Wilting tomatoes

I planted some organic beefsteaks and some san marzano tomatoes in raised beds where beans were previously grown. I worked the soil with some very old horse manure from the back yard (very dry- a few years old- don't know if it did anything or not), but other than that, I didn't do anything else to the soil. Now, half of the plants are very wilted, one with a few yelowing leaves. The leaves do NOT perk back up after watering, and we really soak them with several gallons of water. Regardless, we are still getting lots of blossoms and fruits, which seem to be progressing nicely. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. We should have quite a few tomatoes in a little while, but the way the plants look, I'm afraid they might keel over before they're ripe!
What am I doing wrong? What can I do to help?

 

that does sound weird. is it possible that the soil is too heavy/wet? leaves will yellow and fall off in that case. they don't necessarily wilt though. another possibility is that there was too much root disturbance during transplanting in which case they'd be doing exactly what you're describing. how recently were they planted? in this case a little shade will help until they're established. does any of this sound plausible?

 

hate to be the bearer of bad news but,
its probably not you.there is a deadly fungus attacking pants all over the northeast..

Potato famine disease striking home gardens in U.S.


Reuters – Dark brown lesions on stems, with white fungal growth developing under moist conditions, are characteristic …



By Julie Steenhuysen Julie Steenhuysen – Fri Jul 10, 5:22 pm ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Late blight, which caused the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and 1850s, is killing potato and tomato plants in home gardens from Maine to Ohio and threatening commercial and organic farms, U.S. plant scientists said on Friday.
"Late blight has never occurred this early and this widespread in the United States," said Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at Cornell University's extension center in Riverhead, New York.
She said the fungal disease, spread by spores carried in the air, has made its way into the garden centers of large retail chains in the Northeastern United States.
"Wal-mart, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart and Lowe's are some of the stores the plants have been seen in," McGrath said in a telephone interview.
The disease, known officially as Phytophthora infestans, causes large mold-ringed olive-green or brown spots on plant leaves, blackened stems, and can quickly wipe out weeks of tender care in a home garden.
McGrath said in her 21 years of research, she has only seen five outbreaks in the United States. The destructive disease can spread rapidly in cooler, moist weather, infecting an entire field within days.
"What's unique about it this year is we have never seen plants affected in garden centers being sold to home gardeners," she said.
This year's cool, wet weather created perfect conditions for the disease. "Hopefully, it will turn sunny," McGrath said. "If we get into our real summer hot dry weather, this disease is going to slow way down."
FUNGICIDES WILL CONTROL BLIGHT
According to its website, the University Maryland's Plant Diagnostic Lab got a suspect tomato sample as early as June 12, very early in the tomato growing season, which runs from April-September.
McGrath said the risk is that many gardeners will not recognize it, putting commercial farms and especially organic growers at risk.
"My concern is for growers. They are going to have to put a lot more time and effort in trying to control the disease. It's going to be a very tough year," she said.
"This pathogen can move great distances in the air. It often does little jumps, but it can make some big leaps."
McGrath said the impact on the farmer will depend on how much the pathogen is spread. "Eastern New York is seeing a lot of disease," she said.
She said commercial farmers will be able to use fungicides containing chlorothalonil to control the blight.
And while some sprays have also been approved for organic use, many organic farmers do not use them, making it much harder to control.
"If they are not on top of this right from the very beginning, it can go very fast," she said.

 

if that is the problem hit with a solution of either potassium or sodium bicarbonate and water with a small amount of soap or horticultural oil to make it stick. you don't need but a 2 or 3 tablespoons per gallon of the bicarb and the same for the soap/oil.

that's indeed some bad news there hh. thanks for passing along. bound to be from one of those mega-growers supplying the corporate big boxes. damn sloppy. another great reason to stay away from them.

 

we first heard about this ,,i guess a month ago and "bonnie" (walmarts supplier as well as many other outlets) was pretty much singled out as the culprit.

the problem with using a spray now like you suggested is that if they are already showing signs,its probably too late. hopefully she will be able to save some of them though..

reality is we have been reading about folks battling this since we first heard about it and i have yet to read where anyone has saved their plants after seeing signs of it.

BTW, isnt what you suggested only for powdery mildew??


everything i have read is saying you need a copper spray like this to combat it.


http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pp/resourceguide/cmp/solanaceous.php#d7

 

They were planted in May, actually.
One of them might be oversoaked, but it was showing symptoms before we started REALLY soaking them...

Thanks for the warning. I don't see any spots on the stems, but there are definitely some on the leaves. Currently, it's only affecting a few plants in only one tomato patch. I have another patch around the corner of the house that seems perfectly healthy.
I was hoping I wouldn't have to resort to chemicals, but if it's the only way to save these plants- which I raised from seed I started in January, by the way- then so be it.
Where can I get this stuff?

 

our lowes carries the copper stuff.

if your not above using chemicals i would do a little research and find something stronger..

and remember, just because your other patch is healthy doesnt mean it wont spread. in a case like this preventive measures are in order IMO..

good luck and let us know how it goes..

 

You know what else is weird? Sometimes only half of the plant is affected. There is one in the corner of the garden that looks awful but for the right side of the plant, which is totally unaffected. Is this common on late blight? One of the others is like that too, and there are no stem lesions. Mostly some of the leaves are yellowing with brown spots or just green and wilting. The necrosis seems to start on the leaves and work their way back to the stem.

 

i have no idea whats common of late blight. thankfully we have never had it here.
right now there is a ton of info on the web about the subject. i encourage you to do a search and spend some time reading and looking at photos to determine if this is what it is or not.

 

Okeydoke. Thanks for your time!

 

nope there are a few fungi that can be prevented/controlled with various bicarbonates. http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/bakingsoda.html

 

A picture would be very informative. Just an off the cuff suggestion if you have some old milk sitting around dilute it down and spray the plants. A very weak solution is all that is needed sometimes. But without being able to see what your problem is it's hard to say for sure. But if you have some milk no one wants to drink what have you got to lose?

 

The batteries for the camera are in use at the moment (we have a set of rechargeables that are shared around the house, lolz, we're poor), so I will get to that asap, but I WILL say, that after a few days of spraying them with an antifungal that I found at Walmart (that claims to be suited for organic gardening, but I'm not sure), the stems look much stronger and there are new leaves growing. I also got them some plant food that said it would strengthen their defense against disease, so hopefully they're working together and not against each other. Seems to be that way anyhow.
Here's the antifungal I got (I guess it has a bug and mite repellant in it too):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

Pics of plants to come, though I don't know if it will be necessary if this stuff works...

 

I don't see a content list on that product. How do you know it's safe?

 

I think you'd find milky water as effective and you'd know what's in it. What it could provide your plants is calcium and potassium. I don't know why it works but I've used it on powdery mildew in roses for three years.

 

It says the active ingredient is neem oil, but I don't think it could be just that. It says it's for vegetables, so I'm just not going to be paranoid this year.
We're out of milk. Will have to try that one in a few days.



^This one was pretty much dead before I stated treating it. It looks so much better now, and as with most of them, the leaves and stems that were affected the worst are dying and falling off, while nice new growth is coming out that shows no sign of disease.

 

Hi,
we have never had it here.
right now there is a ton of info on the web about the subject. i encourage you to do a search and spend some time reading and looking at photos to determine if this is what it is or not.

I edited out the link. Sorry, can't have links in posts.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Well, all of the wilting has stopped, the affected leaves and stems having dropped off and been replaced with all healthy tissue. It was definitely some kind of fungal infection, though I'm not sure if it was the super-scary unstoppable potato famine blight described here, as it didn't take as aggressive a treatment to get rid of it as I would have thought.
I think I'll keep spraying them every few days until I run out of fungicide.
I'm just so glad they all survived. We had a long time to bond and I would have been very sad to lose any...
Thanks all for all advice. Even if I didn't use all of it this time, I will keep it tucked away for next year.

 

congratulations on your success!!