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traildad

Tomato tops shriveled

traildad
10 years ago

I came home today to find the tops of several of my tomato plants shriveled as though they were broken off. The bottom of the plants look fine. Some plants have more damage than others and some have none at all. I don't know if this is a watering issue or disease. It does not seem to be physical damage. I have not spayed any chemicals. Any ideas of what happened?

Comments (11)

  • hoosier40 6a Southern IN
    10 years ago

    Wow, that does not look good. How long have they been put out? They look like they might be in containers? If so is the drainage adequate? Overall they look very healthy except for the tops. This would lead me to believe it might be some kind of insect damage like aphids or some other sucking insect. I would spray them with whatever you might have for these and maybe for disease as well. Hopefully others have seen this before.

  • Moorlord
    10 years ago

    Herbicide damage. There are tons of discussions here about it. Have your neighbors been spraying? Remember it can travel for some distance (up to half a mile). They may grow out of it

  • hoosier40 6a Southern IN
    10 years ago

    Herbicide could be a good call. I think sometimes it can be used as a catch all, but it does have that appearance. If someone had sprayed and you were downwind you might have noticed the odor as it can persist for a few days.

  • traildad
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    My wife waters by hand which I feel believe tends towards shallow watering. I like to use the drip system we have but I am thinking maybe I didn't increase the time enough to keep up with their growth. My wife watered that morning and said they were fine. I wondered if the plants could have taken up that water and used it up. The lower parts of the plant got water but the tops got short changed because the water was used up before it flowed all the way to the top. They are all side by side in a 30 ft growing bed. Some have worse damage, some have none. It was a hotter day also. This morning the wilted parts seemed to have progressed more towards crispy dead, but it hasn't spread any. Also today one plant has a sickly look with leaf curl all over it. I had a lot of that last year. They never did well once they got that look.

  • traildad
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    As I look closer at the photos I am think maybe it is some sort of herbicide drift. In this photo it shows some leafs dead and a little tiny one on the same leaf still fine. One leaf dead and the one next to it fine. One half of a leaf shriveled and dead the other half fine. I can't imagine any way that could be caused by lack of water/heat. Can you?

  • oilrigg
    10 years ago

    I had cherry tomatoes that looked similar to that (limp leaves). I thought it was a watering problem (and in the past it had been, especially with container plants), but the problem seems to be stress from too much sunlight/heat. I added some shade using cardboard and the plant finally perked right up.

    This post was edited by oilrigg on Sat, Jun 1, 13 at 17:07

  • jean001a
    10 years ago

    The curled leaves in the final image look crispy.
    Are they?
    If so, they ran short of water during the day.

    During excessive heat, plants can't take up sufficient water to avoid wilting even if the soil/potting mix is thoroughly moist.

    Temporary shade (as mentioned in the previous post) during a hot spell slows water use by the plant as well as evaporation from the soil/potting mix.

    This post was edited by jean001a on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 2:19

  • DownBabylon
    10 years ago

    I agree with the heat/wilt diagnosis, though there's no way to be sure.
    Herbicide tends to kill entire plants in the sections of a garden closest to the place it drifted from, not just the tops of a few scattered plants.
    Cut off the affected parts of the plant. If it is heat/wilt, then you probably have (as suggested) a rooting problem. The plants just aren't getting enough water to their tops. And yes, giving them a little shade can help. But you really shouldn't have to do that with established tomato plants.
    Make sure you aren't over-watering or over fertilizing.
    Tip dieback can also be caused by diseases, but in the picture the rest of the plants look healthy, so I doubt that's your issue.

  • Gina Charland
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    suncitylinda, what did you have to do to help your plants after the herbicide damage? Cause the leaves on my plants sounds exactly the same as what you described for yours.

  • HU-945362402
    2 years ago

    Of course I have no idea on your problem, but I found this page because I have a similar problem and I too was looking for a answer. Just an idea....what about moles? I know for a fact I had a mole in my raised garden bed and sure enough 1 or 2 plants (1 especially) have that wilted look on just its top. And it is between other very healthy tomato plants....so...no drift. I water well and it hasn’t been getting too hot yet....it’s been perfect. All I can think are mole(s). Whereas moles do prefer insects, I have read that occasionally they will eat the tender roots of a plant. Moles would definitely cause the rooting problem as suggested before. The presence of a mole is unmistakable. I hope this helps you on your journey.

    Good luck!

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