying insects (white fly) ask for a product that threats those insects.

2. For a plant such as an artichoke that grows large, having its roots confined in a small pot can cause the plant to be equally constrained or stunted on top. If you find no sign of insects, (or even if you do) transplant this into a larger pot. Remember with plants that what goes on below the surface is reflected up above...if a plant has room to stretch its roots it will be able to stretch the top growth as well.

3. After transplanting water the plant throughly when you water, saturating the soil well, but then let the plant dry out a bit before watering again.

By | 2016-01-23T16:09:25-08:00 January 23rd, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Euphorbia Lactea White Ghost Discoloration

Sometimes these are so hard to figure out without seeing where the plant is growing, etc. If you grab the plant between two fingers (one on the affected area) and give a gentle squeeze and it doesn't feel squishy, that's a good thing. Cactus can suffer with bacterial and fungal infections for some time - Euphorbias do not. If they get and infection it goes like wildfire and the plant can turn to goo pretty quick. Because it is spread out like that and looks a little affected all on the same plane, is it possible it got sunburned? Otherwise some kind of mechanical damage like the hail you mentioned could be a reason. Hail damage usually shows up within a week or two from when it happens and looks like freckles or pock marks. These can get larger over time but not usually. If it felt pretty much like any other part of the plant then I would wait and see - maybe the sunburn or mechanical damage scenario. This will never go away and will become a scar and an addition to the character of the plant. This is also common to see on cactus and euphorbias as they get older. Due sometimes just age as well as the introduction of some kind of damage they develop a very corky, barky appearance on their trunks. For more expert information contact the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society at: http://sdcss.net/

By | 2016-01-23T12:16:23-08:00 January 23rd, 2016|Succulents|0 Comments
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Problem On Salvia

This may not be an infectious disease or a pest, but we'll cover all the bases just to be sure. Examine the underside of the leaves that correspond to the black spots on the top of the leaves. If you see yellow/orange, white, or gray fuzz, or more black spots (you may need to look very closely) than you have one of several common fungal diseases. If the black spots begin to develop yellow rings around them on the top of the leaves, this is also a disease. If you see tiny little insects that are green or white you have a small infestation of a common insect. In either case, you can remove the affected leaves (it appears there are only two from your photo) and dispose of them. Then keep an eye out for further occurrances, and if you see more go to your local garden center with leaf samples sealed in a bag for advice. Otherwise, if you don't see anything on the underside of the leaves now, its likely just a single event that caused the spotting, like sunlight reflected thru an automobile window, damage caused by handling, or the plant roots dried out for a short period causing a few cells to die; and of course in this case you don't need to do anything except keep the soil moist until you plant it out in the garden.

By | 2016-01-23T03:41:34-08:00 January 23rd, 2016|Plant Diseases|0 Comments
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Alder Buckthorn Glossy Buckthorn

We believe this is an invasive tree/shrub called Buckthorn. Alder Buckthorn was sold regularly at nurseries as a garden shrub and hedge. This shrub or small tree reaches heights up to 20 feet. However, it has limited decorative qualities without conspicuous flowers or bold foliage. While it was brought over from Europe with good intentions about 200 years ago, this shrub is enormously invasive. All exotic buckthorns produce a fruit that is eaten by birds and other animals. However, the severe laxative effect of these fruits forces fast distribution of the seeds. These shrubs also aggressively resprout from cut or damaged stems. This shrub is invading Midwestern forests and devastating the native plants and shrubs because of the berry / bird association. Environmentally speaking, it would be proactive to remove these plants entirely and replace them with something that might better attract pollinators or wildlife without leaving a devastating invasion. Here is a list of alternative plants which are more environmentally friendly we suggest you place in your garden - http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialplants/woody/buckthorn/yard.html.

By | 2016-01-22T21:37:11-08:00 January 22nd, 2016|Shrubs|0 Comments
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Tricolor Jade Plant

Crassula obliqua, native to South Africa, is a tree-like shrub to 6' or more in height. This is the cultivar 'Tricolor', which can have various leaf colors on the same plant. Some leaves are pale ivory with green striations or green mid-stripes. Others are completely ivory, or have splashes of ivory. New leaves are frosty yellow, becoming ivory with age. Leaves are margined with pink in cold weather or bright sun. Forms branching, thick elephantine trunk topped with a canopy of shiny leaves. The jade plant is a popular subject for bonsai training due to the inherent gnarly character of the thickened trunk and the ease with which it can be pruned and trained. An excellent plant for brightly lit areas in the house, patio and in more temperate climes can be planted in the garden or landscape. It needs porous soil with adequate drainage, and full sun to at least very bright light. Water thoroughly when soil is dry, and don't water again until the soil has become fairly dry again - Jades do not tolerate soggy soil and should never be allowed to stand in water for any length of time - Protect from frost.

By | 2016-01-22T21:07:07-08:00 January 22nd, 2016|Succulents|0 Comments
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Sick Haworthia

Unfortunately we can't see any bugs in the photo so we might identify them as the problem, but the way the plant is shrunken and folded up looks like it might have a serious root rot going on. The only thing you can try at this point is to take it out of the pot and rinse all of the soil off the roots - look for any bug infestation too. If you don't see any pests, peel off some of the lower leaves (it looks like they are about to fall off as is) and liberally shake ground cinnamon all over the roots and lower part of the plant and set it aside somewhere out of the sun for a few days. The cinnamon is a natural anti-fungal, anti-bacterial that might help. After about 5 days get a new, not very big pot with a drainage hole in the bottom and fill with a cacti and succulent potting mix that drains well. Pot it up in the new DRY soil and set aside again for another 5 days - DO NOT WATER. After the 5 days in the dry soil it will hopefully have started some new roots and now you can give it a good drink and set it in a bright location. Don't water again until the soil has become fairly dry, say about down to your first knuckle - just stick your finger in to feel. If it did or didn't work you should be able to tell in a week or two

By | 2016-01-22T21:06:33-08:00 January 22nd, 2016|Plant Diseases|0 Comments
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Nutrient Deficiency

From the photo it appears there's a nutrient deficiency. Often nutrient deficiency is caused by over or under-watering for the plants needs. Over-watering can cause the plant to produce vegetative growth rather than flowers, and underwatering is stressful for the plant and it may respond by not producing flowers. In water stressed situations, plant roots either begin to rot or dry out and therefore can't function sufficiently to absorb nutrients along with water and we often see yellow leaves. We recommend watering more deeply and less frequently rather than providing smaller amounts more frequently. If the water does not soak into the soil quickly and begins to runoff before you can provide a sufficient amount, you can apply water until it just begins to runoff, let that water soak in, apply more again until just before runoff, let that soak in, and repeat this several times during one irrigation (in the same day). We recommend keeping the soil evenly moist, and avoiding fluctuations between dry and flooded soils to keep the salts diluted in the moist soil.

By | 2016-01-22T20:50:58-08:00 January 22nd, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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