The Dreaded Wilt is Back

Fert1 · June 16, 2007

The past few years, my tomato plants have been hit by some sort of disease that I've been unable to identify. I've called our county agent, but it was not helpful. Taking a plant in for testing is not practical for me. He's only in the office 1 day a month, it's during normal work hours, and it's hard for me to get the time off. Plus he tells me it has to be a freshly dead plant, just pulled from the ground. So I have to rely on symptoms. Whatever it is, it follows the same pattern each and every year, but does not 100% fit any descriptions I've found on the web.

The plants will look healthy for the most part but wilt overnight. This year I tried to watch for any early symptoms I might have missed in previous years. My first plant to succomb first stopped growing, no new leaves or blossoms, but looked healthy enough other than that. Then there were some solid yellow leaves toward the bottom, but not a massive amount, and all the rain could possibly cause that. Then the top of the plant wilted as they always do.

There are no browning of veins as you would expect with Fusarium or Verticilium, no ladder-like appearance as with pith necrosis, no spots like Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, no ooze as with Bacterial Wilt. The plants just wilt from the top. The stem of the plant is hollow at the top, but not at the bottom. If left in the garden, some plants will try to recover toward the end of the season and put out new growth, but they never have enough time left at that point to produce anything. Most just die outright anyway. Some people online mention having plants that wilt during the day but perk up in the evening. Whatever mine get, they stay wilted, no perking up in the evening.

In looking at photos of plant diseases, I have seen what somewhat resembles yellow leaf curl in some affected plants. Can that cause this type of wilting? I've also considered some sort of boring insect, but when I dissect the plant, I don't find anything like that or any evidence where anything bored into the plant.

Whatever it is, a friend of mine who lives 2 miles away, got the same thing in her garden at the exact same time it first showed up in mine. It was a very wet summer that year, and I was plagued with whiteflies for the first time.

None of my beefsteaks are setting fruit this year, and I'm wondering if that is an early sign of the disease as the temperatures here haven't been bad until just recently.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Ideas? I live in SC if that helps.

June 16, 2007	#1
Fert1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Upstate SC, Zone 7 Posts: 543	The Dreaded Wilt is Back The past few years, my tomato plants have been hit by some sort of disease that I've been unable to identify. I've called our county agent, but it was not helpful. Taking a plant in for testing is not practical for me. He's only in the office 1 day a month, it's during normal work hours, and it's hard for me to get the time off. Plus he tells me it has to be a freshly dead plant, just pulled from the ground. So I have to rely on symptoms. Whatever it is, it follows the same pattern each and every year, but does not 100% fit any descriptions I've found on the web. The plants will look healthy for the most part but wilt overnight. This year I tried to watch for any early symptoms I might have missed in previous years. My first plant to succomb first stopped growing, no new leaves or blossoms, but looked healthy enough other than that. Then there were some solid yellow leaves toward the bottom, but not a massive amount, and all the rain could possibly cause that. Then the top of the plant wilted as they always do. There are no browning of veins as you would expect with Fusarium or Verticilium, no ladder-like appearance as with pith necrosis, no spots like Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, no ooze as with Bacterial Wilt. The plants just wilt from the top. The stem of the plant is hollow at the top, but not at the bottom. If left in the garden, some plants will try to recover toward the end of the season and put out new growth, but they never have enough time left at that point to produce anything. Most just die outright anyway. Some people online mention having plants that wilt during the day but perk up in the evening. Whatever mine get, they stay wilted, no perking up in the evening. In looking at photos of plant diseases, I have seen what somewhat resembles yellow leaf curl in some affected plants. Can that cause this type of wilting? I've also considered some sort of boring insect, but when I dissect the plant, I don't find anything like that or any evidence where anything bored into the plant. Whatever it is, a friend of mine who lives 2 miles away, got the same thing in her garden at the exact same time it first showed up in mine. It was a very wet summer that year, and I was plagued with whiteflies for the first time. None of my beefsteaks are setting fruit this year, and I'm wondering if that is an early sign of the disease as the temperatures here haven't been bad until just recently. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Ideas? I live in SC if that helps. __________________ Holly Last edited by Fert1; June 28, 2007 at 11:49 PM.