Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

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Can anyone tell what the white spot is on my tomato plant. I don't know what it is but can only guess it's a type of mildew. Two thirds of my plants have it, most have a little but 2-3 have a helluva lot more than this. Should I fight it? If so, what's recommended? Do I need to destroy the plants? Sorry my phone takes crappy pics.

This sucks...
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Can anyone tell what the white spot is on my tomato plant. I don't know what it is but can only guess it's a type of mildew. Two thirds of my plants have it, most have a little but 2-3 have a helluva lot more than this. Should I fight it? If so, what's recommended? Do I need to destroy the plants? Sorry my phone takes crappy pics.

This sucks...View attachment 583078

It’s really hard to tell from the picture, but it almost looks like spittlebug eggs. Does it sort of look like foam/bubbles?
 
It’s really hard to tell from the picture, but it almost looks like spittlebug eggs. Does it sort of look like foam/bubbles?

Not really. It looks wet and rubs off easily, but it is spreading. If I pull off the leaves or prune the stems it slows down the progression. The affected areas lead to poor growth and less production. I have a natural solution that might make the plant less desirable to pests. Equal amounts of cayenne powder, garlic and dish detergent (.5tsp) in a half gallon of water. Sprayed it liberally with good results initially but slacked of due to high volumes of rain recently.
 
Not really. It looks wet and rubs off easily, but it is spreading. If I pull off the leaves or prune the stems it slows down the progression. The affected areas lead to poor growth and less production. I have a natural solution that might make the plant less desirable to pests. Equal amounts of cayenne powder, garlic and dish detergent (.5tsp) in a half gallon of water. Sprayed it liberally with good results initially but slacked of due to high volumes of rain recently.

I would add some oil to that solution. My go-to aphid spray is a quart of water with 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and 2 drops of dish soap. If I use this as a foliar application three days in a row it really wipes out the aphid population (have to be careful you’re not also committing ladybug genocide though).
 
This week's harvest, now 13 pints of tomato sauce and about 6 cups of tomato-onion-garlic sauce in the freezer. Peppers in the freezer, but the later ones get dried for the SIL and us.

Plus about another 10 lbs today, that will be the next batch.

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We are in the low to mid 90's currently and have cloudy days but little rain where I live. No issues though, as I hand water my containers. But my tomatoes are looking pretty threadbare these days. I have battled hornworms, grasshoppers and other pests as well as powdery mildew (I think), which necessitated me having to remove 4 plants completely. I still have a few fruits to pick though a bit smallish. Recently I gave a kickstart with fish emulsion, epsom salts and tomato fertilizer (always as instructed). Growth is occuring and blossoms are forming but production is mild.

Is this common and is it temporary, ie reversible?

My peppers are doing great despite something munching on a leaf or three...
 
We are in the low to mid 90's currently and have cloudy days but little rain where I live. No issues though, as I hand water my containers. But my tomatoes are looking pretty threadbare these days. I have battled hornworms, grasshoppers and other pests as well as powdery mildew (I think), which necessitated me having to remove 4 plants completely. I still have a few fruits to pick though a bit smallish. Recently I gave a kickstart with fish emulsion, epsom salts and tomato fertilizer (always as instructed). Growth is occuring and blossoms are forming but production is mild.

Is this common and is it temporary, ie reversible?

Fairly typical for this time of year. They can go until frost but they get jaded along the way. They don't like to set fruit when temps are much above 90 either.

My peppers are doing great despite something munching on a leaf or three...
 
The fertilizer is working as I have new growth and about 6 new tomatoes forming. My habanero is booming!
 
Little better pic of the Aji Panca pods. This pepper is one of the most commonly used in Peru for marinades. Almost no heat to them but they are a member of the habanero family (chinense). They are normally dried first. When you want to use them they are rehydrated and ground into a paste.
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Atomic Grape Tomatoes, Roma’s, and purple carrots. Grilled up some hot banana peppers with Italian sausage, delish. I love this time of year.
 

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Atomic Grape Tomatoes, Roma’s, and purple carrots. Grilled up some hot banana peppers with Italian sausage, delish. I love this time of year.
What are your thoughts on the Atomic grape tomatoes? I love the Pink tye dye and Solar Flair tomatoes from wild boar farms. I tried the atomic grape tomatoes this year and I'm not impressed. Only got one out of 5 plants to even grow. They are hard to tell when ripe. Flavor is ok nothing special. Not overly productive. They look cool though
 
Barry's crazy cherry are my go to small tomato. They grow in bunches of up to 100. Very sweet, thinner skin than so many cherry tomatoes. They are yellow. White currant tomatoes are the only sweeter ones I've tasted and they are tiny. I've grown about 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes over the last 5 years. For big tomatoes I like Cherokee purple and nature's riddle.
 
I have tried Cherokee purple 2016 and 2017. They didn't grow to well for me. The ones iv found that I like and they grow well here in northern Kentucky are Solar Flare and Pink tye dye from wild boar. German Red, Barns Mountain Yellow, Brandy wine ( I grow a few different types of them) and Amish paste. I think next year I'll try the crazy cherry. Thanks
 
Getting ready to get the fall garden going, belt is out on the tiller so waiting on a replacement. I have been working on organizing my seeds too. My cotton bowls opened up, it was fun to watch the cotton grow. I've been canning green beans and pickling lots of okra too. Not sure if I shared with ya'll my watermelon progress. I had a 48 lber, and a lot of nice yellow ones. I ended up with 142 ears of G90 corn, and I have replanted an early variety of corn and another round of purple hulls.
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What are your thoughts on the Atomic grape tomatoes? I love the Pink tye dye and Solar Flair tomatoes from wild boar farms. I tried the atomic grape tomatoes this year and I'm not impressed. Only got one out of 5 plants to even grow. They are hard to tell when ripe. Flavor is ok nothing special. Not overly productive. They look cool though
I had great success with mine. I had all of the seeds turn into crazy growers. My father in law who used to be a commercial grower jokes that he won’t go near them without a machete. They are definitely hard to tell when ripe, but I have found that once a bit of red starts to show on the skin they are ready. Also, the flesh will turn a reddish hue. I got the seeds from Baker Creek. The flavor is ok, but they definitely have a cool look to them. I will note that the tomatos that are exposed to a lot of sun turn deep purple.
 
I just tasted my first ripe 'Tepin x Lemon Drop pepper (I tried a green one out of curiosity a few weeks ago) Very crisp and juicy, kinda sweet. Not extraordinarily hot (I don't think it's as hot as my Serranos, but it's in the same league), but the heat just keeps coming. My mouth is still burning 5 minutes later. :) It'll be good with burgers.
 
Accidentally planted a bunch of serrano peppers this spring. Was planning on half green bell and half jalapeno, but grabbed the wrong trays and ended up with 2 bell peppers and about 6 serranos (near as I can tell. They were just labels Hot Chili Peppers). I'll be honest, they are too hot for me. But now I have a bunch. I'd gladly give them away to someone who could use them if I could find those persons. Otherwise I don't know that I'd be interested in spending time preserving them.

I don't know if it would make a difference to scrape the insides and cook them. That seems to reduce the heat in other peppers, but it would have to be a LOT less hot in order to be edible for me.
 
Not the best year here. Nice herb garden, but didnt plant eggplants, serrano died, and not enough peppers. Put hopes in squashs and they got powdery mildew. Starting to pull some bells and there are a few good tomatos from home depot plants. I planted late this year and we got a lot of hail.
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Dehydrator has been running nonstop for days. Managed to get a few outside in the sun but most had to finish inside.

IMGUR is being a pain so....
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Accidentally planted a bunch of serrano peppers this spring. Was planning on half green bell and half jalapeno, but grabbed the wrong trays and ended up with 2 bell peppers and about 6 serranos (near as I can tell. They were just labels Hot Chili Peppers). I'll be honest, they are too hot for me. But now I have a bunch. I'd gladly give them away to someone who could use them if I could find those persons. Otherwise I don't know that I'd be interested in spending time preserving them.

I don't know if it would make a difference to scrape the insides and cook them. That seems to reduce the heat in other peppers, but it would have to be a LOT less hot in order to be edible for me.

I bet fresnos would make a decent powder. Dehydrated and grind...simple
 
It's amazing what a little more food can do to reinvigorate tomatoes and peppers! I have 14 tomatoes and a ton more peppers after fertilizing every 2-3 weeks rather than once a month. Makes sense, as containers deplete water and nutrients quickly.

Good to know!
 
Yep...about time for me to fire up my dehydrator. I have a freezer full of tomatoes and peppers.

I have never froze tomatoes before. Most of them seem to hit at one time and I don't always have time to can. What is your freezing process? What do you use them for? Chili and sauce?
 
I just throw them in...the skin protects the fruit. When you thaw...the skin just comes right off. Make sauce, use for chili, stews...etc or can.
 
Fresno makes great powder and they dry better than jalapeno. Walls are usually thinner and they are less sweet ripe vs a ripe jalapeno. They will dry super fast cut into rings first. That also gets rid of a bunch of seeds.
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Just put a tablespoon of 3-5-6 fertilizer on my tomatoes and peppers (in each container). I have a second wave of cayennes and a lot of tomato blossoms currently and want them strong to finish the season. It has helped when the summer heat had my plants looking skimpy and weak.
 
This is beginning to be like work and i still got loads of pods in ground/lower patio. :D

Picked all the pods off 2 Dreadies (upper deck) and 2 MWCH MOA reds to compare production. Pretty close but ive also already harvested a few more Dreadies than MOA reds. I still have 3 more Dreadies to go on the lower patio and a few more greeners on the MOAs. :p. Got another nice load of Aleppos, some more CCN Jamaican Gold and a few more Aji Panca. Im guessing 4 Aleppos will end up with around 12oz of powder/flake at this rate. Not that bad for 4 plants in 7gal grow bags.


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Our June was hot, July was brutal but August was milder and more rain. My MOA reds ended up being especially hot for bonnets. The Dreadies seemed about right. Kinda bummed many of my later season jalapenos are not as hot though.

Every single Aleppo ive tasted has been virtually identical in heat. Roughly at the very top of jalapeno heat. Not that it matter too much because it will all get mixed into one large batch of flake/powder.

This stuff is just killer on lots of stuff without being brutally hot. I sprinkled some on fried eggs this morning :D
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[QUOTE="Evilgrin, post: 8383820, member: 211287"QUOTE]

This stuff is just killer on lots of stuff without being brutally hot. I sprinkled some on fried eggs this morning :D
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I used a cayenne in my omelette and felt not even a tingle. Gonna have to double it tomorrow. Wish I had a bit of that you have there.
 
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