lorenzu
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pepper and tomato wilt

I have had a re-occurring problem with my pepper and tomato plants. This affects my habenero peppers most. They never even start growing. Just go right into this "wilt". They don't die. Just keep struggling. It effects other peppers to differing degrees. The tomatoes started well then develop this withering. My tomato plants are just starting to produce fruit and now I notice the symptoms on the new growth. I have researched some and all I can come up with is some form of verticillium or fusarium wilt. ANY help is much appreciated. I hate the thought of not being able to grow tomatoes or peppers in my garden. They are some of my favorites. All the rest of the veggies are doing well ie:cucumbers, corn, carrots, cabbage, beans, onions, potatoes. ONLY the tomatoes and peppers are affected.
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lorenzu
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Evidently I can only post one pic at a time. That last pic is a pepper that has been growing since early may.
This is what is happenning to my tomatoes.
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PaulF
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Some basics to consider. Be sure to change locations where you plant peppers and tomatoes in your garden every year if you can. Wilt pathogens are soil borne. As such, don't water overhead to limit splashing soil onto the leaves. Water the soil not the plant. Mulching around the plants will also help keep soil/leaf contact to a minimum. If nothing else, put a few layers of newspaper between the plant and soil. Grass clippings on top of that will help keep temperatures lower and moisture in the soil longer. Air flow in and around the plant is also important. Yours are pretty small so that really is not the problem

At the end of the year, be sure to practice garden sanitation. Get rid of all old plant material as this will harbor pathogens. If you do and have done all this, sorry to belabor the point.

Some may say to choose varieties less prone to wilt, but as an heirloom/OP grower, as soon as I stopped growing hybrids, the leaf diseases abated in my garden. I put no stock in choosing a tomato or pepper variety for their resistances. It is a matter of days resistance not weeks. Mostly I say keep the leaves out of the dirt.

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rainbowgardener
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Something very strange and bad has happened to your tomato and pepper. Besides the wilting and curling at the top, they seem excessively leafy with shoots coming out in strange directions, almost like a witches broom kind of thing, which is usually viral not bacterial. You might try PM'ing TZ-OH6, who is one of our most knowledgeable regulars about tomato diseases with this link, see if he will contribute.

Did the plants look like that (very short and leafy/branchy) before they were showing other signs of disease?

If you have any healthy tomato, pepper, or potato plants left, I would pull these and get rid of them (not in the compost pile) to try to keep whatever this disease is from spreading, as well as practicing the sanitation measures suggested by PaulF

lorenzu
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Thanks for the tips. I will be more careful with old plants in future. It IS very strange and bad what has been happening. It puzzles me as I have grown veggies in this garden for 30+yrs and the last 4-5 yrs have developed this prob. At this point I am considering starting a different virgin garden for just my peppers and tomato and keeping it super clean. Thought about trying solarization, but my garden is pretty big and that could be difficult. Thanks again. will try pm-ing.

lorenzu
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Cannot seem to find TZ-OH6

PaulF
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After a second look it almost looks like herbicide drift which will deform leaves and tops. Some say sevin will cause burning as well. But not over several years. A mystery to me. More expertise is needed.

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rainbowgardener
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It does kind of look like that. And sevin can burn plants, sometimes even kill them, but only soon after it is applied.

Here's an old post from TZ-OH6 with a lot of good links to info about tomato diseases. And you can just push the Message button ( P. Msg ) , to ask him a PM question.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... p?p=135484



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