dealing with fusarium?

jcmorse33 · July 7, 2009

So I have two sunny locations in my yard for growing tomatoes into which I can squeeze maybe 20 to 25 plants total. This is my first year growing in one of them. My garden beds in the old location seem to be thoroughly infested with spores from some sort of foliage disease that weekly spraying has been completely unable to prevent or slow. the only reprieve has been the recent dry weather. Now one of my plants in the new location is showing signs of what I think may be fusarium wilt. Others have had one or two wilted leaf petioles that I have pruned off and not seen any other signs of wilt, but I'm new to dealing with fusarium so who knows...

Should I pull the plant that seems to be experiencing large scale wilting? Will it make a difference or will fusarium which is already there just continue spreading every time it rains (the area does seem to get alot of run-off during the t-storms we're prone to here)? Is it possible to continue growing in the new spot in ground using good practices? Raised beds, cleaning up plant debris, etc. Or can I pretty much count on fusarium spreading to all the plants in the new location from now on unless I switch to container growing?

I'm just getting a little frustrated between the foliage disease, the voles, the deer, and now this. My back deck is already full between the strawberries, peppers, and summer squash (SVB don't seem to fly up to the second story of my house) so I can't put the maters there...

--Justin

July 7, 2009	#1
jcmorse33 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Central Virginia Posts: 242	dealing with fusarium? So I have two sunny locations in my yard for growing tomatoes into which I can squeeze maybe 20 to 25 plants total. This is my first year growing in one of them. My garden beds in the old location seem to be thoroughly infested with spores from some sort of foliage disease that weekly spraying has been completely unable to prevent or slow. the only reprieve has been the recent dry weather. Now one of my plants in the new location is showing signs of what I think may be fusarium wilt. Others have had one or two wilted leaf petioles that I have pruned off and not seen any other signs of wilt, but I'm new to dealing with fusarium so who knows... Should I pull the plant that seems to be experiencing large scale wilting? Will it make a difference or will fusarium which is already there just continue spreading every time it rains (the area does seem to get alot of run-off during the t-storms we're prone to here)? Is it possible to continue growing in the new spot in ground using good practices? Raised beds, cleaning up plant debris, etc. Or can I pretty much count on fusarium spreading to all the plants in the new location from now on unless I switch to container growing? I'm just getting a little frustrated between the foliage disease, the voles, the deer, and now this. My back deck is already full between the strawberries, peppers, and summer squash (SVB don't seem to fly up to the second story of my house) so I can't put the maters there... --Justin