Help- tomatoes dying fast!

[Tracydr]

I've lost 5 tomatoes and 4 Chiquilteberries in 2 days. I also have several more neighboring tomatoes with leaf curl. The soil, when I pulled up the plants was loaded with white mold and very hot. I'm not sure if it's just hot because it's been hot or if the mold is making it hotter. Soil drains well, I water for 15 minutes with a soaker hose every third day. Soil is slightly damp, not wet. Had about an inch of rain last week.
This is a new raised bed with clay soil mixed with very composted straight horse manure ( no stall bedding). Mulch is mostly pine straw with a bit of rice hulls and old alfalfa hay. Recently side dressed with about 1/2 lb of alfalfa pellets per plant, on top of mulch, most of which hasn't been decomposed yet as I hadn't had time to water and soak them yet.
The effected side of the garden is the southwest. Garden has a top shade of a white sheet but this side gets a lot of of sun until later from the side. It's also a couple of feet from a concrete, seven foot block wall which really radiates heat.the plant on the very corner has been the least thrifty all summer, probably due to the heat.
It's been hot. Yesterday was about 111. We had a week of temps with the high only 100 and low of low 70s but before that it was 115 daily for two weeks with one day of 121 and the past few days it's been 105-110 with lows in the mid 80s. Monsoon started two weeks ago with slightly higher humidity and the two rains, giving the inch of rain.
I'm going out right now, plan to drench the corner that I pulled plants with 10% bleach. Will drench the rest of the bed with Serenade. Wondering if a bit of fertilizer, maybe with some phosphorous would help? I noticed that the Armenian cucumber and oregano in this bed got a little yellow after the rain. I gave the cucumber some Super Bloom Booster and it greened up nicely.
Please help! I now know what it's like to have something as devastating as late blight. I'm just thankful my pal t's aren't loaded with tomatoes right now, they've slowed down for the summer.
Wondering about using corn meal and possibly planting a grain cover crop in the area that I've emptied, if that would help? Maybe amaranth or corn?

[Keiththibodeaux]

Soud like you might have some active decomposition going on with the organic matter which can drive up the heat enough to kill the roots of a plant. Just a thought.

[Heritage]

I think Keith might have the answer - I have killed plants by mulching too heavily with alfalfa. When it gets wet and decomposes it can get very hot, much too hot for plant roots.

[Tracydr]

I've done that before but the alfalfa pellets themselves are intact and actually dry, on top of the mulch. I did consider that, as I've had that happen and the wet pellets will get up to 160 degrees in a hurry. Have had wet bags of pellets and once killed some pepper plants that got flooded after they were too heavily mulched.
This is down in the soil, well below the level of mulch. The soil itself has a layer of white mold in it.
I just got in from drenching. I found a small bottle of Daconil, so I decided to use this first. I didnt have enough to do the big area where plants were removed but did all the plants. Thinking I may drench the moldy area with a bleach solution, turn the soil so that the sun dries the mold, then try bleaching it again.
I will probably want to add some mycrorrizae when it cools off a little to help get back some good bugs, I assume.
Any other suggestions? It seems like this is behaving like Southern Blight, although I don't see the base of the stem lesion that I saw described.

[Heritage]

Tracy,

Came upon this info tonight and thought you might be interested. It is a quote from this website: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0797/

" Under dry conditions, fungal mycelium and sclerotia may not be visible. How ever, if southern blight is suspected, placing a section of the lower stem and a moistened paper towel in an enclosed plastic bag for 24 hours will stimulate formation of a white mat of fungal growth. This would be diagnostic for southern blight."

Steve

[Tracydr]

I'll try this. May not be right away. Out of town until Saturday.
things look better after I drenched the soil around survivors with Daconil and drenched soil around the area I pulled up with a bleach solution. Tomatoes are a little droopy from missing out on the watering schedule for a few days in 112 degree temperatures but I thought it best to keep the soil on the dry side. Will water today as going out of town and won't water again until Sunday, so they will skip a day, again.
We'll see who's alive when I get back. The large amount of stringy, white mold on the roots and lower stem makes me think it's southern blight. It started on one of my only purchased plants, a replacement for a seedling that I lost. A Bonnie plant from Home ★★★★★. Another good reason to only grow my own seedlings. Lost my purple russion that I bought at a tomato Fest to the gray mold earlier.

[Tracydr]

Scary thing is, I may have introduced southern blight into my new lasagna garden by composting some spoiled carrots with similar looking white mold. They spoiled less than a week after purchase. The things we learn researching this stuff!
I'm going to solarize both gardens and probably plant some sort of quick cover grain if I can find something that works with our seasons and my needs.

[carolyn137]

Out of town until Saturday.
things look better after I drenched the soil around survivors with Daconil and drenched soil around the area I pulled up with a bleach solution. Tomatoes are a little droopy from missing out on the

******

Using Daconil as a soil drench isn't really going to help anything b'c Daconil specifically attaches to the upper leaf surface and blocks the attachment sites where the most common fungal foliage pathogens normally would attach and initiate infection.

It has no action against fungi found free in the soil.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Out of town until Saturday.
things look better after I drenched the soil around survivors with Daconil and drenched soil around the area I pulled up with a bleach solution. Tomatoes are a little droopy from missing out on the

******

Using Daconil as a soil drench isn't really going to help anything b'c Daconil specifically attaches to the upper leaf surface and blocks the attachment sites where the most common fungal foliage pathogens normally would attach and initiate infection.

It has no action against fungi found free in the soil.

Hopefully, I didn't cause any harm. I didn't know it worked and was feeling desperate. I do have some serenade. Would that be any help at all? I couldn't really find anything helpful that I recognized.