Wilting in New Jersey

[lfreeze]

I have had three terrible seasons with my tomato garden. After a lot of research, I believe my problem started three years ago with a purchase of plants from the home despot. These plants produced a small crop of tomatoes and in about mid July they all wilted and died. Each season since has produced very similar results. I did not buy my plants from the Home Depot this year. After a lot of research it seems my garden is infected with
Fusarium, although the stems of the wilted plants show no signs of Fusarium. Has anyone tried Actinovate to control Fusarium? If you have, please share the results you achieved. Thanks in advance....

Larry

[lakelady]

I've heard it is possible to use it for Fusarium, but don't know anyone who has. It didn't help me much for septoria, but worked well for powdery mildew. Maybe someone else has results to share.

[dice]

There is not much that has been successful for biological control
of fusarium. One item which has had some success is pre-inoculating
with a strain of fusarium which does not produce the plant pathogens
that kill tomato plants in normal fusarium-infested gardens:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...70409/abstract

You might try lime-sulfur. Mix it at about a tablespoon per gallon and
soil drench with it. pH is about 6.0, which is bit lower than what you
want (around 6.5), so you might want to test your soil pH after applying
it (a little lime or wood ash will raise it back up, the lime slowly and
the wood ash rapidly): http://fullersupplyco.com/hi-yield-lime-sulfur-32oz

That is not what lime-sulfur is intended for (dormant fruit tree and rose
spray), but it is used as a fungicide in other applications (treating rain rot
on livestock), so it might work. (And it is cheaper to try than most other
hit-and-miss solutions for fusarium or verticillium wilts.)

[lfreeze]

Thank you for the responses. I will give the lime sulfur spray a try. I am thinking about using it, then following up with actinovate at planting time. I need to do some more research to see if this combination is toxic or otherwise harmful. I have a small garden patch and have spent hours digging up all the various roots that have invaded the garden. My research indicates that removal of old root systems may reduce wilting problems.

I have seen so many suggested solutions for wilting problems, it is beginning to seem a bit like witchcraft.

Larry

[dice]

I have seen so many suggested solutions for wilting problems, it is beginning to seem a bit like witchcraft.

There are a lot of different kinds of problem that can produce wilting
plants: fusarium infection in soil, verticillium infection in soil, bacterial
wilt, root knot nematodes (most often in sandy soils), roots from black
walnut and perhaps ash trees
(juglone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juglone) in contact with
the tomato plant roots, wind-blown pesticide and herbicide
contamination, etc. With the chemicals, the plant usually twists up
as if it had a virus as well as wilting, so those are easier to diagnose
than other soil problems.

This is an excellent guide for tomato problems:
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...ys/TomKey.html

When you think a description there fits your plants, use Google Images
to search for more (and perhaps better) pictures of plants with that
affliction. (Caveat: some pictures returned by Google Images may be
from misdiagnoses.)

[lfreeze]

Thanks for the links. The vegatblemdonline link was very helpful. I am beginning to think I need a botanist/pathologist to properly analyze this problem. I 've got a lot of reading/research to do this winter. After looking at the various causes of wilting. I am thinking of using a general purpose fungicide (lime sulfur) in con★★★★★★★★ with Actinovate.

[lakelady]

The problem with buying plants from those big box stores versus a garden center is that many of the employees have no idea what they are looking at, or if a plant is healthy or sick. They just think they all need water.

I'd stick with planting from seeds (not guaranteed but a better bet) or finding a good reputable garden center to buy plants from.

Stay on the forum and read a lot, I've learned tons since I joined this year. The more questions you ask, the more you'll learn. I'm in NJ too, and have seeds to share if you'd like some, just send me a pm.

[lfreeze]

Thank you for the seed offer. Starting from seed does seem like the best way to avoid contaminated plants. I am just not sure if I want to undertake the task.
I am going to build a few earthtainers as a backstop to my garden. That way, I will have a few Productive plants in the earthtainers if my garden fails again next year.

Earthtainers seem relatively easy to build. I do wonder how the taste of earthtainer
Grown tomatoes compares to garden grown.

Larry

[dice]

arthtainers seem relatively easy to build. I do wonder how the taste of earthtainer
Grown tomatoes compares to garden grown.

Not much difference when using fertilizers with trace elements and
micronutrients (usually organic fertilizers). They are a little more
subject to Blossom End Rot (a calcium deficiency disease), probably
due to the time it takes for dolomite lime to break down and supply
calcium to the plant. One grower in Texas used a liquid
calcium-magnesium supplement this year which seemed to prevent
it.

One wilting cause I left out: stem borers. These are little worms that bore
a hole in the stem, probably down low, and crawl in there and live, eating
the stem from the inside out. If you find a hole in the stem on a wilting
plant, you can sometimes kill them by a poking a needle or pin into it
right above the hole.