Tomato plants -- sudden death
 

I've always accepted blight as inevitable, so I plant plenty of tomato
seedlings anticipating attrition. Cultivars are chosen for their
disease resistance. This year they were Celebrity, 4th of July, Early
Girl, Mountain Pride, and Lillian's Yellow.

This past week, after the heavy rains brought by hurricane Ernesto,
almost all of my tomato plants died suddenly. Limp leaves, then brown
dry leaves, then a dead plant.

When the dead plants were pulled they had a smaller root structure than
normal. What might account for that? Was lack of roots a symptom or
a cause of death?

I see no vole tunnels. My garden has always had crickets but this year
they are more numerous than ever. Do crickets harm tomato roots?

We always read about crop rotation. My garden is 35'x35' and I rotate
as much as practical within that space. With tomatoes, eggplant, and
sweet peppers being in the same family, is effective crop rotation
possible in a small garden?

Daniel B. Martin

Tomato plants -- sudden death
 

Whiteflies really attack tomatoes this time of year, and can kill them.
Did you notice tiny white fliers floating off the plants when they were
shaken?
Sevin works, usually.

Daniel B. Martin wrote:
I've always accepted blight as inevitable, so I plant plenty of tomato
seedlings anticipating attrition. Cultivars are chosen for their
disease resistance. This year they were Celebrity, 4th of July, Early
Girl, Mountain Pride, and Lillian's Yellow.

This past week, after the heavy rains brought by hurricane Ernesto,
almost all of my tomato plants died suddenly. Limp leaves, then brown
dry leaves, then a dead plant.

When the dead plants were pulled they had a smaller root structure than
normal. What might account for that? Was lack of roots a symptom or
a cause of death?

I see no vole tunnels. My garden has always had crickets but this year
they are more numerous than ever. Do crickets harm tomato roots?

We always read about crop rotation. My garden is 35'x35' and I rotate
as much as practical within that space. With tomatoes, eggplant, and
sweet peppers being in the same family, is effective crop rotation
possible in a small garden?

Daniel B. Martin

Tomato plants -- sudden death
 

ncstockguy wrote:
Whiteflies really attack tomatoes this time of year, and can kill them.
Did you notice tiny white fliers floating off the plants when they were
shaken?

Nope. I know what whiteflies look like and they were not present.

Daniel B. Martin

Tomato plants -- sudden death
 

In article t,
"Daniel B. Martin" wrote:

I've always accepted blight as inevitable, so I plant plenty of tomato
seedlings anticipating attrition. Cultivars are chosen for their
disease resistance. This year they were Celebrity, 4th of July, Early
Girl, Mountain Pride, and Lillian's Yellow.

This past week, after the heavy rains brought by hurricane Ernesto,
almost all of my tomato plants died suddenly. Limp leaves, then brown
dry leaves, then a dead plant.

When the dead plants were pulled they had a smaller root structure than
normal. What might account for that? Was lack of roots a symptom or
a cause of death?

I see no vole tunnels. My garden has always had crickets but this year
they are more numerous than ever. Do crickets harm tomato roots?

We always read about crop rotation. My garden is 35'x35' and I rotate
as much as practical within that space. With tomatoes, eggplant, and
sweet peppers being in the same family, is effective crop rotation
possible in a small garden?


I've been told that nematodes can become a problem in soil where
tomatoes are grown year after year. Your thought to crop rotation is a
good one, as is your point about the fact that the plants are in the
same family perhaps making rotation ineffective.

Sorry I'm not more helpful. I had to give up on growing tomatoes because
I get too much shade. Now I just get mine from the Farmer's Market.
--
Philip Semanchuk
email: first name @ last name.com

Tomato plants -- sudden death
 

If the roots were gnarled then it was nematodes

If the roots were normal but not small then it is a case of not planting
your seedlings deep enough in the ground

You had a case of wilt - basically the soil contains a fungus that blocks
the vascular system of the plant - so the roots appear healthy but then the
plant up and dies, basically becuase the plant is choked off.

I rotate by layering a good 4-6 inches of mulch over the soil I have and I
plant right into the mulch, I have a very wooded lot so leaves are not an
issue.

DO NOT repeat DO NOT till the mulch in - just lay it down - you are
basically covering the soil diseases down below the mulch if you till it it
just mixes it up again

Then plant the tomato plant in a trench not a hole, so that at least 6-8
inches of the green part of the plant is buried

then use wall o waters

in the hole put 10-10-10 and dolomitic lime

Avoid top watering the plants, water at the base of the plant

You do not need disease resistant variations.

by the time the roots hit the lower soil your tomatos will be over 7ft with
plenty of fruit and the roots will be over 2 feet long, plenty to support
the plant even if it does get wilt.

Tomatolord
"Daniel B. Martin" wrote in message
k.net...
I've always accepted blight as inevitable, so I plant plenty of tomato
seedlings anticipating attrition. Cultivars are chosen for their disease
resistance. This year they were Celebrity, 4th of July, Early Girl,
Mountain Pride, and Lillian's Yellow.

This past week, after the heavy rains brought by hurricane Ernesto, almost
all of my tomato plants died suddenly. Limp leaves, then brown dry
leaves, then a dead plant.

When the dead plants were pulled they had a smaller root structure than
normal. What might account for that? Was lack of roots a symptom or a
cause of death?

I see no vole tunnels. My garden has always had crickets but this year
they are more numerous than ever. Do crickets harm tomato roots?

We always read about crop rotation. My garden is 35'x35' and I rotate as
much as practical within that space. With tomatoes, eggplant, and sweet
peppers being in the same family, is effective crop rotation possible in a
small garden?

Daniel B. Martin

Tomato plants -- sudden death
 

In article ,
wrote:

Avoid top watering the plants, water at the base of the plant

I second this. Getting the leaves wet just encourages fungus. ALso, I've
been told that tomato plant leaves are very susceptible to soil-borne
fungus/parasites and a good way to get that fungus onto the plant is to
have exposed soil beneath the plant. THen a heavy watering or hard rain
will splash soil onto the lower leaves. I used to mulch with a thick
layer of grass clippings and it formed a nice mat that kept the soil in
place during a rain.

HTH
--
Philip Semanchuk
email: first name @ last name.com

Tomato plants -- sudden death
 

I have just one note about planting tomatoes in trenches (burying a length
of the stem) -- take care when you are weeding around the plants! I had
forgotten one year that I trenched the tomatoes, so I kept snagging them
with the tool I was using to weed. (The stems never actually broke, but I'm
sure it would have been better for the plants if they had always remained
covered up.)

Anne



wrote in message
.. .
If the roots were gnarled then it was nematodes

If the roots were normal but not small then it is a case of not planting
your seedlings deep enough in the ground

You had a case of wilt - basically the soil contains a fungus that blocks
the vascular system of the plant - so the roots appear healthy but then
the plant up and dies, basically becuase the plant is choked off.

I rotate by layering a good 4-6 inches of mulch over the soil I have and I
plant right into the mulch, I have a very wooded lot so leaves are not an
issue.

DO NOT repeat DO NOT till the mulch in - just lay it down - you are
basically covering the soil diseases down below the mulch if you till it
it just mixes it up again

Then plant the tomato plant in a trench not a hole, so that at least 6-8
inches of the green part of the plant is buried

then use wall o waters

in the hole put 10-10-10 and dolomitic lime

Avoid top watering the plants, water at the base of the plant

You do not need disease resistant variations.

by the time the roots hit the lower soil your tomatos will be over 7ft
with plenty of fruit and the roots will be over 2 feet long, plenty to
support the plant even if it does get wilt.

Tomatolord