HELP!!!! Tomato plants are drowning

[kenny_j]

We have had so much rain the entire month of june. The last several days 2-3 inches. My soil is clay based and drains poorly. Been gardening this property 17 yrs and this is a first. Plants are a beautiful green but wilting badly this morning. Ground is totally saturated. I am starting to remove all mulch in hopes it will dry out before they die. Had it mulched heavily. Its gonna be a job. Roots must have been starving for Oxygen and are failing to get the water to the plants???? I have heard adding h2o2 will release oxygen into the soil on contact, has any one tried this before? Gotta get back out there, will take rest of day to get mulch off. Have to put boards down to keep from sinking in the mud. Never have seen it this bad this time of year. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I feel like crying.

kj

Adding. Would cutting the plants back help?

[Redbaron]

Cutting the plants back won't help. BUT I have an idea that just might. Dig a hole outside the garden and pump out the water with an electric pump attached to a long hose. depending how fast it fills, maybe even a trench too feed it.

[carolyn137]

Yes, it's happened to me many times.

I never use mulch so that wasn't a problem but I'd get out there and dig drainage ditches, which did help.

After wilting the foliage will turn yellow and then brown and then it's RIP.

But, the internal physiology of different varieties is NOT the same, so some will live while others will not.

And yes, all due primarily to lack of O2 uptake via the roots b'c of the saturated soil.

Carolyn

[nolabelle]

What signs do the plants display from overwatering? I often wonder if I'm doing more harm than good in worrying they might suffer from the heated days we have here in the summer. My plants don't look healthy and I'm not sure what's wrong with them. I think they might be overwatered.

[kenny_j]

Well I got one out of 2 tomato gardens de-mulched. I have been experimenting with carpeting for a few yrs and this yr used almost 100%. The little San Marzanos were suffering the worst, so I pulled it off completely of that row. The rest I fashioned wire hooks and pulled the carpet off the ground and hooked to the sides of the re-wire cages. That de-mulched every thing except about 10 inches on each side of the plants. That was way quicker and a lot less work than trying to pull cages and remove carpet. I have been fearing this day for a couple weeks now. I have not watered one time since planting!!! So much rain. Rethinking building more raised beds, I have a couple and they are fine. Can't pump, cause there is no standing water, cant ditch cause its flat as a pancacke all around. May try the h2o2 on the worst plants and see if it helps. Not much rain called for the next week so maybe things will improve. Taking a break, then out to start on the last tomato garden. 3rd with corn and beans looks all right, corn leaning a bit. Gonna leave it be and hope for best. Check it tomorrow. Phew!!!

[nolabelle]

Best of luck to you, kenny j. \m/

[kenny_j]

Nolabelle, the tops and tips of branches are wilted and leaning over badly. Still a bright deep green. About 15 yrs ago I mulched with news paper, 1st yr I mulched heavily, then proceeded to over water. Those plants turned a blackish green were stunted and looked unhealthy. I finally realized I was watering too much pulled the mulch and they recovered nicely. Those were hybrids then, determinates. Black cherries and san marzanos worse right now. Praying for wind the next few days!!!!!

[Mojave]

Good luck Kenny.

[bcday]

Are the rows far enough apart that you can dig ditches down the center between them and hill the excavated mud up around the plant stems? Water will collect in the ditches and at least it will be a little ways away from the plants' main root mass, while the newly covered plant stems send out new roots into the hilled-up soil. Then you can figure out a way to pump, bail or otherwise get rid of some of the water.

[lycomania]

This won't help your immediate situation, but a new thing I did this year was install clear plastic sheeting over my tomato bed. I did it to warm the soil and to help me prevent our drenching rains in part of the spring/summer from popping my tomatoes.

My plants are doing incredibly well, especially for my climate. You might like to look into it to help keep excess water out of your beds. I hope your plants make it!

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by kenny_j

Can't pump, cause there is no standing water, cant ditch cause its flat as a pancacke all around.

I Think I described it poorly to you. I understand there is no standing water. I also understand it is flat. That's what the hole is for. You dig a hole and water from the ground in your garden will fill the hole with water. There is your pump-able standing water. If the water takes too long to fill the hole, ie slower than pump can pump it out, then a trench to feed the hole will allow the water to fill the hole faster, so you can pump it. Attach the pump to a long hose out to the road gutter system and/or roadside ditches. A simple and cheap bilge pump or sump pump with a float switch should work fine.

Hope this helps.

[emcd124]

I had that kind of soil when I lived in nashville. You're up in Z4/5 michigan, right? At this point, if your tomato plants are still fairly small (under 2ft?) and you're desperate you might also consider digging up a huge chunk of the root ball and transplant into 5 gallon buckets. Might save if all else looks to fail. I recently had a chipmunk chew completely through the stem of my chocolate cherry tomato at the soil line, toppling the 24" plant. By the time I got home from work that day the leaves were green and still soft but totally wilted. I picked up the stalk (and remember, mine had no roots even) and buried it deep in a 5 gallon bucket with some good soil. Two days later it is already perking back up and putting out new growth at the top. I would think your situation is less desperate because the roots are still attached. You might even be able to hose off some of the dirt at the outside of the rootball and sub in some more porous soil into your bucket.

But I should mention I am no master gardener and feel free to disregard!

[nnjjohn]

You can hill the bottom using a small hoe ..I did while ago and it makes a difference. .gl

[kenny_j]

Redbaron, you explained it well the first time. I did not read it carefully. Wish I would have had time to do that and several other suggestions. I pinned all the carpeting up to the cages, which took the rest of the day, and this morning also. My near garden with the non pastes is holding up, and some have recovered already. It is better soil that I have been working on for 20 years. The back garden has only been in a few years, and is a lot wetter, over half the plants are in really bad shape. I used a long handled mister and misted the wilted leaves this evening, not sure if that will help. The problem, I think, and anyone correct me if I am wrong, is that the entire season has been so wet that the root system has not kept up a healthy growth, and is now impaired and suffering more damage and cant supply enough water to such big plants, 2-3.5 ft tall. Many of the pastes have somewhat wispy leaves and they are hardest hit. The san marzanos have almost a dwarf type rugose leaf, which surprises me they didn't hold up better, but 6 out of the 10 of those in the slightly higher side are not nearly as bad. I really had high hopes of making a lot of sauce this yr. Didn't make much last yr, and we used the last of what we had last week. Every other yr I can a lot. Oh well. Have a lot of Jaune flammee in the near garden which are stable, and I grew them to make orange sauce with, ao that is on. Got to come up with a plan for future years so hope to incorporate some of the ideas given here. Cant walk on the dirt without sinking in the mud 6 inches or so. No rain and some wind for the next few days. Thanx everyone.

kj