June Balcony Garden Problems- Need Help

[cschiavoni]

As many of you know I'm completely new to gardening and this is the first time I've tried growing my own food. All of my plants have been growing quickly and beautifully but recently a couple of issues have popped up and I'm looking for advice as to how to resolve them. I felt I was over watering for the first week or so after planting everything (beginning to mid June) but we've have lots of rain and thunderstorms so they've been getting a lot of water regardless. Temperatures have been hitting 85-95 here in DC the last few weeks with night time lows 65-75.

Firstly, I have noticed a large number of tiny flies or gnats in and around the soil, and some on the plants. When I touch the soil they buzz up and I can clearly see 5-15 but it's hard to get pictures. These were my attempts:



Basil seems really sad. Normally only doing this during the hottest part of the day and will perk up later, but is that normal?


Now onto the tomatoes. I'm having problems with all three plants (Roma, better boy, and the cherry).

Better boy leaves just won't perk up:


Lots of things I don't like on the cherry tomato leaves:




And just a few of the Roma leaves starting to show signs:


Help please!

 

[Beth_B]

OK there are much more knowlegeable people than me here but this is my take.

Little flies: No clue. They may even be harmless. Soapy water rids most plants of pests (check the undersides of the leaves too.)

Basil: Sick. I grow it every year in a container and have yet to see it wilt, or be eaten by anything. Stuff seems bullet-proof. I never water mine and it goes and goes all summer. Do you water yours? If it is getting rained on it probably doesn't need more.

Tomatoes: Early blight, its a fungus in the soil and exacerbated by over-watering. Image-google early blight.

I don't have much in the way of solutions I'm afraid! I had an awful problem with fungus and splitting tomatoes the last two years because it was so rainy here. If you're getting tons of rain and can move your plants out of it, do that.

It is OK for plants to dry out and wilt occasionally. Actually can be good for them! Commercial tomato growers will stress their plants intentionally;, to increase yield.

A very very common mistake people make is adding more water to the soil the minute they see a plant getting droopy. Do not ever do that.

 

[Chuck]

As many of you know I'm completely new to gardening and this is the first time I've tried growing my own food. All of my plants have been growing quickly and beautifully but recently a couple of issues have popped up and I'm looking for advice as to how to resolve them. I felt I was over watering for the first week or so after planting everything (beginning to mid June) but we've have lots of rain and thunderstorms so they've been getting a lot of water regardless. Temperatures have been hitting 85-95 here in DC the last few weeks with night time lows 65-75.

Firstly, I have noticed a large number of tiny flies or gnats in and around the soil, and some on the plants. When I touch the soil they buzz up and I can clearly see 5-15 but it's hard to get pictures. These were my attempts:



Basil seems really sad. Normally only doing this during the hottest part of the day and will perk up later, but is that normal?


Now onto the tomatoes. I'm having problems with all three plants (Roma, better boy, and the cherry).

Better boy leaves just won't perk up:


Lots of things I don't like on the cherry tomato leaves:




And just a few of the Roma leaves starting to show signs:


Help please!

The little bugs are more than likely fungus knats and don't hurt anything. My basil looks the same or worse in the heat of the day but looks perfect the next morning. The better boy looks like it is wet. And as @Beth_B said early blight

 

[cschiavoni]

Okay I will keep an eye on the bugs, hopefully they are hanging around from rain and humidity.

As for the blight will fixing the water problem cause it to go away, or should I look into a fungicide?

 

[Chuck]

Okay I will keep an eye on the bugs, hopefully they are hanging around from rain and humidity.

As for the blight will fixing the water problem cause it to go away, or should I look into a fungicide?

All you can really do about the blight is to try to keep it from killing the plant until your harvest is in. Copper based fungicide will help and so will dusting the plant and the soil after every rain with whole ground cornmeal. Spraying with a milk mixture sometimes helps control it. So does hydrogen peroxide. Snip off the affected limbs with sterilized shears and remove the debris. As for as the knats go if they become too much of a nuisance drench the soil with spinosad

 

[cschiavoni]

Thanks guys. Just realized this thread should probably go in diseases and pests instead of general. Sorry mods!

 

[Beth_B]

Okay I will keep an eye on the bugs, hopefully they are hanging around from rain and humidity.

As for the blight will fixing the water problem cause it to go away, or should I look into a fungicide?

Did you not Google the blight issue, as suggested? I recommend you do. It cannot be simply made to "go away." I recommend you do your own research now that you've been given the tools.

 

[cschiavoni]

Quick question on the blight, I've been reading and looking at pictures, the internet seems to say it appears on lower leaves and is round spots. What I'm seeing is on new growth and top leaves and doesn't seem spotted to me. Here is a better picture of three leaves I removed.

 

[cschiavoni]

Did you not Google the blight issue, as suggested? I recommend you do. It cannot be simply made to "go away." I recommend you do your own research now that you've been given the tools.

Oh I googled for about two hours, lol. I just like asking actual gardeners and posting specific pictures to get better insight. Sorry, I am terrified I'm going to kill my plants.

 

[Chuck]

Early blight is the most common of all tomato diseases but it doesn't usually start at the top. It looks like it could be thrips but without being there it's hard to say. It is probably a fungal problem so the treatment would be the same as for early blight. The following link gives a pretty good description of the major tomato diseases.
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/vegetables/tomato-plant-diseases/#page=0