Wilt on just a few leaves and possibly stunted trunks?

leshachikha · June 14, 2021

Hey everyone! I was hoping to probe your collective wisdom.

I have a Paul Robeson pruned down to three main trunks. One seems to be growing more or less normally. The other two are showing subtle but worrying symptoms.

One or two leaves, always on the same side, on a branch will wilt. Not the whole branch, but just a few leaves. The wilt is not occurring in any noticeable pattern. It's not just new growth at the top wilting (I had what I assume was bacterial wilt take out a few plants years ago, and the new growth went limp first, followedby the whole plant dramatically dying, lol RIP), and it's not going bottom up either. The affected trunks seem short and stunted in comparison to the one that hasn't had this problem. Fruit set is not great. It's particularly noticeable compared to the other Paul Robeson I have going in another bed that's growing and setting fruit like gangbusters.

I pruned off some affected branches and think I see a small band of brown tissue on the wilting side. See attached pics.

Any ideas what I might be dealing with here? It's been very rainy here in Philly with wide swings in temperature. Treated at plant out with a mycorrhizal powder. Been rotating Agri-Phos, daconil, and mancozeb...but, ya know, torrential rain all the time.

Here is a link to an imgur gallery of pics of the problem: http://imgur.com/a/6POG27Z

Thank you so much for any help!!

b54red · June 16, 2021

I hate to break it to you but that is fusarium wilt. I have been battling it for over 40 years and it is so common here especially hitting the non hybrid varieties that don't have any or very little resistance. I graft all of my plants usually but this year I planted 23 along a fence that weren't grafted and so far all but five have the symptoms and I have already pulled six because they totally wilted. Hopefully it isn't too bad and your plant can continue to produce for a while.

Bill

leshachikha · June 17, 2021

Oh man! Such a bummer, but I really appreciate having an answer. I mostly macheted the two bad stems and left the one, which seems maybe to have slowed the progression some, but I'm not holding out too much hope that the plant will live to ripen anything considering how small the tomatoes are right now.

Sorry to hear that you've had such long experience with it. I hope at least some of your fence plants pull through. Thanks again for your help!

June 14, 2021	#1
leshachikha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 23	Wilt on just a few leaves and possibly stunted trunks? Hey everyone! I was hoping to probe your collective wisdom. I have a Paul Robeson pruned down to three main trunks. One seems to be growing more or less normally. The other two are showing subtle but worrying symptoms. One or two leaves, always on the same side, on a branch will wilt. Not the whole branch, but just a few leaves. The wilt is not occurring in any noticeable pattern. It's not just new growth at the top wilting (I had what I assume was bacterial wilt take out a few plants years ago, and the new growth went limp first, followedby the whole plant dramatically dying, lol RIP), and it's not going bottom up either. The affected trunks seem short and stunted in comparison to the one that hasn't had this problem. Fruit set is not great. It's particularly noticeable compared to the other Paul Robeson I have going in another bed that's growing and setting fruit like gangbusters. I pruned off some affected branches and think I see a small band of brown tissue on the wilting side. See attached pics. Any ideas what I might be dealing with here? It's been very rainy here in Philly with wide swings in temperature. Treated at plant out with a mycorrhizal powder. Been rotating Agri-Phos, daconil, and mancozeb...but, ya know, torrential rain all the time. Here is a link to an imgur gallery of pics of the problem: http://imgur.com/a/6POG27Z Thank you so much for any help!!

June 16, 2021	#2
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I hate to break it to you but that is fusarium wilt. I have been battling it for over 40 years and it is so common here especially hitting the non hybrid varieties that don't have any or very little resistance. I graft all of my plants usually but this year I planted 23 along a fence that weren't grafted and so far all but five have the symptoms and I have already pulled six because they totally wilted. Hopefully it isn't too bad and your plant can continue to produce for a while. Bill

June 17, 2021	#3
leshachikha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 23	Oh man! Such a bummer, but I really appreciate having an answer. I mostly macheted the two bad stems and left the one, which seems maybe to have slowed the progression some, but I'm not holding out too much hope that the plant will live to ripen anything considering how small the tomatoes are right now. Sorry to hear that you've had such long experience with it. I hope at least some of your fence plants pull through. Thanks again for your help!