Why is my tomato plant wilting and dying?
 

I can't figure out why this is happening to my Rutgers tomato plant. It's in an earthbox and was doing great until about a week or so ago when it just started to wilt and stop setting fruit. Not all the leaves/branches are wilting, just the majority, and the same plant on the other side of the box seems to be in a lot better shape. It's getting good water, I don't see any type of pest problem, and don't really see any bad spotting on the leaves either. Help.

Are they in the ground, raised beds, or pots?

It could be a number of things. It could be fusarium wilt or bacterial wilt and these would be my first guess. Either one is bad news for the plant or it could possibly be Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus; but it usually gives some indication on the leaves. There are other things that could cause it also like bad root knot nematodes but I have rarely seen them in a container or possibly something burrowing in the soil and eating or damaging the roots. It could be the soil is so packed or sodden that the roots are dying. Lots of things can go wrong with a tomato plant. There are even some tiny stem borers that can cause wilting and if you get them they are hard to spot because they enter through a tiny hole that is hardly noticeable without close inspection.

I hope you figure it out.

Bill

I was also thinking Bacterial wilt or fusarium, but those wouldn't be the issue if grown in pots, just like you said Bill.

Could it be the water is getting built up in the container? Many times the drainage isn't good and water gets sour-.

[FONT="Calibri"] brian1269, I have the EXACT same problem!!![/FONT]
[FONT="Calibri"]Earthboxes, draining fine, the other plant in the same box is healthy and green. I actually pulled my Anna Russian 2 days ago because it had been wilted for a week or more and I was worried it had bacterial wilt. I am starting a new thread w/ my photos - I actually cut the stems to test for bacterial wilt and came up negative. I am baffled.[/FONT]

Thanks for the responses.

[QUOTE=ginger2778;573746]Are they in the ground, raised beds, or pots?[/QUOTE]

It's in an Earthbox, which is a self-watering container.

[QUOTE=ginger2778;573756]I was also thinking Bacterial wilt or fusarium, but those wouldn't be the issue if grown in pots, just like you said Bill.[/QUOTE]

So those don't happen in containers? They are on my back deck, 10 feet off the ground.

[QUOTE=JoParrott;573759]Could it be the water is getting built up in the container? Many times the drainage isn't good and water gets sour-.[/QUOTE]

I think the water is good, the other plant is using it and it also gets flushed out some when the water timer kicks in twice a days and fills the reservoir.

[QUOTE=kerns125;573778][FONT="Calibri"] brian1269, I have the EXACT same problem!!![/FONT]
[FONT="Calibri"]Earthboxes, draining fine, the other plant in the same box is healthy and green. I actually pulled my Anna Russian 2 days ago because it had been wilted for a week or more and I was worried it had bacterial wilt. I am starting a new thread w/ my photos - I actually cut the stems to test for bacterial wilt and came up negative. I am baffled.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

Please let me know if you discover anything.

Brian, I note that your photos actually show diseased-appearing leaves with brown/yellow on them, while mine do not -- so I am no longer convinced we have the same problem. I am wondering whether you have blight or verticillium or fusarium wilt. Here is a good reference to look at for more info and photos:
[URL]http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomWlt/TomWiltKey.html[/URL]
Did you have cool/wet conditions recently?

Jen

Jen, early in June we had lows of 56, 49 and 56 for three consecutive days and that's the lowest it's been all month. Not much wet conditions lately.
You are correct, there are a handful of leaves that are yellow/brown near the base of the plant. I have included a good pic of them. Anyone recognize this? Like I said before, maybe about half the plant looks like it's wilting and the other half looks ok. Should I just take out the whole thing or is there any hope?

Brian, please, what did you put in to your earthboxes, what potmix, what ferts, what added?

Just the norm for an Earthbox: potting mix (Miracle Gro, second year in use), fertilizer, dolomite lime and some calcium nitrate once a week. Same thing I've always used to great success.

OK, then totally ruling out bact. wilt, and Fusarium unless....but maybe did a possible contamination of ground soil get into the EB? Like even a small amount, such as my yard man did when he tipped the weed whacker at an angle and native soil got flung on top of the EB plastic mulch. Then I went to clean it off by hosing, which put some right down the holes where the plants were placed. In my case, that gave me nematodes in an EB, which I used to think was impossible. You could get a fusarium or bact wilt that way. On the side where it is yellowing, can you cut the stem off, then lengthwise and post photos? If you can, try to place the stem cut through a yellowing area. Get a closeup if you can. I am looking for if there is any brown in the vascular tissue of the stem.

I lost a tomato plant to wilt two weeks ago - first time in 40 years I ever had this problem. Last week another next to the first bit the dust, and now two more adjacent plants are partly wilted on one side. This is the first time I planted in this location at my new wife's house and I have been losing sleep thinking that whatever was causing this wilting would spread to the remaining 44 plants.

All four plants are in one corner of the garden, and while examining the plants today I happened to look up and, lo and behold, there stood a tall black walnut tree about 45' from the affected corner of the garden. While I may lose a few more plants, I am so relieved that most likely only a small portion of the garden will be affected, and I can simply move the tomatoes deeper into the garden next year. I would rather have a walnut wilt that I can avoid than some nasty wilt disease spreading through my new garden.

TomNJVA

[QUOTE=kerns125;573778][FONT=Calibri] brian1269, I have the EXACT same problem!!![/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]Earthboxes, draining fine, the other plant in the same box is healthy and green. I actually pulled my Anna Russian 2 days ago because it had been wilted for a week or more and I was worried it had bacterial wilt. I am starting a new thread w/ my photos - I actually cut the stems to test for bacterial wilt and came up negative. I am baffled.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

Bingo that is what I was thinking too.
Look like a case of root rot coming on.

Worth

[QUOTE=ginger2778;573936]OK, then totally ruling out bact. wilt, and Fusarium unless....but maybe did a possible contamination of ground soil get into the EB? Like even a small amount, such as my yard man did when he tipped the weed whacker at an angle and native soil got flung on top of the EB plastic mulch. Then I went to clean it off by hosing, which put some right down the holes where the plants were placed. In my case, that gave me nematodes in an EB, which I used to think was impossible. You could get a fusarium or bact wilt that way. On the side where it is yellowing, can you cut the stem off, then lengthwise and post photos? If you can, try to place the stem cut through a yellowing area. Get a closeup if you can. I am looking for if there is any brown in the vascular tissue of the stem.[/QUOTE]

This is about the best I could get. I cut off two different stems. Hope this is what you were looking for.

I dont see anything wrong with the stem it is having a respiration problem.
Take the cover off if you have one and dig around in the soil I bet you wont find healthy roots if it is wet.

Worth

I'm having the same issue with a Manzano pepper. Perfectly happy, then one day the entire plant wilts as if it had no water. I didn't think much about it because the plants to either were in fact wilted for lack of water (it suddenly got hot here). Watered them all and they all came back - except Johnny Manzano. Here's a pic from today, two days after the event. (The pot is wet, but this wasn't caused by root drownage.) :shock:

Data: I grow exclusively in container, exclusively in commercial mix. This one was started in MGMC, partly from last year, then moved up into Fox Farms Ocean Forest. On the 3rd floor there is no chance of contamination with local dirt. It is hand water with pH adjusted tap water and a 1/4 strength application of MGAP every few days. My other plants get the same treatment and are thriving. In fact, I've never had a pepper just up and die like this.

Noting how closely related that peppers and toms are, how should I approach diagnosing this casualty?

:cry: [SIZE="1"]Tears because this is the only Manzano I've been able to sprout in the past two years. I'm having [I]terrible[/I] luck with them recently.[/SIZE]
.

Chili wilt/Phytophthora Blight.

Worth

[QUOTE=dmforcier;573960]I'm having the same issue with a Manzano pepper. Perfectly happy, then one day the entire plant wilts as if it had no water. I didn't think much about it because the plants to either were in fact wilted for lack of water (it suddenly got hot here). Watered them all and they all came back - except Johnny Manzano. Here's a pic from today, two days after the event. (The pot is wet, but this wasn't caused by root drownage.) :shock:

Data: I grow exclusively in container, exclusively in commercial mix. This one was started in MGMC, partly from last year, then moved up into Fox Farms Ocean Forest. On the 3rd floor there is no chance of contamination with local dirt. It is hand water with pH adjusted tap water and a 1/4 strength application of MGAP every few days. My other plants get the same treatment and are thriving. In fact, I've never had a pepper just up and die like this.

Noting how closely related that peppers and toms are, how should I approach diagnosing this casualty?

:cry: [SIZE="1"]Tears because this is the only Manzano I've been able to sprout in the past two years. I'm having [I]terrible[/I] luck with them recently.[/SIZE]
.[/QUOTE]
One you dont usually suspect in a larger plant, but get a magnifying something and look for fungus gnats.Fungus gnats love peat. They can eat the roots away in no time flat! They are easily treated with BT.

[QUOTE=brian1269;573947]This is about the best I could get. I cut off two different stems. Hope this is what you were looking for.[/QUOTE]
The stem looks perfect, absolutely not Fusarium wilt. See below about looking very closely for fungus gnats, which can come in quickly and invade super fast. Very destructive little Rat Ba$tids.

No, no gnats. And why would they invade only one of several dozen plants?

I'll do the stem dissection and look at the root ball mañana.

[QUOTE=Worth1;573970]Chili wilt/Phytophthora Blight.[/QUOTE]

How to diagnose it?

[QUOTE=dmforcier;573999]No, no gnats. And why would they invade only one of several dozen plants?

I'll do the stem dissection and look at the root ball mañana.[/QUOTE]

Why would you think they would invade more? It only takes one gnat laying eggs that might have been in the mix, ( which MGMC is famous for having trouble with), but not necessarily all of your pots would have had eggs layed in them. It could easily be just one.

[QUOTE=dmforcier;574001]How to diagnose it?[/QUOTE]

Look for peeling rotten bark at the soil level just under the soil.
I lost a bunch last year and this year to it.

Cause is wet weather and over crowing not allowing the soil to dry out.

[QUOTE=Worth1;573951]I dont see anything wrong with the stem it is having a respiration problem.
Take the cover off if you have one and dig around in the soil I bet you wont find healthy roots if it is wet.

Worth[/QUOTE]

Roots look ok to me, but I don't really know what I'm looking for.

Now that you have introduced oxygen to the soil it may be okay.
Was it droopy at night also or did it start as the sun got higher up and warmer?

Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;574177]Now that you have introduced oxygen to the soil it may be okay.
Was it droopy at night also or did it start as the sun got higher up and warmer?

Worth[/QUOTE]

You think that might help it? Maybe I should dig around all sides of it then. It's droopy all the time, started a week or two ago and never recovered.

[QUOTE=brian1269;574182]You think that might help it? Maybe I should dig around all sides of it then. It's droopy all the time, started a week or two ago and never recovered.[/QUOTE]

It might if it has gone anaerobic.

Worth

Those roots look fine. I am thinking something infectious.

[QUOTE=ginger2778;574201]Those roots look fine. I am thinking something infectious.[/QUOTE]

Well gosh darnoodley. What could it be and can it be treated? Or should I just take it out?