one or more virus? Verticillium and Fusarium?

OzoneNY · June 10, 2016

So I think this is FW but I may have other problems too. Everything is affected except for some reason the Principie Borghese is still holding up. If this is soil borne then I am essentially done.
Maybe the Roma VF will hold up in this and I may try that next year.

It starts off with leaves yellowing then browning and dying. The small plant was transplanted only last week, it was perfect when I put it out and we have had no rain since. I only watered with drip.
If it is Verticillium and or Fusarium then Im not sure what else to do if there is anything I can do beyond starting all over again. Any suggestions is appreciated
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Starlight · June 10, 2016

How sad for you. Here maybe this link will help some.

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0797/ANR-0797.pdf

I'm sure other folks may know much better what is going on and advice for you.

OzoneNY · June 20, 2016

So I figured it out I think. I still dont know what exactly has destroyed my tomato patch, but it seems I introduced it. Some sort of mold or fungus was on the wood stakes I used for the sticky traps. When cleaning the yard yesterday I moved the rest of the unused wood stakes into the garage but I noticed the pointed end of the stakes were discolored with either mold or fungus looking stuff. Question now is, how do I get rid of it? Or can I get rid of it...

b54red · June 21, 2016

I don't think your problem came from moldy stakes but rather from fusarium wilt. An easy test is to cut the stem of a yellowing or wilted stem and see if it has brown or dark yellow areas in the vascular tissue. Some plants have much more resistance to fusarium than others and you may also have some spots in your garden that are not affected by it yet. You could go out and get an Amelia plant which is very resistant to fusarium and replace on of the sick plants with it and see how it fares. The tomatoes don't taste so good but it is very disease tolerant.

You could also take a dying plant to your county agricultural agent and see if they can tell you what the problem is. Sorry for your problems.

Bill

gorbelly · June 21, 2016

Not that it's impossible to spread soilborne diseases on stakes if they were previously in infected soil, but visible mold living on wood is not going to be the source of tomato disease. There are tens of thousands if not hundred of thousands of species of molds, which doesn't even count other forms of fungal organisms that may resemble mold at some point in their life cycle, and the strains of V and F that affect tomatoes comprise only 2 species. Are there any that decompose wood AND cause tomato disease? I don't think so. So please don't beat yourself up. It's more likely, if the wilt is new to your garden, that it came in on bought plants or seed or that it was just in your soil and now is the year that it's built up to damaging levels.

Dewayne mater · June 21, 2016

I believe the incredibly wet Spring around here, combined with cloudy skies and high temps in the low 80s for much of the month May lead to an abundance of disease issues. I've been battling right along with you and my plants mostly still look awful, just in a different way than what you've got.

Those yellow leaves do look like pics of fusarium wilt, which is not good news as it resides in the soil. The picture with the close up of a lot of crispy leaves looks like something else going on. Could be a mold. Could be spidermites finishing off the weakened plant.

Do the stem test Bill suggested. If you have FW, you may want to consider going with Earthtainers in the future. They'll still get a lot of different diseases and insects, but you can eliminate the overwintering infections like F.W. Should it ever get into the growing medium (so far, never a problem for me after several years of E.T.s), you just change out the grow medium for the next season.

Possibly consider soil testing: http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/
Not sure what all they will test for, but, you could know what you've got, rather than speculate.

Dewayne

June 10, 2016	#1
OzoneNY Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Frisco Texas Posts: 390	one or more virus? Verticillium and Fusarium? So I think this is FW but I may have other problems too. Everything is affected except for some reason the Principie Borghese is still holding up. If this is soil borne then I am essentially done. Maybe the Roma VF will hold up in this and I may try that next year. It starts off with leaves yellowing then browning and dying. The small plant was transplanted only last week, it was perfect when I put it out and we have had no rain since. I only watered with drip. If it is Verticillium and or Fusarium then Im not sure what else to do if there is anything I can do beyond starting all over again. Any suggestions is appreciated IMG_20160610_075857834_HDR.jpg IMG_20160608_075518836.jpg IMG_20160610_075523974.jpg IMG_20160610_075841615_HDR.jpg IMG_20160610_075640224.jpg IMG_20160610_075726795.jpg

June 10, 2016	#2
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	How sad for you. Here maybe this link will help some. http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0797/ANR-0797.pdf I'm sure other folks may know much better what is going on and advice for you.

June 20, 2016	#3
OzoneNY Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Frisco Texas Posts: 390	So I figured it out I think. I still dont know what exactly has destroyed my tomato patch, but it seems I introduced it. Some sort of mold or fungus was on the wood stakes I used for the sticky traps. When cleaning the yard yesterday I moved the rest of the unused wood stakes into the garage but I noticed the pointed end of the stakes were discolored with either mold or fungus looking stuff. Question now is, how do I get rid of it? Or can I get rid of it...

June 21, 2016	#4
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I don't think your problem came from moldy stakes but rather from fusarium wilt. An easy test is to cut the stem of a yellowing or wilted stem and see if it has brown or dark yellow areas in the vascular tissue. Some plants have much more resistance to fusarium than others and you may also have some spots in your garden that are not affected by it yet. You could go out and get an Amelia plant which is very resistant to fusarium and replace on of the sick plants with it and see how it fares. The tomatoes don't taste so good but it is very disease tolerant. You could also take a dying plant to your county agricultural agent and see if they can tell you what the problem is. Sorry for your problems. Bill

June 21, 2016	#5
gorbelly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania Posts: 1,069	Not that it's impossible to spread soilborne diseases on stakes if they were previously in infected soil, but visible mold living on wood is not going to be the source of tomato disease. There are tens of thousands if not hundred of thousands of species of molds, which doesn't even count other forms of fungal organisms that may resemble mold at some point in their life cycle, and the strains of V and F that affect tomatoes comprise only 2 species. Are there any that decompose wood AND cause tomato disease? I don't think so. So please don't beat yourself up. It's more likely, if the wilt is new to your garden, that it came in on bought plants or seed or that it was just in your soil and now is the year that it's built up to damaging levels.

June 21, 2016	#6
Dewayne mater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 1,212	I believe the incredibly wet Spring around here, combined with cloudy skies and high temps in the low 80s for much of the month May lead to an abundance of disease issues. I've been battling right along with you and my plants mostly still look awful, just in a different way than what you've got. Those yellow leaves do look like pics of fusarium wilt, which is not good news as it resides in the soil. The picture with the close up of a lot of crispy leaves looks like something else going on. Could be a mold. Could be spidermites finishing off the weakened plant. Do the stem test Bill suggested. If you have FW, you may want to consider going with Earthtainers in the future. They'll still get a lot of different diseases and insects, but you can eliminate the overwintering infections like F.W. Should it ever get into the growing medium (so far, never a problem for me after several years of E.T.s), you just change out the grow medium for the next season. Possibly consider soil testing: http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/ Not sure what all they will test for, but, you could know what you've got, rather than speculate. Dewayne