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Mystery disease?

gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
in Fruit & veg
Good evening all, my neighbour had this disease on her tomato plants that she wasn’t able to identify, nor could I. Anyone have any ideas? She said that the fruit tastes ‘floury’?

Posts

  • clarke.bruntclarke.brunt Posts: 215
    The tomato plant is just trying to start growing aerial roots from the stem - not a disease, or a problem. They often do this near the bottom - this looks higher up. Anyone know whether they do this more if they're not getting enough of something from the roots in the soil? Anyway, it shows why you can hide some tomato stem in the soil when putting in a larger pot - they're very happy to grow roots from the stem.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    It could be oedema.
    Not a disease, but a result of overwatering usually

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    I had a similar problem some 6 or 7 years ago Gardenman and emailed the RHS Advisory service with pictures. This is the reply, maybe it will be helpful:

    "Thank you for your enquiry to the Royal Horticultural Society's Members' Advisory Service.

    From the information given and the photographs sent, it does appear that your tomato stem has root initials appearing (due to the humid conditions in your greenhouse) and not a disease.

    Root initials are not very significant, but they might indicate that fine-tuning of cultivation, especially watering methods might be needed. Keeping the stems and foliage dry when watering should remedy the problem, and will also help to prevent tomato blight."


    Also Gardenman it may be worth searching for 'tomato stem problems' on the RHS webpage.


    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
    @herbaceous thanks for the info, the odd thing is, is that my neighbour told me after a while it looked almost like a form of canker? Weird! I shall have a look on the RHS website :smile:
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    Good luck Gardenman, in case it helps here is one of the pictures of my old problem

    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • clarke.bruntclarke.brunt Posts: 215
    edited March 2021
    I think calling this a 'problem' is causing unneeded worry. It isn't a problem - it's just the stem attempting to put out some roots. If I didn't have this somewhere on my tomato stems, I'd be surprised.
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    As you say @clarke.brunt I stand corrected. It was a problem for me at the time as I did not know what was causing the apparent disfigurement.
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
    @herbaceous thanks for the info, the odd thing is, is that my neighbour told me after a while it looked almost like a form of canker? Weird! I shall have a look on the RHS website :smile:

    Sounds quite common then! My neighbour (who’s plant it was) still seems to think it’s something else? She said that the tomatoes themselves tasted somewhat ‘floury’?
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    It seems that the watering regime has an effect on the growth of root initials and that can also change the flavour of the fruit. I have noticed subtle differences in the flavour of varieties I have grown for years, all sorts of things have an effect.  Not the least is often imagination?
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I think the stem forming rootlets and the tasteless tomatoes are likely to be due to the same thing ... overwatering  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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