To clarify- the tomatoes do this- not anything else.
Everything else grows well.

Are you referring to bacterial wilt? Root knot nematodes can cause similar results. You might want to check that as well, especially if you have sandy soil.

An option would be to grow your tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets with purchased soil. I empathize with you....I've had the bacterial wilt at our last house and nematodes at this one. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bacterial Wilt

pf- what's the symptoms of the root knot nematodes? My soil's clay but our community garden is on sand and about 1/3 of the tomatoes up and died this yr. Nothing like that last yr. They are in different beds, and i don't see any obvious signs of disease, but... The symptoms of this look just like they hadn't been watered enough, yet the bush beside it looks just fine. We yanked the ones that it affected.

What I see is that they seem to do well until they begin to produce, then they begin to wilt. When the plant is pulled out of the ground, the roots are knotty and lumpy. The microscopic worms get into the roots and prevent the plant from taking up water and nutrients.

My understanding is that they are more common in sandy soil...that's what I have.

The remedies I know about are not immediately effective....solarizing the soil, turning it and letting the sunlight get to the nematodes, adding lots of organic matter. I think, I'll be growing my tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets next year in hopes of avoiding the problem.

There a number of veggies that can succumb to nematodes. This year i am growing herbs and some ornamentals in my vegetable plot and have farmed out tomatoes, squash and cucumbers into my ornamental beds. Unfortunately, I'm already starting to see symptoms.. HTH.

Pam

Thanks, Pam. I'll pass this info on to the co-gardeners at GG. Really appreciate it!