Crown Rot + Other Problems

barkeater · May 30, 2008

Never had this problem before with plants I started. I guess it's a later form of damping off. Some of my plants were girdled at the soil line, but looked just as big and healthy as the others in the 6 packs. Then when I take it out to plant it toppled over. Timber!

It looks like something gnawed the stem all the way around leaving the middle. It is not wet, but hard, dry and brown, not green. I lost my Orange 1 and a couple Black Cherries I was growing for someone else.

Some other plants look like they were partially girdled, but still OK. The ones that I lost were putting out new roots right above and below the girdling.

This problem is supposed to be caused by cool, damp weather, and I'm wondering if I had them outside too long before planting.

I'm also wondering if my potting mix was worn out, if that is possible. I've had it 3 years, and each year I've wet it down, while using a third of the bag. The plastic 6 packs and trays were new.

Anyone ever have this problem before?

**carolyn137** · May 31, 2008

No Bark, I haven't had the problem before but one of my tomato disease books shows a picture of tomatoes in 6-packs, maybe 5-6 inches tall and they went down with damping off as the legent to the pictures notes.

Whether they were infected early on or later I don't know, but it shows that damping off can occur with older seedlings, not just with those that are newly germinated.

barkeater · May 31, 2008

Carolyn,

I searched on google and the most likely cause that I can find is collar rot, a form of early blight. Although there are no clearly defined concentric rings, the worst plant has a circular canker that is eating into the stem.

Apparently, it is transmitted through seeds. I fermented my Black Cherry seeds. Mine were saved 2 years ago, and I had no issues last year, so it is a bit confusing.

As an aside, I took a couple pictures with my new digital camera. Then I stuck the memory stick into my new laptop, and saw the pictures. I wanted to save them and see if I could attach them, but when I closed the image, everything disappeared. Now the memory stick is stuck in the side of my laptop. I guess I better find some tweezers.

barkeater · May 31, 2008

I still can't get the memory card out, but I think I might be able to attach the picture here. Let's see...

HOLY MOLEY!! I did it. Boy, is it clear too. If I can ever get the memory stick out I'll be dangerous from hereon out.

ddsack · June 1, 2008

Bark, I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. Mine were large plants that had at least several weeks of growth after setting out, and had even set tomatoes. It killed off two, I believe a Black Cherry, a Snow White Cherry, and I can't recall the variety of the third one that was partially damaged but recovered to bear tomatoes. Here's what my dried up stems looked like:

You can see the plant was old enough to have started to grow the the aerial root stubs. I attributed my problem to using thick newspaper wraps as collars against cutworms, which held in moisture and lack of circulation. The plants affected were in a part of the garden that was shaded by trees for most of the morning, so stayed cooler and more humid that the rest of that garden.

I cut off the tops of the plants and held them in milk jugs until they rooted enough to replant. I decided to replant them in the same location to see what would happen, and I think both of them got the same disease again after a couple of weeks of good growth. So whether it was retained in the soil or on the plant stem itself, I don't know. I have used that spot for other crops since then, but plan to plant some tomato extras in there this year to see if the fungus or whatever is still in the soil. The plants that died were next to each other in a 4'x8' raised bed. The other three plants in that bed were more mildly affected, and though they had some stem damage, they recovered to bear tomatoes. I had used newpaper collars for several years with no problems, but after this experience I gave them up.

May 30, 2008	#1
barkeater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NE Kingdom, VT - Zone 3b Posts: 1,439	Crown Rot + Other Problems Never had this problem before with plants I started. I guess it's a later form of damping off. Some of my plants were girdled at the soil line, but looked just as big and healthy as the others in the 6 packs. Then when I take it out to plant it toppled over. Timber! It looks like something gnawed the stem all the way around leaving the middle. It is not wet, but hard, dry and brown, not green. I lost my Orange 1 and a couple Black Cherries I was growing for someone else. Some other plants look like they were partially girdled, but still OK. The ones that I lost were putting out new roots right above and below the girdling. This problem is supposed to be caused by cool, damp weather, and I'm wondering if I had them outside too long before planting. I'm also wondering if my potting mix was worn out, if that is possible. I've had it 3 years, and each year I've wet it down, while using a third of the bag. The plastic 6 packs and trays were new. Anyone ever have this problem before?

May 31, 2008	#2
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	No Bark, I haven't had the problem before but one of my tomato disease books shows a picture of tomatoes in 6-packs, maybe 5-6 inches tall and they went down with damping off as the legent to the pictures notes. Whether they were infected early on or later I don't know, but it shows that damping off can occur with older seedlings, not just with those that are newly germinated. __________________ Carolyn

June 1, 2008	#5
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	Bark, I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. Mine were large plants that had at least several weeks of growth after setting out, and had even set tomatoes. It killed off two, I believe a Black Cherry, a Snow White Cherry, and I can't recall the variety of the third one that was partially damaged but recovered to bear tomatoes. Here's what my dried up stems looked like: You can see the plant was old enough to have started to grow the the aerial root stubs. I attributed my problem to using thick newspaper wraps as collars against cutworms, which held in moisture and lack of circulation. The plants affected were in a part of the garden that was shaded by trees for most of the morning, so stayed cooler and more humid that the rest of that garden. I cut off the tops of the plants and held them in milk jugs until they rooted enough to replant. I decided to replant them in the same location to see what would happen, and I think both of them got the same disease again after a couple of weeks of good growth. So whether it was retained in the soil or on the plant stem itself, I don't know. I have used that spot for other crops since then, but plan to plant some tomato extras in there this year to see if the fungus or whatever is still in the soil. The plants that died were next to each other in a 4'x8' raised bed. The other three plants in that bed were more mildly affected, and though they had some stem damage, they recovered to bear tomatoes. I had used newpaper collars for several years with no problems, but after this experience I gave them up.