N-exactly-FRC: Tomato Blight - help please

D

deb-in-mi

Well-known member
I am growing 10+ varieties of tomatoes (17 plants; although don't ask me to name them:) and they are growing like gangbusters - already have green tomatoes (very early for this in Michigan). Anyway...a few plants have brownish leaves near the bottom of the plant and they seem to be spreading. Any idea what causes this and how to treat/prevent it? (Same thing happened last year. Still had tons of tomatoes but the plants looked so sickly by mid August).

Here's the food related part: I can't wait for the harvest and make a piggy out of myself:)

Thanks for your help. Deb

 
There is not much you can do to stop if once it starts, you can only

try to prevent it. There is a fungus in the soil that causes this wilt. It gets transfered to the leaves when planting or watering or when it rains. The recommendation is for tomatoes NOT
to be planted in the same place every year. This is supposed to help control this. Most of your tomatoes will ripen, but the more leaves the plants lose the less they will produce. I am not sure if there is a spray (fungicide) available, we usually just live with it when it happens and hope that it will be an early year and most of the tomatoes will ripen. Watering from the bottom with drip irrigation and not overhead with a sprinkler or hose may help also.

 
The same thing happened to me! So heartbreaking. I planted 5 heirloom varieties and grew them

organically. I babied the heck out of them. I noticed the leaves getting brown and curling and thought it was due to lack of water or the unforgiving Florida sun. I finally did some research online and found out it was Verticillium Wilt, but by that time, it was too late. My plants were 8 and 9ft tall, but the stalks at the bottom were all shriveled up and worthless. My dad's friend brought over some special commerical stuff to try and save them, but they were too far gone. He said he would get me some special disease resistant seeds being test by the Univ. of FLorida to try in the fall. The bed I planted them in WAS virgin soil. He said the virus could have already been in the roots when I rec'd the plants or could have come from some type of soil ammendment i used like black chicken or cow. I just ripped all my poor plants out the bed on Wednesday. All I can say is I'll try again in the fall. smileys/frown.gif

 
Really - EVEN in containers, because when I replant in the fall I had planned to use

containers to avoid the "tainted" soil issue. I was told I would need to "sterilize" the soil in the ground using some sort of gas process if I ever wanted to plant tomatoes in that area again... so containers was an obvious and practical alternative. Rats! I am hoping these magic seeds will be the answer too. It's too heart-wrenching to invest all that time and energy and even money into hopes for wonderful fresh juicy tomatoes, only to have them wither up and die!

 
Evidently the top soil I bought at the nursery to mix with the potting soil was contaminated.

Depending on what part of Florida you're living in, you can contact your local co-operative extension (do a google search if you can't find your local extension) and see if they have any suggestions.

Michael

 
Heirloom tomatoes are hard to grow because they are not at all resistant

They have more flavor but are really difficult to grow without running into Verticillium Wilt and Tomato Blight. One thing- don't touch the leaves when they are wet and make certain you pinch out all the suckers and get plenty of air circulation for the plant. Don't let the tomato vine sit on the ground at all.

The same thing happened with tomatoes that happened with roses- the smell is gone from commercially-raised roses but they now can grow perfect flowers without fail. With tomatoes the taste has been hybridized out in favor of a stronger, disease-resistant plant.

 
My Master Gardener friend said it comes from mulch and soil...

I think I remember he said mulch because I had that problem using grass mulch around the plants. He said to get rid of the leaves close to the ground. I don't mulch my tomatoes anymore either, and I clip off the bottom leaves. I hope this works this summer. I also have to plant tomatoes in the same space year after year because it's all I have. I make a point to dig up some of the old dirt and add lots of new dirt/peat moss to that area yearly. I have only 6 plants and they are like gold to me. It's war thought...the mice and chipmunks love to climb up the stalk to the lower tomatoes and eat the red ones, thus ruining them! Anyone have a solution to that? It drove me crazy.

 
How 'bout a vigilent kitty cat? Seriously though, I wonder if one of those artificial

snakes or owls would keep rodents away? It works on boat docks to keep birds off.

Interesting about the mulch. I used hay from a local feed store. I will definitely use sterile soil in the fall and I am hoping these special seeds will do the trick AND still taste good!

 
No to cats...and I've tried blood meal, fox scent and a plastic owl....

but those did nothing. I actually put out mouse traps in the evenings but didn't want to admit it because there are those who would hang me out to dry for doing that. But I've battled mice in my house for a long time and I have absolutely no sympathy for those varmints. My tomatoes are close to the house. I think I've won the house/mouse war, but we'll see. They've retreated for the time. I did not like trapping chipmunks, so I quit after awhile. But I would trap at least 3 mice a night under the tomatoes. There was just no end of them. Nothing else worked. It's so frustrating to see big beautiful tomatoes ~ red and just about ready to pick...and then the next day finding huge gouges in them from greedy little vermin. Had to throw what little was left away. Luckily they didn't get to the tomatoes way high up.

 
I got rid of rats in my attic and under the house with peppermint oil. Just a dab on some rags

thrown around. I heard about it on the radio and they said it works for mice and other rodents too. Just tie rags to stakes and dribble with the oil. It's worth a try!

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top