Are there any walnut trees close to the garden?

Gary

I'm having the same problem! This is the first year that I've tried to grow tomatoes, even though I grew up with an acre garden every year.

I have 7 plants, each a different variety, and until yesterday, they were beautiful. They're almost as tall as I am (and I'm 5'10"). I didn't think they were getting enough sun where they were. They're very tall, but no blooms or fruit since I transplanted them. So, 2 days ago I moved 3 of the plants to a really sunny spot.

I watered them well, fertilized, etc. When I came home from work yesterday, they were all wilted and very sad looking! I waterd again last night, and this morning they're still wilted. These are the only plants that have any fruit on them at all, I would really hate to lose them....any suggestions?

Green,

You should post you own thread - you will get better responses.

If you dug up a 5 foot tall tomato plant and transplanted it to a sunnier spot, you have problems. Your plants are basically starting over because you left a lot of the root system behind.

Forget the fertilzer. Water them deeply and provide some shade during the hot part of the day. They should recover from transplant shock in a few days.

Good luck,

Gary

dixied, if the plants recover in the morning and evening, I wouldn't worry too much... but as Gary suggested, having walnut trees nearby can be a problem.

The other possibilities that come to mind are hot, humid weather -- the leaves need to be able to evaporate water to pull more up from the roots -- and Fusarium wilt. Fusarium is a soilborne fungus, and the first symptom is wilting during the hottest part of the day, along with lots of yellow leaves.

There's no cure for Fusarium, though I can think of someone who's done a lot of work getting around it (if NCTomatoman's still around, he's got a lot of experience with it in North Carolina). You'd essentially have to figure out some way to grow tomatoes so that they aren't in contact wth any of the native soil... container growing plus some caution.

Let us know if you do have walnut trees, though, or if anything else seems odd (like persistent wilting, or spotted leaves).

--Alison

I have 10 tomato plants that are about 3 feet tall. One of the plants has started wilting at the top. They are in a raised bed, there are walnut trees near, I have planted in that area before with success, I live in KS and we have had alot of rain, I have had trouble with cucumber wilt the past 2 years. Help and thanks, Susan

same problem here...in Maryland. 3' plants in raised beds. noticed some wilting on one plant a couple of weeks ago, it's gotten worse and is only at the top...and just beginning to notice it on another nearby. seems to get worse in the later afternoon. We raised most of these from seed...San Marzano type. i did use Llama dung to augment the soil, but did that last year also. I used 1-2 sheets of newspaper as a weed barrier with an inch or two of straw over that. I had great luck last year with nearly the same method, but used grass clippings over the newspaper. I water as needed, when we have no rain. No walnut trees...they get sun from about 930a-5p.

Thoughts??? thanks...Dave

THANK YOU torquill! I would really like more info about hot and humid weather causing tomato plants to wilt. My other plants seem to be doing fine, but 2/3 of my toms are wilting in the sun. I currently live in South Korea -- monsoon season has begun. It's a struggle keeping the plants healthy until fall, but I had much success last year after the rains stopped. 6 days of cloudy rainy weather--now the sun is out and plants look sad. They are all in containers. Should I move them to shade??? At the same time, I worry about moving them to shade because they haven't had any real sun in several days. Will they survive the heat. If they begin to look to sad, I guess I will move them -- for today. I'll think twice about doing that next time if someone gives me a reasonable response about why I shouldn't. In the meantime, I just want my 'maters to survive.

something is wrong with my tomato plants. First, they are (were) growing great. My plants are about 5 feet tall and looked beautiful. I didn't have any blooms or tomatoes though. Now my plants are looking like someone sprayed weedkiller or something. It's the whole plant, not just spots. What's going on and is there anything I can do?

this is what my plants are doing. it just started. i have blossoms, the plants look great, but 3 in a row now are wilting. i do have walnut trees, lots of them, in the field behind the house, we trimmed one off a few feet away from the garden along the fence, i have had tomatoes in this space for several years and haven't had a problem from the trees though. I am hoping it is just this awful hot weather, but I don't know.

I have about 10 plants in an area that has full sun 4-5 hours and planted in a good trench ....alls well till they get to 4 ft tall then brown leaves and no flowers .. I will have to chat with local commercial growers who seem to have 7ft plants and 10lbs of toms!!

My 6'-7' tomatoes were wilting on the tops also. It started when our temps went to upper 90 and 100 degrees. They are beautiful plants with lots of fruit turning and many blossoms, although the top 1 1/2' of blossoms dried up in the extreme temps. I threw covers over the tops and they do not wilt when this is on them. I have no other problems with my plants.