Tomato & Bean Plants Yellow Leaves with Black Spots: Will Neem Oil Help?

[PGB1]

Hi!
Today on our tomato and bean plants, I found many yellow leaves with black spots. Some are wilted, some aren't. I removed those leaves, disinfecting the cutter between plants. The cuttings were put in the sealed trash instead of composting. The neighbor's maple trees all have black spots, but those leaves aren't yellow.

Note that some tomatoes are in raised boxes and the dirt dries out daily. Some are in the ground and the soil stays damp for days. The beans are on a mound, but that soil stays damp.
There are also peppers in the planters and ground with the tomatoes. They don't have the spotted leaves.

I learned that there are many, many possible causes.

In case the cause in a fungal or bacterial infection, do you think Neem Oil will help. (We'd like to avoid chemicals.) Or will it harm the plants?

Thanks!
Paul

 

[big rockpile]

Neem might help but make make sure you spray early in the morning or late in the evening because it might burn the plants. I prefer evening.

Make sure you get under the leaves.

I'm thinking Leaf Miners one bug I haven't had.

I've found with my phone I can take the Camera and magnify what you are looking at and you can see the Insects giving you problems. I've been trying to get it into my Sons head yes Insects are that small.

big rockpile

 

[PGB1]

Thanks Big Rockpile for taking time to reply with helpful information.

I'll be certain to use Neem during the times you suggested. It'll probably be evenings because morning until early afternoon is when pollinators are enjoying the plants. They must go to be early.

Thanks for the tip about the phone's camera magnifying to view insects. I keep forgetting that my phone has a camera. Now is a good time to learn how to use it. (Assuming I can find the button that turns it on. Where's a little kid when you need one?)

 

[big rockpile]

I had an iPhone now have an Android and hate it.

big rockpile

 

[roadrunner]

That looks like some sort of virus, I'm not sure how much neem will help with that. I'd cut off the infected areas and see how the plant does, since the other leaves look fine.

Do you have a picture of the entire plant?

Are there other plants in the vicinity and how do they look?

If you start spraying, you'll end up killing beneficials as well, then you'll only need more and more stuff to combat the invaders. Once you start spraying, it only requires more and more spraying.

 

[PGB1]

Thank You RoadRunner for helpful information.

About 4 days ago, I cut off all of the compromised leaves plus stem back a to the next healthy joint. So far, I haven't seen new spots on any leaves. This was done to the tomatoes and the beans.

In the area, right next to the tomatoes, are pepper plants. They didn't get any spotted leaves. Also nearby are many dill plants. No problems with those.

Hopefully, it was either just water or, if disease, I got it all.

Paul
PS: I chuckled when I read your comment Big Rockpile! I was just cussing at my Android trying to figure out how to change the file extension on a photo. Every application in Android- even stock ones- do things differently from each other. MacOS & iOS are consistent across applications within the respecrtive operating systems.

 

[big rockpile]

That looks like some sort of virus, I'm not sure how much neem will help with that. I'd cut off the infected areas and see how the plant does, since the other leaves look fine.

Do you have a picture of the entire plant?

Are there other plants in the vicinity and how do they look?

If you start spraying, you'll end up killing beneficials as well, then you'll only need more and more stuff to combat the invaders. Once you start spraying, it only requires more and more spraying.

I've had couple plants with Insects that have been a pain.

Yesterday I mixed up Castel Soap, Neem and Peppermint Oil. And water.

Was spraying one plant and Honey Bees were all over and didn't seem to bother them.

Truth I've seen more Butterfly's and Honey Bees this year.

Some people were at the house and Wasp were flying around and they was trying to kill the Wasp. Freaked out when I wouldn't let them.

big rockpile

 

[Heirloom farmer1969]

Hi!
Today on our tomato and bean plants, I found many yellow leaves with black spots. Some are wilted, some aren't. I removed those leaves, disinfecting the cutter between plants. The cuttings were put in the sealed trash instead of composting. The neighbor's maple trees all have black spots, but those leaves aren't yellow.

Note that some tomatoes are in raised boxes and the dirt dries out daily. Some are in the ground and the soil stays damp for days. The beans are on a mound, but that soil stays damp.
There are also peppers in the planters and ground with the tomatoes. They don't have the spotted leaves.

I learned that there are many, many possible causes.

In case the cause in a fungal or bacterial infection, do you think Neem Oil will help. (We'd like to avoid chemicals.) Or will it harm the plants?

Thanks!
Paul

Once a blight/virus hits noting will stop
it . The key is to start early in order to prevent it from forming cause like I said, once a blight starts, no amount of any spray organic or chemicals will help .
You can cut the infected leaves off your tomatoes . Sometimes that'll stop it from spreading or at least slow it down . Beans, you just have to hope for the best .

 

[PGB1]

Once a blight/virus hits noting will stop
it . The key is to start early in order to prevent it from forming cause like I said, once a blight starts, no amount of any spray organic or chemicals will help .
You can cut the infected leaves off your tomatoes . Sometimes that'll stop it from spreading or at least slow it down . Beans, you just have to hope for the best .

Thanks Heirloom Framer.
This morning, there were new leaves on tomatoes showing the trouble, so I'll be diligent about removing leaves. The bean leaves look OK today. (So far...) Oddly however, there are no flowers nor and one tiny bean out of 24 plants in two locations. Is the pole and bush bean union on strike?

I wonder why the peppers next to the tomatoes haven't received the troubles. Just a curiosity.

 

[PGB1]

I've had couple plants with Insects that have been a pain.

Yesterday I mixed up Castel Soap, Neem and Peppermint Oil. And water.

Was spraying one plant and Honey Bees were all over and didn't seem to bother them.

Truth I've seen more Butterfly's and Honey Bees this year.

Some people were at the house and Wasp were flying around and they was trying to kill the Wasp. Freaked out when I wouldn't let them.

big rockpile

We have more butterflies than bees this year too. Climate change and lawn pesticides are what I suspect most contribute to the decline. (Not that I know for certain.)

I'm glad you don't kill the wasps, BigRockPile. We don't kill insects here either. They're on earth for a reason.

Maybe This Will Help With Wasps:
For wasps & hornets, to not kill them, but still have them leave a certain spot I use a drop of Eucalyptus or Tea Tree oil nearby.

For the ones that make paper nests and the ones who make mud nests on our soffits, I'll put a drop of either oil near the nest in the evening when they're all inside watching television. If the oil is not on the actual nest, it does not kill the insect; but sadly any larvae are abandoned & probably will die.
I try to catch the nest in the early phases of construction so no larvae are present.

By the next morning, the nest is abandoned & they don't return to that area all year. They must live somewhere nearby because they still show up to pollinate.

Those two oils work great at keeping flies away from trash cans, too. One drop will a week.

Paul

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I had mildew on my cucumber leaves and was told to use a solution of bicarbonate of soda on them. It worked so well I have been trying it on anything that looks fungal ever since. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I figure it is such a simple, innocuous chemical I don't mind trying it.

 

[PGB1]

Thanks for the baking soda idea, Oilver. I'll give that a try when the rain stops!
Paul