What is wrong with my tomato plant?

[elledi]

Last year, I planted a tomato plant from seed, and it did not have any problems. This spring, it started putting out new leaves and branches, when I noticed that the leaves of some lower branches were shriveling. Upon closer inspection, I saw some white oval egg-like specs underneath the leaves and I assumed they were aphids since my eggplant plants got an aphid infection last year. So I sprayed it with a store bought neem oil solution. After a week or so, when I didn't notice a change, I began spraying it with insecticidal soap. I now don't see any insects or eggs, but the lower branches still keep wilting.

I have attached a couple of pictures of my tomato plant.

IMG_3467[2].jpg (45.51 KiB) Viewed 1050 times

IMG_3468[2].jpg (53.56 KiB) Viewed 1050 times

I have been plucking off the lower branches that wilt, and at this rate, I feel like it will rapidly progress up the plant. Can anyone please help?

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know what is wrong with your tomato plant, presumably some disease, possibly a bacterial wilt. Perhaps TZ-OH or one of the people knowledgeable about tomato diseases will come by.

But I can tell you this much, it was vulnerable to the disease, because it wasn't really thriving to start with--spindly, and leggy with long internodal spaces. It wasn't getting enough light. That pot should be on a stand so that it sits up above the wall, so the whole plant can get sun. Your balcony isn't a great place for it anyway, since it is only getting sun from one side. Depends on which direction it faces and whether there is a roof over it, whether it even makes any sense to try a tomato there.

Looking at the bottom, it is hard to tell. Do you have two plants in the pot? It is a small pot for one tomato plant.

Here's a couple links to help you diagnose your tomato problem:

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vege ... em-solver/

https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell. ... afKey.html

[imafan26]

I agree the plant is leggy because it is next to a solid wall that does not let light in. It is also probably why you have fungal problems, there isn't much air circulation either. I can't tell what size the pot is, but for a plant that size I use a 20 inch pot. If you can move it away from the wall and higher up it would really help the plant.

You may also be watering too much, even though the pot is small, that close to the wall, it may not dry out all that fast either.

[hendi_alex]

Looks pretty bad. I'm thinking too much water, too little light, as well as some kind of disease. You may still get a little fruit from the plant. Be sure not to keep the soil too wet for an extended period. I've tried drip and had a hard time getting it right. The plants either dried out or stayed too wet. Now I just hand water when the plants needs it. You may want to consider putting the drip on a timer, so that it can cycle off and on several times per day, as opposed to a continuous drip.

[Smallgardener]

You said it was planted last spring. Sounds like it has been alive a long time. I am think it might be time to up pot it. Give it some new life.

[TZ -OH6]

The little whitish oval dots under leaves sounds like white fly larvae. They are like little scale insects. Aphids are usually on the upper soft tissue. Eggs (moth = worm) will either be single beads or a patch of beads that can be scraped off with a fingernail.

You can google verticilium wilt, fusarium wilt and bacterial wilt for details. One of those is probably the culpret.

https://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/articles/ ... wilt.shtml

Wilts are soil born, and certain soil moisture conditions may cause them to move into the plant, or they may just attack anyway. Its hard to say if there was a cultural problem or not. The soil is bad now and shouldn't be used again ... and sterilize the pot and cage legs with 10% bleach before using them again. Part of the plant will probably die but the otehr branches may not and produce for you, but if it is wilt the dirt is bad and shouldn't be used again.


That looks like a cherry tomato by the leaf shape and the viney-ness of it.
They usualy produce with less than optimal light. You have a lot of flowers so the plant is getting enough light for that. I don't see any sign of fungal problems on the leaves from poor air circulation.