What is killing my tomatoes? :(

[PeteD]

Hi All:

This year I am afraid all of my 21 plants are done for....It started with a Carbon that had a few branches wilt. I just cut off the branches and everything seemed fine for a little while, but then it came back and it is now spreading. I did start ripping out plants, but not sure any will survive this from the looks of it. I suspect next year I may have to change out the soil, but I'm looking for an ID on this apparent wilt. The plants effected are going down in a pattern spreading out from the original plant.

Side note (I think), I did put these beds in the vicinity of a walnut tree (edge of drip line). I did cut the tree down once I realized what it was, because we were determine to relocate our garden to this spot. A few catkins did end up in the beds, but I do not think this is walnut wilt. The tree was cut down within a couple of weeks of me making these beds and planting the tomatoes. I do not think this is walnut wilt since there was not time for root contact between the plants (I read some academic papers that indicated root contact is required), but figured I would mention it. Also, the pattern of this wilt is consistent with something spreading fromt the first plant.

These are raised beds with soil that has seen tomatoes and cucumbers (just a few cukes) for 6 years in a row. I did amend the soil with additional compost and some loam this year when I moved the beds. Also, added some cockadoodledoo and the growth this year (sunnier spot) was the best in while, until the wilt.

The wilt can best be described as the leaves going flaccid. They are still green but lose all of their firmness. I do not see any yellowing associated with this and the wilt happens fast - i.e. within a day.

The stalks and roots do not show anything obvious to me in terms of disease.

Please help me identify this problem so I can avoid it next year:








TIA,
Pete

[tam91]

That fits perfectly with walnut wilt. I had the exact same thing. The walnut roots extend far far from the drip line. And after the tree is cut down, it takes years for the roots to decay and stop releasing juglone.

It happened just the same way with me - started with one plant and spread. It just depends what plant happens to contact the roots first. The plants grow fine for a while, until their roots get deep enough, and then they wilt.

I'm sorry, I doubt they will survive. The only thing that will hep I think, is time - I thought I remember about 3 years, but I'm not sure about that. If you do a search for walnut wilt, you should be able to see what the average is.

[Keiththibodeaux]

I would certainly move those cut trunks further away, or dispose of them as they are probably still releasing the chemical with every rain. I wonder if adding some carbon to the soil would help to tie up some of the quinone in the soils. Another thought is raising that bed a good 8 inches or more to move the tomato roots further away from the old roots of the walnut. I have no experience with this. Just thinking out loud.

[PeteD]

Thanks Tracy. That sounds logical. I was afraid of some virulent contagion that was going to spoil my soil forever. I was not thinking about how the pattern that could be based on the location of the walnut roots and the time it takes the tomatoes to grow to them. It looked like it was spreading. Plus, I was not really thinking about one little tomato root reaching its way to the walnut root system.

Unfortunately, I forget to put landscape fabric on the bottom of my beds before I filled them with soil. If I had not done that, I bet I would be fine.

I just transplanted a healthy plant (from adjacent to some of the newly effected plants) into a large tub. If it can survive the transplant (I have it under an umbrella right now after watering thoroughly), that may prove the walnut wilt theory.

I suppose I may have to try to transplant some of the others, but I may just try again next year (new location and beds with fabric beneath them)...hard to get the motivation at this point.

Pete

[PeteD]

Thanks for the thoughts Keith. The area where the logs are drains away from the tomatoes and the stump is also there, so that area is "contaminated" already.

I think next year, I will sift the soil to remove all of the old root material and build the beds in another spot farther from the stump and with fabric stapled to the bottoms of the beds, just in case.

If anybody thinks this is something other than walnut wilt, please let me know.

[Tom C zone 4/5]

T4D or other herbicides (weed 'n' feeds). But it sounds like you have a working answer.

[tam91]

I remember the year I learned about walnut trees. I was not a happy camper. My big beautiful plants just wilted and died practically overnight. I really do sympathize.

I don't have a another spot for a bed, so I now grow in containers - a lot more work and expense, but at least I get tomatoes.

[PeteD]

Originally Posted by tam91

I remember the year I learned about walnut trees. I was not a happy camper. My big beautiful plants just wilted and died practically overnight. I really do sympathize.

I don't have a another spot for a bed, so I now grow in containers - a lot more work and expense, but at least I get tomatoes.

Thanks for the sympathy; it is disheartening. I actually hope you are right because then I will know my options to fix it for next year. I am going to let one wilt in the bed a little longer before pulling to do the stem in water test for BW, just in case. I have checked branches and stems for ooze (not see any white or brown), but not done the water test, yet.

[tam91]

Mine was originally thought to be bacterial wilt. It looks similar I guess. But if you have walnut tree roots, it's a lot more likely.

I actually had one or two survive - they managed to be where no roots were I guess. So I wouldn't pull anything until it looks dead personally.

I grow peppers in the ground in that same garden - apparently their roots don't go deep enough to hit the walnuts, at least I've been lucky so far.

[PeteD]

Originally Posted by tam91

Mine was originally thought to be bacterial wilt. It looks similar I guess. But if you have walnut tree roots, it's a lot more likely.

I actually had one or two survive - they managed to be where no roots were I guess. So I wouldn't pull anything until it looks dead personally.

I grow peppers in the ground in that same garden - apparently their roots don't go deep enough to hit the walnuts, at least I've been lucky so far.

Thanks, I plan to use that philosophy after confirming with more certainty that it is not BW by sticking various cross sections of my next pull in water.

I re-read some references that I had checked on juglone after discovering I had a walnut tree (and promptly cutting it down) and a lot of them mentioned yellowing during the wilt. I think that threw me off thinking it could be walnut wilt. It does remind me of the saying about the simplest explanation being the most likely....

[tam91]

I can't find any pictures of mine (I probably deleted them in disgust) but as I recall they were perfectly healthy one day, and some wilted the next. Later that day... more wilted. For a couple days they would recover overnight or with watering, but then as soon as the sun hit them, wilt again. A few days later, they were dead.

Initially, the extension thought it was bacterial wilt - told me to run around pouring dilited bleach on the ground. That did not work, needless to say. Just pouring that much water probably revived them temporarily. But once I took a plant in, and talked to a knowledgeable guy, we figured out it was the walnut trees.

If you've planted just outside the drip line, it's almost for sure in my opinion. I think the roots go up to 3 times the drip line, or something like that. Certainly beyond the drip line in any case.

Again, I'm sorry - I hope you get some tomatoes out of it.

[dice]

That thing may be still be alive down there, too, even though
you cut down the tree. They are kind of persistent (some grow back
from roots in the ground).

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by dice

That thing may be still be alive down there, too, even though
you cut down the tree. They are kind of persistent (some grow back
from roots in the ground).

That is an excellent point. Might be prudent to drill some holes in that stump and inject it. If nothing else it will help get rid of your stump faster.

[PeteD]

Yeah, I will do some targeted stump/root removal in the fall. Plus I will relocate the beds and/or seal the bottom of the them with something the roots can't go through.

Over the past few days, I have a left a few plants that started to look droopy ago, and a couple looked very good early this morning. I wonder if the roots would die off as they touch walnut roots and that might account for an apparent recovery stage, before regrowing other roots and taking a lethal dose?

Can a plant recover from bacterial wilt or is death always a certainty?

[tam91]

As far as recovery, did you mean bacterial wilt or walnut wilt?

As far as I know, both are fatal. Certainly worked that way for me with the walnut wilt. You can try watering the heck out of them, dilutes the juglone in the soil a bit I guess, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope if that's what's wrong.