Bacterial wilt?

SmokyOkie · June 20, 2012

Sorry, no pix, but I have had three tomato plants wilt, yet no die for well over a week. I mean the leaves just went limp and hung from the stem. During this time, a tomatato on one of them continued to grow and eventually ripen.

All my research seems to say bacterial wilt is the culprit, so I pulled the plants and threw them away.

Does anyone have experience with this disease? Has anyone had similar experiences?

b54red · June 20, 2012

I deal with it every year to one degree or another. It seems to be worse when it is hot and wet with young plants being more susceptible. Another thing that can wilt a plant like that with the leaves still green is nematodes so you might want to check the roots. I have more of a problem with fusarium wilt which causes a distinct yellowing to many of the leaves before the whole plant wilts.

Mlm1 · June 20, 2012

I had one do that this year. I did the test in the linked publication but I didn't have any streaming bacteria. I do have a walnut tree not too far away which can cause wilt but it was only one plant in the middle of others so that doesn't seem likely. I also made sure the drip on that plant wasn't plugged since the plant looked just like it would if I had shut off the water. I'll watch this thread to see if there are any other thoughts
http://www.avrdc.org/pdf/tomato/bacterial_wilt.pdf

Marla

SmokyOkie · June 20, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

I deal with it every year to one degree or another. It seems to be worse when it is hot and wet with young plants being more susceptible. Another thing that can wilt a plant like that with the leaves still green is nematodes so you might want to check the roots. I have more of a problem with fusarium wilt which causes a distinct yellowing to many of the leaves before the whole plant wilts.

I have had a little experience with fusarium but not much. I didn't see any knots on the roots or any other sign of nematodes. thank you for your timely reply and input.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mlm1

I had one do that this year. I did the test in the linked publication but I didn't have any streaming bacteria. I do have a walnut tree not too far away which can cause wilt but it was only one plant in the middle of others so that doesn't seem likely. I also made sure the drip on that plant wasn't plugged since the plant looked just like it would if I had shut off the water. I'll watch this thread to see if there are any other thoughts
http://www.avrdc.org/pdf/tomato/bacterial_wilt.pdf

Marla

Marla, I couldn't get your link to work. Can you explain the teast and the term "streaming bacteria"? Your comment about the water shut off, my first thought was that these plants were not getting sufficient water. that is exactly what they looked like.

As to your walnut tree, is it possible that perhaps a root from the tree runs a little closer to that plant than the others?

Mlm1 · June 21, 2012

If it is bacterial wilt you should be able to see a white stream of material flow from the stem when you put the cut end of the stem in water. The link shows a picture of the stem in water and streaming bacteria.
Also, any time I have a plant wilt I look at the cut stem for discoloration of the vascular tissue suggestive of fusarium, verticillium , or walnut wilt. My plant didn't have discoloration or streaming bacteria so I guess I will never know for sure.

Marla

June 20, 2012	#1
SmokyOkie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 10	Bacterial wilt? Sorry, no pix, but I have had three tomato plants wilt, yet no die for well over a week. I mean the leaves just went limp and hung from the stem. During this time, a tomatato on one of them continued to grow and eventually ripen. All my research seems to say bacterial wilt is the culprit, so I pulled the plants and threw them away. Does anyone have experience with this disease? Has anyone had similar experiences?

June 20, 2012	#2
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I deal with it every year to one degree or another. It seems to be worse when it is hot and wet with young plants being more susceptible. Another thing that can wilt a plant like that with the leaves still green is nematodes so you might want to check the roots. I have more of a problem with fusarium wilt which causes a distinct yellowing to many of the leaves before the whole plant wilts.

June 20, 2012	#3
Mlm1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern California Posts: 208	I had one do that this year. I did the test in the linked publication but I didn't have any streaming bacteria. I do have a walnut tree not too far away which can cause wilt but it was only one plant in the middle of others so that doesn't seem likely. I also made sure the drip on that plant wasn't plugged since the plant looked just like it would if I had shut off the water. I'll watch this thread to see if there are any other thoughts http://www.avrdc.org/pdf/tomato/bacterial_wilt.pdf Marla

June 21, 2012	#5
Mlm1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern California Posts: 208	If it is bacterial wilt you should be able to see a white stream of material flow from the stem when you put the cut end of the stem in water. The link shows a picture of the stem in water and streaming bacteria. Also, any time I have a plant wilt I look at the cut stem for discoloration of the vascular tissue suggestive of fusarium, verticillium , or walnut wilt. My plant didn't have discoloration or streaming bacteria so I guess I will never know for sure. Marla