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I just noticed some of the leaves of my tomato plants are getting little brown spots on them. Not the whole leaf or the whole plant, just random leaves. Should I cut them off and spray fungicide? I never know if something is the beginning of something 'serious' or not. I want to nip it in the bud if it is the beginning of a fungus. Don't need a fungus amongus!!!!

I'd take the leaves that have the spots & toss them out. Don't compost them, just in case.

Where are those spots?
In the center of the leaf that migh indicate insect activity and not a disease.
On the edges that might indicate scorch, the leaves are loosing more moisture, faster, then the roots can supply it, this is not a disease.
1. Properly identify the problem.
2. Determine the least toxic means of control to use.
3. Use that least toxic means of control.
4. Watch to see if control is achieved.
5. Return to step one.

Thank You Kimm! Does 'scorch' mean I should water them a little more?
I often don't know what the problem is and now all of a sudden, I have become 'fungus obsessed'! I assume everything is a fungus.
Thanks again!

I'm not a pro gardener by any means, but have been growing tomatoes at home for more than 40 years. At this time of the season, my plants never look pristine and healthy. The bottom leaves are always crispy, the others may have spots, holes, discoloration, etc. At this point of the season, I never try to "fix" them, but they continue to produce fruit until the nights cool down in mid-Sept or early October. I once saw a guy on Victory Garden say that tomato plants "under stress" produce more and better fruit. His looked pretty darn bad mid-summer. I agree with him.

If you're getting tomatoes from the plants, my advice is not to obsess about the look of the leaves. If you're dealing with a really bad problem, you're probably going to lose them anyway, no matter what you try. JMHO

quote:

At this time of the season, my plants never look pristine and healthy. The bottom leaves are always crispy, the others may have spots,

TY

Nettie, if you have been gardening and growing tomatoes for 40 years you are a Pro!!! This is my 1st year growing veggies in ground! I tried growing tomatoes a few yrs. ago in containers and it wasn't that successful.
Thank you sooooo much for your information. Because I am new to this, I get upset every time a leaf turns yellow or brown. I think you are right about the tomatoes. They don't look that bad, upon further examination. (knock wood!) I think you and Kimm were absolutely right! I am getting nice tomatoes! Thank you so much for the information. It really made a newbie feel much better!!!

We are having the same problem.Only one of the plants though. It is half the size of the other plants, leaves are curling and drying up. They are given the same amount of water as the rest. I think I will have DH move it away from the other plants just in case.Planted in containers this year. The plants are producing but not very well Only seeing 3-4 tomatoes per plant, probably due to the containers. IThey are 5 gallon, I have seen others grow in them and have good production

Leaf scorch can happen for a variety of reasons, although most common is because the leaf is loosing water faster then it can be replaced. Generally in this case the edges of the leaves brown first, although it can occur as spots on the leaf surface. When the weather is hot and dry, and especieally if there is wind, extra watering might be indicated, although a water saturated soil can also contribute to the problem since if the soil contains too much water the roots cannot take up the needed mositure.
This may be of somoe hlep.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/02911.html

This late in the season I don't worry about how mine look either as long as they are still producing.