Happening Again - Tomatoes Wilting

[lakngulf]

My tomatoes were looking so good, full green color, blooms and lots of little fruit setting. Better Boys, Celebrity and Brandywine. But some of the plants got about three feet tall in cages, and the wilting process began. It was so discouraging to watch them wilt, and then have to pull 'em. This soil had tomatoes last year, and they did very well. I added 6-8 inches of new top soil for this year.

Last year some plants died this way, and my helpful gardener friends suggested fusarium wilt. The sympthoms do seem to match. Yesterday one of the plants was full and healthy on one side, but one branch was wilting. I removed that branch, and today the rest of the plant show signs of wilting. At this point, it sems that more Better Boy plants have died than the others. As a matter of fact, I have my finger crossed because the Brandywine plants have looked good so far. Maybe their roots do not grow as fast and have not gotten to the bad spot yet. Time will tell.

I just do not have the room to rotate tomatoes to a different spot year after year. In one area I removed the existing dirt down to about a foot and replaced it with new top soil. The plants to go there were tall so I planted them horizontal, so their little roots ought to stay in good soil.

What should I do? I cannot keep replacing the soil. I would have difficulty rotating. I have heard of a process of covering the soil with black plastic and "cook" the disease.

Also, it seems to me that many of the commercial growers plant row after row of tomatoes in the same spot each year. Do they have a special variety that is not subject to fusariums wilt? I LOVE growing tomatoes, but the two or three years have been challenging.

Any ideas?

[Rogue11]

Have you considered growing them in containers? You can start with fresh soil in your containers every year; use the old soil for some other crop if you like.

[lakngulf]

.....find the biggest greenhouse plant containers that I can find, dig a hole in the ground, place container and fill it with fresh top soil. If I the container is large enough the plants should do well, and the roots may not venture beyond safe territory.

Why bury the container? I grow my tomatoes in containers that sit on gravel. I think burying the container would be a mistake, because it would impede the drainage. And you don't want to fill it with topsoil, either. You need to use a good potting mix, with a healthy amount of added perlite, not soil designed for gardens. JMO.

[TZ -OH6]

Big bummer!

There are several races of both Fusarium and Verticilium, and maybe your part of the country has ones different from those which Better Boy has resistance. I would call your county extension agent to find out what tomato varieties work best and why.

I found this for Alabama, don't know if it will help

https://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0797/

also this

https://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3122.html

[Cirtes]

Don't know if this will help but I've seen lots of folks grow tomatoes on the lake itself while boating. Maybe chatting with some neighbors can give you some ideas.

The fact that you grow resistant hybrids that are experiencing wilt may suggest that they are not suffering from Fusarium.

If you have a plant that you can pull, look at the roots for nematode damage.

Since this is systemic year after year despite your remedies, maybe a trip to UAB or other local university with an extension program might be prudent. Bring a plant and soil sample.

There was also that big farm in Birmingham ... Don't know the name but several acres. Could find them and chat.

Good Luck!

[gardenvt]

This sounds like verticullium wilt - I had that issue with one of my plants last year - Black from Tula. One day, one side wilted and the other the next. I had a problem with one other plant - early blight I think - and I took it out as well. I didn't have problems with the other 17 plants.

Last year, I used red mulch for most of the tomatoes and none for others. The two plants that I had problems with did not have mulch. You can guess I am using mulch this year for all of the plants.

I think it is important to note that a plant that is "resistant" to a particular disease may still get that disease. It is just less likely than some other varieties.

[Duh_Vinci]

It does indeed sounds like fusarium/verticulum wilt of some race as suggested above!

I have few spots in the garden that later in the season these signs to show up. Ideally, should not be planting tomatoes there, but for the sake of experiment, I'm trying few things that has worked for others...

Plants inoculated with Biotamax and Micogrow (endo/ecto micorrhezae and other microorganisms that generally believed to colonize the roots and assist the plants to fight these nasties). Trying few varieties others reported to be resistant to V/F wilts: Kosovo, PBTD, Indian Stripe and I've grafted couple of Kosovo seedlings onto the roots of vigorous F1 Emperador. Will see later in the season I guess...

Good luck to you!

Regards,
D

[jibsailor75]

These wilts are really tough to get rid of, especially if you can't rotate your crop. I'd recommend growing in pots or trying a community gardening plot for about 3 seasons to see if you can get rid of the fungus in your garden over time. It's tenacious and survives the winter too.

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