Christine,

You posted both of your threads just yesterday. And this one last night. And I know you've also posted it at another website as well where I scan more than post, as you know.

My problem is that I took time to watch the 4th of July TV program from the Capital last night and didn't finish all the threads here last night and now have finished the threads in the main forum before coming here and now have book club to get ready for, etc.

So maybe you'll get some good answers from your other website, maybe you won't, and maybe you'll get some good answers for this newest thread here, and maybe you won'/t.

And I'll meet you at the pass if you get some answers that you don't like, or don't like or whatever. LOL

Carolyn, who just can't keep up her posting everywhere as quick as some folks would like, and so apologizes. Ya know, sometimes I look at at a picture and have to actually think, LOL, for it isn't always a knee jerk response to type out an answer.

(smile) yes, impatience! ack! Last night I had nightmares of rotten tomatoes.

I started this second thread last night, just because I had a bunch of photos that I didn't have before. Probably should have stuck them in the other thread--just didn't occur to me.

Between this wilt and the rampant septoria leaf spot on my Hawaiian currant I feel like a bad mommy. (whine!) Why is it that my neighbor plops 2 plants into his unamended soil comes back only to harvest his tomatoes has no problems while I--who treats my plants better than my own flesh and blood children--have so many problems? :o)

Christine

Christine, tomato looks like the photos of tomato suffering from "puffiness". See link.

I was wondering if you sprayed anything on the leaves? Foliar feed, oil sprays, etc. just to eliminate side issues. Farkee

Here is a link that might be useful: Scroll to #24-puffiness

ALso, one other question--how much do you water or how much has it rained? Is the drainage the same where these 2 plants were as the rest of the plants? Just curious.

Hi farkee, the link gave me a server error, I'll try back later. "puffiness" is a new one for me. I have sprayed 2 times with Harvest Neptune's fish emulsion (following the label directions). First time 3 weeks after plant out (May 9) and again when it started blooming. It has had 3 Neem doses (terrible time with aphids) about 2 weeks apart for each app. It has been very dry. I have soaker hoses and when I water I water for 1-2 hours about once week. A couple times more frequently when the temps were hitting 90+ for consecutive days.

It all drains quite well. My moisture meter seems to consisently read about a 7.

I'm not sure what symptoms show up with over watering. I'm gonna cry if you tell me that the wilt was due to overwatering and that they didn't need to come up! Ack! ;o)

Thanks for replying!
Christine

Christine,

Even if the fruits exhibit puffiness, which they might, that isn't going to casue the severe wilting except if the puffiness was due to too much water. But waterlogged soils give plants with foliage that turns yellow, not purple/black.

Here are the conditions that can lead to puffiness:

High and low temp extremes
use of fruit hormones
conditions of drought or excessive water

But you said o/n wilting and haven't said anything at all about heavy rains and have suggested that the foliage hasn't changed color that much since you were considering Bacterial Canker and Bacterial Wilt, the former having a yellow ooze from infected stems and the latter a white ooze.

It's the leaf color of purplish black, but only after wilting, that I'm stumped on.

Aside from some nutrient deficiencies that can show that I know of only Tomato Spotted Wilt Disease that can show that.

Are any other plants showing these symptoms now? Look especially for petioles that bend downwards.

If you're convinced that the white you show on the roots at the soil line is cornmeal, then fine, otherwise I'd mention Southern Blight as a possibility.

About Septoria and cornmeal and advice given to you elsewhere.

Do you remember the long post I did there reporting back from Nandina who has done the most comprehensive trial on cornmeal and tomato foliage infections and posted it here at GW, from whence I got my info?

I did so b'c "B" had misrepresented not only who she is, but what her results were.

She very clearly said that it wasn't all that effective and that's sprinkling it around but also using a cornmeal tea. .

So I cannot understand after I reported back there that Nandina said to consider cornmeal as "experimental" why one person in particular keeps pushing cornmeal and folks keep following that advice.

if for whatever reason you don't want to use Daconil, which is effective, then use a copper containing soap or whatever, that would be considered organic.

Carolyn

Thanks for the reply Carolyn. Re: the cornmeal. It was just a silly impulse more than anything. I knew it wouldn't work, but figured that it wouldn't hurt. Plus I had an old package that I was going to toss anyway, so instead I threw a small amount at the base of a few plants. Have had a low-level EB situation going on for quite awhile. I have been spraying with milk/water. Although I try to be organic, I'm not married to the idea. I've been avoiding daconil mostly because all the effort that goes into spraying it. Covering head to toe, breathing mask. Face shield. IOW laziness. But I did give in now that the septoria has ravaged the Hawaiian currant seemingly overnight. That was 2 days ago and it has been rainy since. And tonight, the tropical storm remnants will strike and we are under severe flood warnings. It has been very, very dry, and tho the rain is welcome, not in such a deluge! ;o)

As far as the wilt. I really can't believe that it is water logged soil. We haven't had that much rain and my moisture meter doesn't indicate that I'm overwatering.

No other plants are showing signs of the wilt that struck the other 2 plants. The foliage has had a tad bit of EB on the very bottom, but no other color changes before it crashed. No ooze that I found, so I guess that eliminates the bacterial thought.

Literally, overnight. Fine one day. Went out the next and one side of EOE was hanging draped over the bars of the cage.

For example, you know how you notice a wilted branch, your heart pounds, and then you realize that somehow it had broken off the stem? It isn't wilt disease, the branch had just broken off. Well, that's what it looked like, except the whole stem was still firmly attached to the trunk with no cuts or abrassions in the stem. Both plants seemed a bit stunted in comparison to the other plants.

The grape, initially, was pumping out the flowers and fruit, but a couple weeks ago, the flowers started decreasing and the amount of fruit appearing dropped way off. The EOE, was never really pumping out the flowers. It had a few flowers and 4 green tomatoes about the size of a ping pong ball. And it too seemed to stop doing much. Though the foliage seemed fine until it wilted. And 2 of the 4 toms developed black dots.

I don't know--it just may be one of those things... The EOE was commercial seed and the Grape was a yearbook purchase.

But thank you for your help!
Christine