Tomato Wilts (6270)

There can be numerous causes of tomato plant wilting, including lack of water, very hot weather, nearby walnut trees, and root-knot nematodes. The major diseases that produce wilting in tomatoes are fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt, and bacterial wilt. Fusarium is, by far, the most common wilt disease in the home garden. Symptoms include yellowing and browning of foliage, stunting, and wilting with some recovery at night. Typically, symptoms will appear when fruit begin to mature on one side of the plant or one side of a leaf or branch. When a main stem is scraped or split lengthwise you will see browning of the vascular tissue. It is the clogging of these vascular tubes that produces the wilting and yellowing. Verticillium proceeds more slowly, and the symptoms are more uniform through the plant. Bacterial wilt is a top-down wilt as opposed to fusarium and verticillium, where symptoms begin at the bottom of the plant.

These wilt diseases are brought in on infected transplants and soil, and can persist for many years in the soil even if no host plants are grown. The best defense is to grow or purchase resistant varieties. If you suspect a fusarium problem, only select varieties resistant to race 1 and race 2 of this disease. Pull up and discard infected plants immediately. If you grow your own plants, be sure to sterilize all plant-growing equipment and supplies with a 10% chlorine bleach solution, and use sterile growing media.

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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