Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

I'm an amatuer gardner. I bought three tomato sets and put them in a few
weeks ago. All palnts took off and grew well...looking good and even setting
blooms. at about 2' high they ALL just wilted to nothing...and shriveled up.
It looked just like they needed water but the soil was kept moist and water
was NOT the problem.
Any ideas?
I pulled them up and rinsed the dirt from the root ball and looked for signs
of trouble. I could find nothing.
What did I do wrong?
Thanks for your time and input.
Blessings,
Dave in Florida

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

Did you check around the stem where it comes out of the ground? Was there
damage?

"D. Reid" wrote in message
...
I'm an amatuer gardner. I bought three tomato sets and put them in a few
weeks ago. All palnts took off and grew well...looking good and even
setting
blooms. at about 2' high they ALL just wilted to nothing...and shriveled
up.
It looked just like they needed water but the soil was kept moist and
water
was NOT the problem.
Any ideas?
I pulled them up and rinsed the dirt from the root ball and looked for
signs
of trouble. I could find nothing.
What did I do wrong?
Thanks for your time and input.
Blessings,
Dave in Florida

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

In our last fun filled episode, Thu, 20 May 2004 23:40:06 -0400,
"D. Reid" proclaimed:

I'm an amatuer gardner. I bought three tomato sets and put them in a few
weeks ago. All palnts took off and grew well...looking good and even setting
blooms. at about 2' high they ALL just wilted to nothing...and shriveled up.
It looked just like they needed water but the soil was kept moist and water
was NOT the problem.

Check the stems, for a tomato plant that small my first guess
would be cut worms.

Second, slice across the stem and see if the vascular tissue
looks green and healthy or if some of it is brown.

Hmm, someone posted a fabulous tomato site recently, let's
see... Ah, FarmerDill, and here it is:

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



Penelope


--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

I'm an amatuer gardner. I bought three tomato sets and put them in a few
weeks ago. All palnts took off and grew well...looking good and even setting
blooms. at about 2' high they ALL just wilted to nothing...and shriveled up.
It looked just like they needed water but the soil was kept moist and water
was NOT the problem.
Any ideas?
I pulled them up and rinsed the dirt from the root ball and looked for signs
of trouble. I could find nothing.
What did I do wrong?
Thanks for your time and input.
Blessings,
Dave in Florida

sounds like bacterial wilt, a problem for southern gardeners. We also have
spotted wilt and a few others. There are resistant cultivars. Bacterial wilt
thrives in wet conditions. , so make sure soil is well drained, Spotted wilt is
vectored by thrips.
Try http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...ver/index.html for
further clues.

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

In article fc.003d094101c66c053b9aca000c97a438.1c66c41@pmug. org, (Glenna Rose) wrote:
Overwatering (tomato plants do not like wet feet, best to water them every
few days and not keep them continually wet, I soak once a week or so and
leave them alone the rest of the time)

What I do here, is use the hard flow from the hose to "dig a tunnel"
(actually several, from different directions) down under the tomato's
roots, so it gets watered 1 to 2 feet down as well as soaking on the
surface. This helps them survive the occasional "omighod I forgot to
water the garden for a week" that is enough to wilt them otherwise,
here in the desert. Also, it encourages big deep roots, good for
holding them in place against our strong winds. (We don't even notice
the "breeze" til it's 40mph or so :)

I start the holes about a foot away from the plant, and aim for a
point about 2 feet down directly under the plant (about a 30 degree
angle).

We have very sandy soil (well, call it what it is -- plain sand!)
which drains like a sieve; you probably would not want to do this if
your soil is heavy or clay.

~REZ~

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

Rez wrote:

In article fc.003d094101c66c053b9aca000c97a438.1c66c41@pmug. org, (Glenna Rose) wrote:

Overwatering (tomato plants do not like wet feet, best to water them every
few days and not keep them continually wet, I soak once a week or so and
leave them alone the rest of the time)


What I do here, is use the hard flow from the hose to "dig a tunnel"
(actually several, from different directions) down under the tomato's
roots, so it gets watered 1 to 2 feet down as well as soaking on the
surface. This helps them survive the occasional "omighod I forgot to
water the garden for a week" that is enough to wilt them otherwise,
here in the desert.

Funny thing about that. I'm in Albuquerque and tried the plastic 1 gal
milk containers buried to their neck in the ground and with a lot of
holes punched in the bottom, then water by filling them. I did it for
the first time last year. The tomato plants didn't develop worth a hoot
so I'm back to regular watering this year, and the plants are thriving.

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

D. Reid wrote in message
...
I'm an amatuer gardner. I bought three tomato sets and put them in a few
weeks ago. All palnts took off and grew well...looking good and even
setting
blooms. at about 2' high they ALL just wilted to nothing...and shriveled
up.
It looked just like they needed water but the soil was kept moist and
water
was NOT the problem.
Any ideas?
I pulled them up and rinsed the dirt from the root ball and looked for
signs
of trouble. I could find nothing.
What did I do wrong?
Thanks for your time and input.
Blessings,
Dave in Florida

Dunno about the cause of your problem, but: one thing you could do, if you
discover it's all going wrong underground. Cut the plant off about 1/2"
above ground and stick it in a vase of water. Tomatoes (like, e.g.
tradescantias) will put out a lot of roots into the water, so if you want to
save your plant (if it's a heritage tomato or something) this is the way to
do it.

Get those roots going and then re-pot and try again.

s.

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

In article , Grandpa jsdebooATcomcast.net wrote:

Funny thing about that. I'm in Albuquerque and tried the plastic 1 gal
milk containers buried to their neck in the ground and with a lot of
holes punched in the bottom, then water by filling them. I did it for
the first time last year. The tomato plants didn't develop worth a hoot
so I'm back to regular watering this year, and the plants are thriving.

I'd guess the water tended to stay beneath the plastic jug rather than
spreading out under the plants. Holes in the sides of the jugs might
have worked better.

~REZ~

Tomato plants...HELP !!!
 

D. Reid wrote:

I'm an amatuer gardner. I bought three tomato sets and put them in a few
weeks ago. All palnts took off and grew well...looking good and even setting
blooms. at about 2' high they ALL just wilted to nothing...and shriveled up.
It looked just like they needed water but the soil was kept moist and water
was NOT the problem.
Any ideas?
I pulled them up and rinsed the dirt from the root ball and looked for signs
of trouble. I could find nothing.
What did I do wrong?
Thanks for your time and input.
Blessings,
Dave in Florida




It sounds like they were overwatered but I could be wrong. Tomatoes
don't like their feet wet.