Sick tomatillos?

[dforrest]

This is my first year growing tomatillos.

About three weeks ago, I was pruning back a tomatillo that was growing vigorously into the walkway of our community garden in preparation for going on vacation.

I had a couple of surprises. First, the branches of tomatillo plants are hollow like squash plants, not at all like tomato plants. So lopping off a big branch left a big, gaping hole in the center that presumably would let disease enter the plant. Oops. Then I saw that another big branch had broken off the side of one of the two main branches due to its own weight, splitting it open big time. So there, an even more gaping hole was left.

Now, three weeks + later, I'm back (a friend watered for me while I was away), and I notice that the plant is yellowing all over and has dropped some fruit. At first I was mystified as most of the neighboring tomatoes are doing great. Then I remembered the gaping holes and thought that is what's happening, a disease has gotten into the plant. One place where I tried to patch a gaping hole with a kind of poultice is a little bit moldy (surprise, surprise). Oops #2.

But then I traced down branches to its companion tomatillo plant next door, which if I remember correctly I trimmed very minimally seeing the disasters with the first plant, and I noticed that its leaves and branches are yellowing too. So maybe this is part of the natural cycle of tomatillos as they start to mature their fruit and I shouldn't worry? There are just a few fruits now starting to burst out of their husks, the majority of them have a good ways to go yet.

So I have a few questions:

1) I saw advice about pruning tomatillo plants down to two main branches like a tomato plant. Bizarre advice or someone was working with a very different variety than I have. Nothing on my plants grows vertically, everything seems to branch and fork out multiple times in multiple directions, none of them ever seeming to be straight up. How do you *really* prune a tomatillo? Or do you just leave it alone like a bush tomato?

2) When a branch falls off or is cut off of a plant with hollow branches, is there anything productive you can do to keep disease from entering the plant? I lost a couple squash plants that way last year. (Interested in organickish solutions only.)

3) Should I be worried about my dear tomatillo plants now? Doing something to make them happier or help them ward off disease? Or do they just start to turn yellow towards the end of the season?

Thanks for any wisdom you can offer.

[greenthumbomaha]

Until a successful grower chimes in, I will say my 6 plants were also very bushy and produced about 2 buggy fruit total. They are now yellowing without pruning, much more so than the tomatoes in a wet year. Perhaps they are heavy feeders for fertilizer, as mine was left starved.

- Lisa

[Worth1]

Don't prune give plenty of room and they need nitrogen and food.
The things will take over the place.
When the fruit falls off they are dead ripe.

Worth

[joseph]

Originally Posted by dforrest

I notice that the plant is yellowing all over and has dropped some fruit.

Sounds like the normal tomatillo growth pattern to me. I never pick a tomatillo fruit from the plant. I only pick up ripe fruits that have fallen to the ground.