Curling Up and Dying

[lakngulf]

I have a row of six Better Boy tomatoes that were doing fairly well, producing several good tomatoes, and looked healthy after a bout with Early Blight. During the weekend I pulled a few more blighted leaves from the bottom, put some pine straw around them and hoped for the best.

Yesterday I noticed that on trunk of one plant was wilting as though it had no water. The other trunks on the plant were fine, so I just assumed that I was a little rough with it while pruning.

This afternoon I checked again. That whole plant, and one next to it show leaves the are curling up and the plants appear to be dying. They are loaded with good fruit. I will get a picture tomorrow and post.

More history: Last year was the first time I had used this spot for garden. Before that is was a walkway with centipede grass. I took up the grass, tilled the area and planted Celebrity tomatoes there last year. The plants grew well, put on lots of fruit, and then one by one, curled up and died. I researched that it might be stem borers, might be nematodes, and other ideas that I do not recall at this time.

This year I removed the dirt from that area and replaced it with new top soil, thinking it would be just right for the tomatoes. I changed to Better Boy, remembering that the Celebritys did not fair so well. I placed milk cartons around the plants to keep the stem borer away.

Any ideas? I know a picture will be better, and I will get one tomorrow.

[lakngulf]

Here are some shots of the dying plant, and the healthy ones next to it. I am puzzled and paranoid, based on on quickly this happened and that it happened last year. In one shot you will notice that the plant to the right of the sick one has a few leaves curling as well. Also, this morning one stem from the sick plant did show better life, indicating that I might have damaged the plant in some way. I would love for that to be the case.

[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/G2010June/Garden_June018.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/G2010June/Garden_June016.jpg[/img]

[TZ -OH6]

Possibly Fusarium or bacterial wilt. Fusarium will often infect half of a plant [left side/right side] initially because the fungus infects the roots from the soil and then progressively chokes off the vascular tissue leading away from those roots. It does not infect all of the roots at the same time. Bacterial wilt produces a milky liquid when a cut stem is placed in water (milky sap leaks out). There are pictures on the internet of this someplace.



I have a couple of small areas that have given me trouble with Fusarium each year. The plants grow fine for part of the season and then as soon as the soil starts to dry out the wilt starts. Fusarium takes advantage of the weakened roots to infect. I quit planting in one area and in the other I dug it deeply and added a lot of organic ammendments to solve the problem. Before, it was just topsoil/sod from the yard turned under with the natural claypan underneath starting at about 10 inches down.

[lakngulf]

Possibly Fusarium Before, it was just topsoil/sod from the yard turned under with the natural claypan underneath starting at about 10 inches down.

I believe that may be it, and nothing I can do about these plants. I tried to "replace" the soil in that area but obviously did not get rid of the fungii. I will avoid that area.

My plan is to add 10 -12 inches of top soil to the garden next year. What would be a good approach to that? Is there anything I could put down on the existing soil that would keep the bad stuff away from my plants. I have plenty of top soil to haul in to make a whole new garden.

Thanks for your help.

[rainbowgardener]

Given that you have all those other plants nearby, I would pull and trash (NOT compost) the sick one ASAP to try to keep the infection from spreading.

[lakngulf]

Given that you have all those other plants nearby, I would pull and trash (NOT compost) the sick one ASAP to try to keep the infection from spreading.

Yes, that was my next question. Yall are good!! Looks like fried green tomatoes galore.

[TZ -OH6]

My problem was the way the soil dried out at those spots, not the soil itself, so deep digging and organic ammendments helped me. Deep digging got throught he clay layer that caused the surface drying, and the organic matter grows many types of bacteria and fungi that outcompetes the wilt diseases, lowering their numbers. I don't think removing soil will have any effect, and the organic matter should still be active (young compost, dead leaves, grass clippings etc) rather than finished/bagged compost.


You could also grow a hybrid with specific resistances to the disease. The disease usually still kills the plant but slow enough for you to can get ripe fruit.

[lakngulf]

Ok, I removed the two effected plants, and cross my fingers the fungi does not move to the others. Here are some pictures of the removed plants.

The plants were rather healthy just two or three days ago. Here are the plants and the green tomatoes I picked.

[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/G2010June/Garden_June031.jpg[/img]

A closer shot of the roots (1) in the plastic coffee can that I put around the plant to avoid the stem borer and (2) with the can cut off. To me, the roots look decent. What do you think?

[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/G2010June/Garden_June030.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/G2010June/Garden_June034.jpg[/img]

Finally, I cut into the main stem. Not sure what I was looking for, but there is

[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/G2010June/Garden_June032.jpg[/img]

[TZ -OH6]

Image Google tomato bacterial wilt


and it will show pictures of stems leaking milky stuff in water and general look of a rotted stem

[tedln]

I had a very similar situation with a couple of volunteer cherry tomato plants this past week. I have five volunteers growing about 12" apart along a fence line. The soil they are growing in has never been improved in any way, but they were growing great with an occasional watering. last week I noticed two plants had almost all the leaves wilted and the plants looked dead. The plants next to them were in perfect condition. I decided to do nothing since they are volunteers. I noticed today, they are putting on new leaves. I have no idea what happened to them or why they are recovering from their almost dead condition.

Ted

[lakngulf]

I will definitely NOT have tomatoes, peppers, eggplant in this area. But

(1) What crop would grow OK in the infected area?

(2) What type tomato would be MOST resistant? I thought the Better Boy had s VFN with it, and I grew these from seed in miracle gro soil.

[engineeredgarden]

Grow something from a different plant family - like corn, squash, melons, cucumbers.....

EG

[lakngulf]

The other plants in the "fusarium row" are showing signs of the disease. Here is a shot of one plant that is showing some drying leaves.

[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/G2010June/Garden_June039.jpg[/img]

This plant is like the little train that says "I think I can, I think I can" I water it good in the late afternoon and morning. It looks faily good in the early AM. The hot sun (we have had UPPER 90s the last few days) hits it and almost all leaves have a drying up look. It has some great tomatoes on it so I am trying to keep it going. One other plant has begun to show the curling leaf look.

[garden5]

Cut the stem at a sort-of angle and look at the veins. If it's fusarium wilt, the veins will look brown.

[url=https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/stem/fus_wilt.html]Fusarium Wilt[/url]