tomato mutant something terribly wrong

[Aphid]

I have one plant by it's self in a small raised bed.(Amazon Chocolate).

from the start the plant grew amazingly well and had a 3/4" diameter main stem by the time it reached 14" tall.

strangely, the branches all grew heavily downward a couple weeks after transplanting, and the overall growth is somewhat mutated with several large upper branches growing from an almost web-like upper stem.

since the plant has stayed lush green and has blooms and even a tiny tomato I haven't worried too much.

I did have to prune several lower branches because the plant was growing like a tripod and literally pushing the foilage onto the soil.

it seemed to weather the pruning ok and has produced growth, flowers and some pea sized little tomatoes are popping out.
but the downward branch growth continues to push the stems down to the soil line


today I went outside and the plant was laying on it's side.. no signs of foliage or stem disease but something is seriously not right with this plant.

could this be nematodes? I will most likely pull the plant .. but I want to hear from the experts before I do anything...

I can post some photos if needed ..

thanks in advance

[Aphid]

ok some pics below.. some research tells me this could possibly be southern bacterial wilt but it doesn't look like any photos I've seen of that ... but I'm far from a disease expert.
and it does not explain the mutated growth.. the plant acts like it would grow better upside down !

[Mojave]

I think the plant is showing fasciated growth. A genetic mutation that occurs in some plants. It can cause strange leaf, branch and fruit shapes. Unfortunately, not much you can do about it.

[DogsandDirt]

Has it been exposed to any herbicides or pesticides?

I have a few plants I sprayed for mites with Fertilome Triple Action Plus RTU (neem oil, pyrethrin, piperonyl butoxide). In less than 24 hrs their branches were pointing straight toward the ground, some branches also were twisted like cork screws. Edematous lesions appeared on the stems which are now have weird warty areas. The stems that were attached to the sprayed branches became stiff and brittle. It acts exactly like I sprayed it with an herbicide. One Better Boy, which was smaller than the rest to begin with, stopped growing for 2 weeks. Very strange. Whatever y'all do, DON'T use that product on tomatoes!

Look at page 11 on this link: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pub...ons/pm1266.pdf

[Aphid]

I sprayed some properly diluted neem a couple times this season on all the tomatoes as the aphids were out in full force and very early...

could it be that this one plant is having a reaction?

I will stop any further spraying on or near that plant.. It would be great to determine if that is the culprit.


There is a mutation going on that Mojave mentioned , I'm thinking before I sprayed ,, but I'm not 100% sure when I first sprayed

[DogsandDirt]

I've used neem before as well and never had that reaction. I don't know if it's the combination of ingredients, amounts, or if the company put something else in there but it is bad stuff for tomatoes. It worked well on yucca bugs and didn't bother the yucca at all.

Is this plant close to a neighbor's fence or yard where it could have been exposed to drift?

[Mojave]

Here's a good link on fasciated plants:

http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombre...ted_plants.htm

[Aphid]

Originally Posted by DogsandDirt

I've used neem before as well and never had that reaction. I don't know if it's the combination of ingredients, amounts, or if the company put something else in there but it is bad stuff for tomatoes. It worked well on yucca bugs and didn't bother the yucca at all.

Is this plant close to a neighbor's fence or yard where it could have been exposed to drift?

I stopped my neighbor from spraying a few years ago,, but if he did there are plants much closer to his property than this one. so I don't imagine that could be the issue
the genetic mutation sounds more possible.

I'll ask him about any spraying next time I see him, he has a lawn service that might have sprayed something. but the closer plants look fine

thanks everyone for the input , it's much appreciated

[RayR]

Originally Posted by DogsandDirt

Has it been exposed to any herbicides or pesticides?

I have a few plants I sprayed for mites with Fertilome Triple Action Plus RTU (neem oil, pyrethrin, piperonyl butoxide). In less than 24 hrs their branches were pointing straight toward the ground, some branches also were twisted like cork screws. Edematous lesions appeared on the stems which are now have weird warty areas. The stems that were attached to the sprayed branches became stiff and brittle. It acts exactly like I sprayed it with an herbicide. One Better Boy, which was smaller than the rest to begin with, stopped growing for 2 weeks. Very strange. Whatever y'all do, DON'T use that product on tomatoes!

Look at page 11 on this link: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pub...ons/pm1266.pdf

That's really strange, Fertilome Triple Action Plus is not a herbicide and don't see anything in the ingredients or their concentration that could remotely cause a reaction like that. 98.8% of the RTU is inert.

[Heritage]

Aphid,

I agree with Mojave, you have a fasciated plant. Enjoy... it's like winning the lottery (except there's no money)

Steve

[livinonfaith]

Had an Amish Paste plant last year that grew all twisted with stems pointing down and stems and leaves growing in all kinds of weird ways. It was also kind of knobby. It looked like a tomato plant from the Adams family garden. If I grew it this year, I might pull it just in case it was diseased, but last year I was too stupid to know that I should pull it.

Fortunately, that was a good thing. It grew all the way up it's cage, two feet into the air and then grew all the way back down. I got some delicious fruit from that ugly plant.

So maybe you shouldn't pull it. It might end up being your best plant!

[Worth1]

I'm no expert but I bet many of the seeds would carry the same gene, yes or no.

Worth

[Mojave]

It can be caused by physical damage (disease, injury, insect, chemical) but it can also be inherited. If inherited it's possible the seeds would carry the gene.