Help me find out what's going on

[Fritz77]

Well, it looks like the tomato season is almost over for me. Over all I can say that my second season as a tomato grower has been better than the first one. For many reasons, I couldn’t take good care of my garden in the last month and the result was lots of weeds and a garden that looks kind of abandoned. All I did was picking some good tomatoes and watering those plants sometimes. So now I was basically expecting my plants to slowly die as they did last year. What I wasn’t expecting is this strange look that ¾ of my plants have. It looks like they’re dying from the top. The top leaves turn yellow and then fall down, while the stem tends to turn into an unhealthy brownish color. I first noticed this in a row of Red Brandywine (not true to type since PL) when the season was still in full swing (see first 2 pictures). Now it has spread to many other plants. The temperatures have been around 75° F during the day and have dropped to around 50° F at night. I would say typical weather for this time of the year.
Is this how it should be or is something affecting my babies? What would you do if you were me especially considering that this is where I will grow tomatoes again next year? Please excuse me also for the poor quality of the pictures.

[heirloomtomaguy]

It looks to me like you may have Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus. It comes from a bug called a Thrip that transmits the virus from weeds to the tomato plant. The bug is so small it is hard to see but if you look on the tomato plant flowers they should be on there. If you can confirm TSWV then you need to rip up every plant that is effected and destroy them as well as the weeds that are in your garden. It will only keep spreading if you dont. Then you need to destroy every thrip possible in or around your garden. I lost 120 plants in about a 1 month period a couple years back.

[AlittleSalt]

I know there are a lot of people here who can diagnose your problems better than I can. However, I did have tomato plants this year that resemble those in the pictures. A healthy looking plant that the stem or stems suddenly turn brown and die.


What I found out was that there are Root Knot Nematodes in the soil. (RKN) They are microscopic parasitics that feed on tomato root systems. Here is a site that explains this better http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edib...-nematodes.htm

I am still in the learning process about RKN. Being it is near the end of your growing season, when you pull the tomato plants up - inspect the roots. If they look like they are lumpy with galls - then there is your answer. If the roots look healthy and more like fine hairs growing into the soil - RKN isn't the problem and all that I have written doesn't mean anything helpful. Let us hope that I am wrong.

[b54red]

It also looks similar to fusarium wilt. I don't think you are dealing with Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus though. Nematodes are also a distinct possibility.

Bill

[carolyn137]

To me this is the most important comment

(It looks like they’re dying from the top.)

If so I doubt it's RKN's or Fusarium, which are soilborne and infect the roots and the symptoms move upward from the bottom foliage.

Most likely one of the foliage diseases,of which there are many and are spread by wind,embedded in raindrops or irrigation water,etc.. And seeing brownish ares on the stems, as you also noted,also goes along with this depending on the specific disease..

I don't know that much about TSWV since it doesn't exist where I've grown tomatoes, so someone else will have to confirm that the virus vector only infects the top foliage.

Carolyn

[b54red]

The only reason I said it might be fusarium is because of the bright yellowing of leaves and the wilting stems. The only thing I know that usually starts at the top or middle of a plant and kills down is Late Blight and it sure doesn't look like that from the photos. As to TSWV I have lost hundreds of plants to it over the years and don't see the tell tale signs in the leaves. Possibly it is a pest that is boring into the stems and killing them. I have seen that before but never on that scale. Look for tiny holes in the stems about the size of a pencil lead. That is my last idea. Sorry for your troubles.

Bill

[Father'sDaughter]

Look similar to what mine did to some extent last year, but almost all were hit hard with it this year--yellow to brown on the leaves up and down the whole plant, top wilting and eventually dying, and stems turning brown. I've decided, after a lot of Internet searching, that it's most likely Verticulum Wilt.

In past years I had a bigger problem with bright yellow leaves initially up only one side of the plant (or sometimes affecting just one stem) and the tell-tale brown stem interior of Fusarium before the whole plant went belly up.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Look similar to what mine did to some extent last year, but almost all were hit hard with it this year--yellow to brown on the leaves up and down the whole plant, top wilting and eventually dying, and stems turning brown. I've decided, after a lot of Internet searching, that it's most likely Verticulum Wilt.

In past years I had a bigger problem with bright yellow leaves initially up only one side of the plant (or sometimes affecting just one stem) and the tell-tale brown stem interior of Fusarium before the whole plant went belly up.

Here's a nice page for Verticillium Wilt,symptoms, etc.,I saw it only twice, and was taught that the wilting was indeed onesided on the plant and both times that was true.

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...rticillium.htm

I
was also taught that sometimes the plant would outgrow the infection.I never saw that with my two plants.

Who taught me? The local Cornell Coop-Ext person who was taught by Zitter at Cornell,who was an expert in tomato diseases, known worldwide,and the one who led me to coin the word CRUD.

Carolyn

[Fritz77]

First of all thank you for replying to my message and for posting your theories. Having little knowledge and experience, I decided to read as much as possible about diseases on Tville and on the internet in general and I also made other inspections on site. At first I thought A little Salt was right so I decided to pull 2-3 plants that looked bad and couldn’t produce anything more: this is what they looked like. I think they are ok so luckily non RKN.

Ironically I had read the Cornell University article a couple of hours before Carolyn posted the link. I don’t think Verticillium Wilt is affecting my plants and the reason is that according to the article “The disease symptoms progress up the stem, and the plant becomes stunted. Only the top leaves stay green”. Well, if you look at the pictures I first posted this is just the opposite of what is happening. The foliage is vigorous and looks healthy down low, but the stem is yellow/brownish on top. The leaves on top have fallen and those left are yellow.
At some point I had a feeling b54red may be right. This could look like Fusarium Wilt. Then yesterday I pulled a couple more plants, made an horizontal cut and this is what they looked like. I don’t see any sign of brown, vascular tissue at the base of the stem, as I read it is described as one of the typical symptoms.
I read about Phytophtora blight. Could this be it? Basically I don’t know what’s happening and what I should do. I’m planning on pulling all plants and disposing of them next week when I have a day off from work. If I could, I would burn all the debris right there in the garden, but we’re not allowed to do that in my area.
One last thing: Heirloomtomatoguy suggested this might be caused by TWSV. I didn’t think this was the problem and I still don’t think this is the right diagnosis. However I actually did find at least two plants that showed, what seemed to me, clear signs of TWSV. I’m attaching those pictures too.
It looks like my garden is really infested. For next year I should consider fishing instead of gardening…

[greenthumbomaha]

Bumping this for you, Fritz 77. I had similar mottling in late season, and I attributed it to environmental conditions. Perhap , as you said, if it is not thrips, something else is going on.

- Lisa

[gorbelly]

Based on the photo of the fruit, I'd say a virus is likely, Fritz. The thing that makes me think it's not just blotchy ripening is that I see a ringlike pattern in the bottom right of the fruit in the last picture, and I see a squiggly appearance to discoloration at the top center of that fruit if I look carefully. The only diseases I can think of that cause squiggles/marbling/rings discoloration are viral.

Re: trying to diagnose--
Diseases don't always present in a textbook fashion. Although in a new bed, my cherokee purples succumbed in August to some kind of wilt. Short of a lab test, though, I may never know what it was. My best guess is bacterial wilt because of when it happened (hot weather), symptoms (younger foliage wilting first, no yellowing of foliage, no V-lesions, plant decline was rapid, i.e., less than a week). However, there was no milky exudate when the cut stems were placed in water. There was a small area of browning of vascular tissue on one side of the stem evident in cross section near the soil line, which can happen with bacterial wilt as well as with verticillium and fusarium. So it was an imperfect fit for all 3 wilt descriptions, but the fit was least imperfect with bacterial wilt. Sometimes, we don't get complete closure in life. *sigh*

[Father'sDaughter]

Other than a major reduction in numbers and size, my tomatoes continue to ripen evenly right up until the plants completely die around them. So you seem to be dealing with something else.

Given the splotchy color on your fruit, I would be leaning towards insect damage. I know you checked, but maybe after the damage was done?

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Other than a major reduction in numbers and size, my tomatoes continue to ripen evenly right up until the plants completely die around them. So you seem to be dealing with something else.

Given the splotchy color on your fruit, I would be leaning towards insect damage. I know you checked, but maybe after the damage was done?

It's possible. I could spend very little time in my garden in the second half of the season, so it may be that insects infested my garden and eventually left without me noticing anything. I'll try to pay more attention next year.

[garyjr]

Originally Posted by Fritz77

It's possible. I could spend very little time in my garden in the second half of the season, so it may be that insects infested my garden and eventually left without me noticing anything. I'll try to pay more attention next year.

I would agree the fruit looks like insect damage. I had similar and it was BMSB. Brown Morated Stink Bug. Not sure if that is an issue in your area or not. They feed in early spring on the weeds then move to the plant, then fruit. They can spread viruses and their damage (openings they make) can allow other insect pests to attack the fruit. Keeping the weeds down and mulching should help in preventing them from attacking your tomatoes.