Early June and garden is going down fast.

[b54red]

Chris those pictures are textbook early fusarium symptoms. I see it every year but this year it was very late showing up because I only planted grafted plants with at least some resistance to fusarium in the rootstock. The ones that were grafted onto rootstock that were resistant to all three races of fusarium are doing much better than the others so I must have all three races in my garden and it wouldn't surprise me if there were others as well.

I'm really enjoying having heirlooms last nearly as long as the highly resistant hybrids with the benefit of much better flavor. I suggest you start practicing grafting this fall on some cheap rootstock and see if you can get good enough at it so that when you get involved with the expensive rootstock you won't destroy so many with mistakes like I did. It's also a lot of fun.

Bill

[ChrisK]

Yep, that was my diagnosis as well. I have a packet of Celebrity to play with as rootstock, which I recall reading performed as well as the more expensive Maxi/Bulti/Beaufort rootstock. Can anyone verify?

Originally Posted by b54red

Chris those pictures are textbook early fusarium symptoms. I see it every year but this year it was very late showing up because I only planted grafted plants with at least some resistance to fusarium in the rootstock. The ones that were grafted onto rootstock that were resistant to all three races of fusarium are doing much better than the others so I must have all three races in my garden and it wouldn't surprise me if there were others as well.

I'm really enjoying having heirlooms last nearly as long as the highly resistant hybrids with the benefit of much better flavor. I suggest you start practicing grafting this fall on some cheap rootstock and see if you can get good enough at it so that when you get involved with the expensive rootstock you won't destroy so many with mistakes like I did. It's also a lot of fun.

Bill

[WhippoorwillG]

I am experiencing the same situation in Northeast Georgia. Despite using actinovate and milstop, I am fighting diseases popping up quickly in this crazy growing season.

The rains and smothering humidity keep coming. I have a few plants in quick decline with what is almost certainly fusarium wilt. However my larger concern is with what appears to be early blight....widespread and rampantly spreading despite my bagging infected leaves and sanitizing frequently. Hoping for a moderate summer.

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[WhippoorwillG]

On the plus side, I have to this point avoided mildews and molds, so it wasn't all for naught.

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[tlintx]

I don't know as a rootstock, but Celebrity didn't perform well for me. The Super Roma was a monster, though. Too bad about the BER.

[ChrisK]

Well, in a glass half full outlook...I might have space now for a proper fall/winter garden!

[tlintx]

Yep, that's how I felt about the Super Roma going all BER -- once I pulled it out and realized the big bushy Cherokee Purple in front of it was wearing a Super Roma wig and was actually about done, I started planning.

Now I'm kind of wishing I'd saved some suckers for rootstock, but I still have a Juliet!

[livinonfaith]

Chris, I know exactly what you are going through! My plants look very similar, although only a couple are at the truly desperate stage.

It amazes me how many diseases there are here in Central NC. And the weather we've been having this year certainly doesn't help!

So far, most of mine are holding their own and will hopefully survive long enough to get something for the trouble.

Those of us in the area need to compare notes and see if we can find a few varieties that will make it through this mess.

[ChrisK]

We've been here maybe 7 years...every year it's something new...drought, heat, tropical storms, 2009 late blight outbreak, Russet mites, RKN etc. etc. And don't even get me started on the darn squirrels!!

Hoping some will make it this year. It doesn't appear to be in all areas of the 'mater patch...yet. Some of the plants look pretty good and we'll have some fruit by July 4. Sungold and Juliet seem to laugh at all the afflictions of the others, so at least we have those.

Definitely trying the grafting next year. I've been perusing your very long thread for the last hour! I've ordered some sample clips to give it a try this summer and fall to get the technique down.

I don't have to depend on a crop succeeding to feed my family, to put it all in perspective.

Originally Posted by livinonfaith

Chris, I know exactly what you are going through! My plants look very similar, although only a couple are at the truly desperate stage.

It amazes me how many diseases there are here in Central NC. And the weather we've been having this year certainly doesn't help!

So far, most of mine are holding their own and will hopefully survive long enough to get something for the trouble.

Those of us in the area need to compare notes and see if we can find a few varieties that will make it through this mess.

[Dewayne mater]

Chris - I think a lot of southern places suffer from a multitude of tomato "plagues." If you replace russett mites with spider mites, we in N. Tx have all of those problems and more, with the exception of I'm not aware of any late blight around here, thankfully!

One thing worth considering is earthtainers or containers of choice. That will at least eliminate the soil born diseases for the most part. Ya might try a couple and see what you think. It won't help with fluffy tailed rats though, sorry!

Dewayne mater

[livinonfaith]

Yep, I got in eight of the grafted tomatoes this year. Most of them have a corresponding non-grafted partner of the same variety so that I can compare their resistance and vigor.

The only problem is that I let the grafted plants get really stunted. They were in small containers for the grafting process and I just kept thinking I would get them into their final containers, but the weather threw me off.

Then I had a time mixing up all of the homemade potting soil for 70+ cubic feet of containers. (think 35+ big bags of potting soil) Imagine a little woman with a large baby pool and a big rake repeatedly stirring bag after bag of ingredients (seven different things in each batch) and slowly filling up over sixty containers. I probably looked like a modern day witch at her cauldron!

Anyway, by the time I finally got the poor things planted they were pretty pathetic and puny looking, especially compared to the other plants that had been repotted properly. Fortunately, once given the room and nutrients they needed, they have taken off and are looking pretty darn good.

We'll see how they produce though. Some of my varieties, both grafted and nongrafted, aren't putting out the flowers or setting fruit the way they should.

[b54red]

Dewayne, we have had Late Blight several times here and we have some TSWV every year now. I can't even keep fusarium out of my containers after about 3 months. I am now growing grafted plants in my few buckets and they are doing a bit better but they all got hit by that darn herbicide drift a few weeks back and though all the plants in the garden are recovered pretty well the container plants are still struggling to get over it. Gray Mold is turning out to be a plague this year but so far very little Septoria but I know it is coming. Those two are probably the hardest of the foliage diseases to control once they get started around here. They both seem to spread like wildfire when it is rainy or very humid and this year we are getting a double dose of both. I am wearing my pruners out removing diseased leaves and fusarium wilted limbs right now. As soon as it dries out if it does then the spider mites will probably move in. Although we have had a couple of minor bouts with worms and tomato hornworms we haven't been overly hit by pests so far this season.

Despite all those woes my tomatoes are producing more fruit than ever and I think it is the combination of grafted plants keeping the fusarium down to a more moderate amount and the weekly feeding with Texas Tomato Food. I have barely been able to control the foliage diseases because of the frequent rains but the bleach spray has kept me in the game. None of the fungicides I have used have been very effective this year due to the rainy weather keeping them washed off. In the past few weeks we have only had two days with no rain at all. Most of the rains are just enough to wash off fungicides and wet the plants but not enough to water them.

I am continuing to graft plants and set out some of the successful grafts as space opens up. I'm hoping they will be productive somewhat during late summer and produce well in the fall.

Every year growing tomatoes down here is a challenge. I guess that is the cost of having a nine month growing season. I would much rather deal with all the misfortunes we have than have to deal with the very short season where the diseases aren't so bad.

Bill

[ChrisK]

Pulled:

Fiaschetto a Napoli
Oaxacan Jewel PL
Orange Banana
Marizol Purple

More will have to come out soon. This continual daily rain is making it hard to apply anything to control leaf diseases.

[tam91]

Join the club re. the rain, sigh

[livinonfaith]

Uggh! One of my dwarfs is gone. It wasted away into a pile of gooey yellow stem. I did get it to ripen it's one tomato before it went, though!

Some of the others suddenly yellowed overnight on several branches a few days ago, probably because of all the rain. I pulled off all the disease I could see and threw a little more fertilizer on them. Sometimes that seems to help hold it back for a while.

The goal now is to keep them alive long enough to get off the tomatoes that have set!