Tomato branch die off???

[mnfathead]

Hi all, second year gardener here and have a question. Last year we had 9 tomato plants and they did very well so this year we jumped upto 18, we went with mostly San Marzano so we can do some canning again this fall, but the lower branches are continually turning yellow and either falling off or I am trimming them off, it doesn't seem to affect any of the ones with fruit on them, is this normal or is there something I should be doing to stop this from happening? Thanks for any info, fathead

[pushbutton]

Very possible they have some sort of soil born fungal blight. Can spray some type of fungicide that usually has a sulphur/copper make up on them. Maybe Dotch/someone else can add more to this....chemicals are not my expertise. Pretty sure San Marzano is an old fashioned variety with out any disease resistance and without trying to start a debate as to the overall effects of using hybrids on the worlds seed production, in the future might want to try another variety that has some more resistance. Also, as pointed out in the other mater thread, practices of crop rotation(often hard to do in a small garden though and keep in mind eggplant and potatoes are in the same family), trying to water from below.....I know ...it rains from above , and readily cleaning up the infected debri can also help in the future.

[KEN W]

I agree.....most likely blight.The best remedy I've found is to spray with daconil.