Twenty-five years ago I made some thriving little vegetable gardens by
digging 4 x 4 holes two feet deep and using a lot of compost when I
filled them in.

I moved away. Ten years ago I moved back and built a new garden near
where the others had been. It has never worked very well.

Tomatoes are an example. Each year the plants seem to be doing well
until the first fruits are big and green. Then, branch by branch,
leaves begin to shrivel and fall, and I won't get any more big fruit.

What could be wrong?

Try not growing the same plants in the same spot year after year.
Disease and insect population survive and multiply year after year
specially when you plant their food of choice there all the time.

Try solarizing the garden by covering it a few months with clear
plastic sheet. This will kill many of the pathogens in the soil.

Use another patch of ground as it may not be infected.

Plant varieties resistant to insects and diseases. For example I tried
husky gold tomatoes for a couple years and all the fruits had big fat
juice worms. Different vrieties next to them were worm free.

James wrote:
Try not growing the same plants in the same spot year after year.
Disease and insect population survive and multiply year after year
specially when you plant their food of choice there all the time.

Try solarizing the garden by covering it a few months with clear
plastic sheet. This will kill many of the pathogens in the soil.

Use another patch of ground as it may not be infected.

Plant varieties resistant to insects and diseases. For example I tried
husky gold tomatoes for a couple years and all the fruits had big fat
juice worms. Different vrieties next to them were worm free.

Thanks, I dug a new garden as soon as I read your advice.

Now that you pointed me in the right direction, I think nematodes are a
good explanation. Each year as my first tomatoes get big, the nematode
population reaches the point where it takes the vitality from the plants.

Where are you located? How often do you fertilize and what kind of
fertilizer do you use? From your description of symptoms, I suspect
fusarium wilt, and not nematode damage. It is a good idea to rotate your
crops and not plant nightshades in the same spot over and over. What other
kinds of amendments have you added to your soil if any?


"Sawney Beane" wrote in message
...
Twenty-five years ago I made some thriving little vegetable gardens by
digging 4 x 4 holes two feet deep and using a lot of compost when I filled
them in.

I moved away. Ten years ago I moved back and built a new garden near
where the others had been. It has never worked very well.

Tomatoes are an example. Each year the plants seem to be doing well until
the first fruits are big and green. Then, branch by branch, leaves begin
to shrivel and fall, and I won't get any more big fruit.

What could be wrong?

James wrote:
Try not growing the same plants in the same spot year after year.

Tomatoes are supposed to be the exception to that rule.

Here's what I've noticed...

(1) Many things that grow next to a tomato plant grow well.
(2) Tomatoes planted in the same area 4 to 6 months apart seem
to do better the next set that runs.
(3) Some things benefit tomatoes and help keep nematodes away,
including...
(3a) Marigolds keep nematodes away from tomatoes (Personally
tested).
(3b) Asparagus is a natural nematicide (book read, not personally
tested).
(3c) Dahlias keep nematodes away (book read, not personally
tested).

Also, tomatoes don't like cigarettes (book read, non-smokder) and
the advice goes to wash your hands before playing with tomato
leaves (probably best not to play with the leaves at all).

Hope this helps.

Jim Carlock
--
( Swimming Pools http://www.aquaticcreationsnc.com/ )

Jim Carlock wrote:
James wrote:

Try not growing the same plants in the same spot year after year.


Tomatoes are supposed to be the exception to that rule.


They are not. I've found tomatoes to be exceptionally susceptible to
soil borne diseases and have had to ensure they are rotated and the soil
solarized in between (as some wilts can remain in the soil up to 8 years).

They also must avoid former potato areas which are susceptible to many
of the same diseases. If there were potato scraps or diseased tomato
plants in the compost, the disease will stay around. (I never compost
tomato or potatoes or any part of their plant).

From the OP, it sounds like a wilt disease (or early blight). If the
plants are grown too close together, the disease also spreads very
quickly from plant to plant.

I've solved most of the problem by planting my tomatoes in containers.
One plant per container with new potting soil every year and the
container cleaned very very well. (The old potting soil becomes fill for
parts of the lawn, dumped as soon as the season ends). I also grow
potatoes in containers quite successfully and leave my plots for the
veggies that thrive in almost anything like carrots, onions, garlic,
turnip and beets.

..

Zone 5 in Canada's Far East.

"cloud dreamer" wrote:
...and the soil solarized in between (as some wilts can remain in
the soil up to 8 years).

Thanks for replying. I bet the climate plays a role in things as well.

It's summer already here in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Temps
are in the 90s already. Felt like 100ºF yesterday (90ºF, last high
record set was 90ºF in 1968 on April 22).

The bags of dirt I've bought, are bags that sit out in the sun on the
parking lot at Home Depot. So they're probably solarized some
extent, right? Best to buy those than the ones that sit on a shelf
inside in the shade?

Maybe that's something worth investigating for the OP.

I've not run into the blight thing myself, so perhaps that a northern
state/country thing?

Jim Carlock
Post replies to the group.
--
Swimming Pools, Spas, Water Features
http://www.aquaticcreationsnc.com/

Jim Carlock wrote:

"cloud dreamer" wrote:

...and the soil solarized in between (as some wilts can remain in
the soil up to 8 years).


Thanks for replying. I bet the climate plays a role in things as well.

It's summer already here in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Temps
are in the 90s already. Felt like 100ºF yesterday (90ºF, last high
record set was 90ºF in 1968 on April 22).

The bags of dirt I've bought, are bags that sit out in the sun on the
parking lot at Home Depot. So they're probably solarized some
extent, right? Best to buy those than the ones that sit on a shelf
inside in the shade?


The solarization is important for the soil that is already in the
ground. I've never had problems with the stuff I buy at the store (and
you don't know if the stuff inside sat outside on a loading dock
somewhere for six months). The point is to kill the disease left behind
by the previous plant, such as tomatoes and potatoes (though it's not
necessary for all plants - I find carrots rarely leave anything behind
and can tolerate a lot - except rocks). Rotating the crop will usually
take care of the problem, so if you put tomatoes there every 4th season
(with some solarization in between) then chances are the soil is good.

I avoid the hassle altogether by using the containers and potting soil.
The soil is never reused.


Maybe that's something worth investigating for the OP.

I've not run into the blight thing myself, so perhaps that a northern
state/country thing?


Probably so. It's what caused the Irish Potato famine - moist cool
summers. Just like we get. An application of fungicide usually helps.

..

Zone 5a in Canada's Far East.

I'm on the Carolina Piedmont. I'd better not complain about other
vegetables. They may have grown fairly well, but I have planted only
tomatoes in the last couple of years. For several years, the plants
would thrive until the first fruits were big. It reminded me of what
borers would do to a squash plant.

Volunteer tomatoes thrive on the compost pile. The plot has lots of
compost, some chicken manure, and some wood ashes. No smokers live here.



Thomas wrote:
Where are you located? How often do you fertilize and what kind of
fertilizer do you use? From your description of symptoms, I suspect
fusarium wilt, and not nematode damage. It is a good idea to rotate your
crops and not plant nightshades in the same spot over and over. What other
kinds of amendments have you added to your soil if any?


"Sawney Beane" wrote in message
...
Twenty-five years ago I made some thriving little vegetable gardens by
digging 4 x 4 holes two feet deep and using a lot of compost when I filled
them in.

I moved away. Ten years ago I moved back and built a new garden near
where the others had been. It has never worked very well.

Tomatoes are an example. Each year the plants seem to be doing well until
the first fruits are big and green. Then, branch by branch, leaves begin
to shrivel and fall, and I won't get any more big fruit.

What could be wrong?

"Jim Carter"
Gardening Zones: Canada Zone 5a, United States Zone 3a
stated:
Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Complete story at

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...re/DG1168.html

"The plant disease caused by tobacco mosaic virus is found
worldwide. The virus is known to infect more than 150 types
of herbaceous, dicotyledonous plants including many vegetables,
flowers, and weeds. Infection by tobacco mosaic virus causes
serious losses on several crops including tomatoes, peppers,
and many ornamentals. Tobacco mosaic virus is one of the most
common causes of virus diseases of plants in Minnesota. "

Thanks for pointing that out and reinforcing the details with more
information.

Jim Carlock
Post replies to the group.
--
Swimming Pools, Spas and Water Features (North Carolina)
http://www.aquaticcreationsnc.com/

Try this site and see if you can ID the disease.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...ems/index.html

Please let us know what it was.

Besides what others have said (rotate, solarize), do not let the tomato
plant touch the ground. That includes no watering from above (I have
drip). I also mulch them with 2 inches wood chips, even a thunderstorm
won't splash the aerial parts. And of course I cage them, so they
really never ever touch the soil. Planting them with some elbow room
will give them air circulation and also limit the bruising from
harvesting hands.

"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
.. .
James wrote:
Try not growing the same plants in the same spot year after year.

Tomatoes are supposed to be the exception to that rule.

Here's what I've noticed...

(1) Many things that grow next to a tomato plant grow well.
(2) Tomatoes planted in the same area 4 to 6 months apart seem
to do better the next set that runs.
(3) Some things benefit tomatoes and help keep nematodes away,
including...
(3a) Marigolds keep nematodes away from tomatoes (Personally
tested).
(3b) Asparagus is a natural nematicide (book read, not personally
tested).
(3c) Dahlias keep nematodes away (book read, not personally
tested).

A book that I have suggests that you not move tomato plants. Other
vegetables should be rotated.


Also, tomatoes don't like cigarettes (book read, non-smokder) and
the advice goes to wash your hands before playing with tomato
leaves (probably best not to play with the leaves at all).

Hope this helps.

Jim Carlock
--
( Swimming Pools http://www.aquaticcreationsnc.com/ )

FDR wrote:



A book that I have suggests that you not move tomato plants. Other
vegetables should be rotated.


What's the name of the book?

Everything I've read and all my experiences say otherwise.

..

"cloud dreamer" wrote in message
...
FDR wrote:



A book that I have suggests that you not move tomato plants. Other
vegetables should be rotated.


What's the name of the book?

Everything I've read and all my experiences say otherwise.

..

Readers Digest Organic Gardening for the 21'st Century, John Fedor, c2001,

page 79: Non-Rotating beds: Berries, Asparagus, Tomatoes, Sunchokes

p. 81: Tomatoes are narcississtic and do not like to rotate.