Hello. I'm a new gardener with very little experience. I was gifted some tomatoes that were about a foot tall and planted them. They did very well up until this point but something happened to them. All the leaves died and the fruits have this stuff on them. Any idea of what this is and what steps I can take next time to prevent this would be greatly appreciated!
Tomato Plants Dying
- Thread starter Acorner
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I'm not sure what caused the leaf drop, but the fruit looks like it got sunburned when the leaves died. Are there any green leaves left even with some damage? Pictures of those might help with a diagnosis.
Possibly Fusarium or Verticillium Wilt if the disease worked its way up the plant, meaning the yellowness/browness started at the bottom leaves and worked its way up. When you pull the plant up, clean the stem free of dirt down near the soil/root part so dirt cant contaminate the cut, and then slice the stem off and look for brown inside the stem. It should be all green. Any brown is one of those two diseases.
If not it could have been caused by a bacterial disease or virus from insects. Either way the plant is done for.
The tomato was sunscaled because there was no leaf protection from the sun.
If not it could have been caused by a bacterial disease or virus from insects. Either way the plant is done for.
The tomato was sunscaled because there was no leaf protection from the sun.
The only plant with leaves is the one furthest from these plants. It's now slowly turning yellow from the bottom up.
I'm not a professional but I believe thats what it looks like in here. I'm also partially colorblind though so it's hard for me to distinguish.
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Heirloom farmer1969
Year-round farmer and lover of all of nature
That sure looks what we call around here late blight. Once it hits there's not much you you can do to save the infected plants.
Are there steps I can take to prevent this and other diseases next time? I've purchased 20 Gallon pots for my next plants but Im a beginner with gardening
Hard for me to see what you did there. The stem looks hollow in the last pic, not really what F or V wilt does. You should take a sharp knife and slice the stem off so you are looking at a cross section of the vascular system basically. It kind of looks like the stem just broke off. The fungus of F or V wilt gets into the plant from the roots or soil and clogs of up the system like cholesterol and a heart attack or stroke. That is the brown you are looking for.
These are some cleaner cuts if that helps at all.
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Not Fusarium or Verticillium since there is no brown ring. Late blight is more likely. It is more air-borne than F or V and requires appropriate, cool and humid, environmental conditions.
Possibly just more water, did you feed them ?
Doesn't look like F or V wilt there. The brown doesn't always make it up that high on the stem. A cutting at soil level could tell a different story. The stem is hollowed out for some reason.
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Send pictures
Looks like pith necrosis
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Tomato pith necrosis affects mature tomato plants. Symptoms include a brown discoloration and necrosis of the pith, which eventually leads to hollow chambers in the stem. The pith browning usually extends far up the plant. Profuse adventitious roots are associated with the stem where the pith is affected.