Sudden Wilting and Gray Dried Up Leaves

[Katydid]

OK, I've not seen this before in my garden: sudden wilting of branches and dark leaves on a Pink Berkeley Tie-Die (and slight wilting on an adjacent Black Krim). I'm thinking fusarium wilt or (gulp) late blight. The weather has been hot and dry but we got half an inch of rain yesterday. Diagnosis? Pictures hopefully attached.

[jillian]

That is one of the two: grey mold or late blight. Perhaps someone more experienced will chime in.

[Katydid]

I think it could be gray mold (I've had it before), but never along with wilting of healthy branches. Maybe more than one thing going on?



And I'm not seeing anything on the fruit or stems, so maybe "late blight" is unwarranted panic?


(Trying to decide whether to yank the entire plant - unfortunately my favorite variety and loaded with tomatoes getting ripe.)

[Johnniemar]

Looks like grey mold to me. Pbtd is bad about it in my garden, so bad i don't plant it anymore. I think ggwt is much better anyway, give it a try. I never have gray mold on my ggwt's.

[Katydid]

Originally Posted by Johnniemar

Looks like grey mold to me. Pbtd is bad about it in my garden, so bad i don't plant it anymore. I think ggwt is much better anyway, give it a try. I never have gray mold on my ggwt's.

OK, I guess the discolored leaves are grey mold. There may have been some earlier on that plant that I forgot about. (I don't usually have much trouble with it on PBTD, though.)


The wilt is something else entirely then. Maybe bacterial wilt?



PS. I get hysterically paranoid about potential threats to my tomatoes. I remember the first year I moved the garden into raised beds, which was a huge improvement. For some reason, however, I got it into my head that late blight was going to show up and wipe out my tomatoes. For an entire month, I could hardly sleep each night worrying about it, and had to rush out early each morning to carefully inspect the plants. Never had any late blight (just the usual: early blight, Septoria, and grey mold).

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Katydid

OK, I guess the discolored leaves are grey mold. There may have been some earlier on that plant that I forgot about. (I don't usually have much trouble with it on PBTD, though.)


The wilt is something else entirely then. Maybe bacterial wilt?



PS. I get hysterically paranoid about potential threats to my tomatoes. I remember the first year I moved the garden into raised beds, which was a huge improvement. For some reason, however, I got it into my head that late blight was going to show up and wipe out my tomatoes. For an entire month, I could hardly sleep each night worrying about it, and had to rush out early each morning to carefully inspect the plants. Never had any late blight (just the usual: early blight, Septoria, and grey mold).

In my opinion I'm sorry to say that I think you have not only gray mold but probably bacterial wilt as well. I don't think that plant is going to survive. If I was you I would pull it but also cut off all of the infected leaves on any of the plants nearby, and spray with some copper at one half of the weakest recommended strength but very thoroughly above and below the leaf surface and down the stem all the way to the soil line. That's so vit the gray mold doesn't spread to plants nearby. Bacterial wilt doesn't leave the soil so I wouldn't plant in that one particular area again, at least not for several years, unless you can sterilize It Maybe by solarizing?

[Katydid]

Thanks. The plant didn't look any better this morning, so I went ahead and dug it out. I wanted to cry seeing all of the big, beautiful fruits that were getting ready to ripen. The stems all below the wilted parts showed no internal discoloration (I even did the water glass test to look for streaming bacteria and saw nothing), so maybe it hadn't spread extensively.

I dug out the soil around the root ball. I think later this afternoon when I spray for gray mold on an adjoining Black Krim, I'll add some dilute bleach to the dug out hole, fill it with some sterile potting mix, and not put anything solanaceous there for a few years. (After some consideration, I decided not to build a concrete containment vessel over the spot.)

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Katydid

Thanks. The plant didn't look any better this morning, so I went ahead and dug it out. I wanted to cry seeing all of the big, beautiful fruits that were getting ready to ripen. The stems all below the wilted parts showed no internal discoloration (I even did the water glass test to look for streaming bacteria and saw nothing), so maybe it hadn't spread extensively.

I dug out the soil around the root ball. I think later this afternoon when I spray for gray mold on an adjoining Black Krim, I'll add some dilute bleach to the dug out hole, fill it with some sterile potting mix, and not put anything solanaceous there for a few years. (After some consideration, I decided not to build a concrete containment vessel over the spot.)

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. In my past experience with Bacterial Wilt I found through trial and error a method of getting rid of it in the soil where a plant has been sickened and killed by it. I first mix up at least a gallon and sometimes 2 if the plant is large of a solution of 10% bleach and water and pour it slowly around the plant and keep doing this until the immediate area is soaked well. I then wait til the next day and pull the plant and add more of the diluted bleach to the hole just to make sure. I have planted back in the same spot within 10 days with no ill affects and no return of
Bacterial Wilt. I have done this numerous times with good results every time so I assume the bleach is strong enough at the 10% mix with water to kill the bacteria completely. It will also kill any earthworms in the spot but they will return rather quickly once all the bleach has oxidized and the soil has returned to normal. This treatment doesn't guarantee that Bacterial Wilt won't return or pop up in another spot in your garden but it has always cleaned the spot treated and I have done it at least 25 times over the years.

As to your gray mold problem. If you grow black tomato varieties then you will eventually have gray mold if the conditions are right for it to form. I have been battling it since I grew my first black tomato. First time I didn't know what to do and tried using Daconil and it did nothing to stop its progress. The next year I tried the diluted bleach spray and it stopped it immediately but at the loss of every infected leaf. I learned that it is far better to treat it as soon as you see the first signs of gray mold because if you wait it will get much worse and may become unstoppable. It seems to me that it is similar to Late Blight but much slower acting but if you allow it to remain on the plant for too long it seems to become systemic and then it will infect the fruit and stems and overwhelm the plant. I have found that with black varieties of tomatoes it is best to apply a copper spray every week once they start fruiting. I use the Southern Ag brand and usually apply it at the rate of 2 tsps per gallon of water with a little soap for better coverage. This simple thing will prevent most outbreaks of gray mold along with some judicial pruning to keep the plant more open for better air flow and sunlight. When this is not enough and I still get an outbreak of gray mold I immediately spray the plant and any other black tomatoes with the diluted bleach spray. It is more dilute than what is used in the hole to kill back Bacterial Wilt. Read the thread on its use carefully before using it. It is not a preventative but rater a disinfecting of the plant and in the process it will kill or shrivel up any of the plant that is infected by gray mold so using it early is imperative. After the diluted bleach spray I wait 24 to 48 hours and remove all shriveled stems and leaves and then spray the entire plant with a copper spray and at this point if conditions are favorable for gray mold development I will use 1 Tablespoon to the gallon but if the weather is dry and humidity low I will use the 2tsp mix.

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.ph...t=bleach+spray

I still grow black tomatoes every year and usually have only minor problems controlling gray mold but it is essential that you learn to recognize it early and start treatment quickly in order to have a successful season. Using the preventive spray of copper will go a long way in simplifying controlling this problem.

Bill

[SteveP]

I have a single plant doing the exact same thing. Should the plant be pulled and disposed of? It's new to me.