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browndrake
07-18-2009, 09:38 AM
My tomatoes have looked great and grown wonderfully until a couple weeks ago, when wilt or some form of leaf curl began to strike.

I didn't know if it would be best to ask here of offline so I emailed a member who was kind enough to share with me 3 ways to deal with it:

Verticilium wilt can be controlled by doing all of these things:
1. periodic treatment of the soil with a copper fungicide, such as the brand name Liqui-Cop.
2. planting verticilium wilt resistant varieties of tomatoes, of which there are many flavors, shapes, and sizes.
3. feeding your tomatoes with a potash-base fertilizer that includes micronutrients so that it is robust with respect to disease.

I buy most of my seeds from: Tomato Growers Supply Company: Tomato seeds, Pepper seeds, Eggplant seeds.* More than 500 varieties. Hybrid tomato seeds, Heirloom tomato seeds, hot chiles, sweet peppers, tomatillos and eggplants, plus garden supplies, garden books, and posters. (http://www.tomatogrowers.com/)
There is an excellent write-up on verticilium wilt here: Verticillium Wilt of Tomato fact sheet (http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Tomato_Verticillium.htm)

After more reading and study, I am unsure if I correctly diagnosed the problem. I decided that I would post here after all. The info that I was given may be valuable to others, and there are also many other experienced tomato growers here to learn from.

Included are some images of my tomatoes with problems and one that is healthy. The healthy plants are deep green. The others are still green but pale and the leaves are quite curled. Once the curling is noticed, it progresses and the plant stops thriving.

pics are not great but only camera I can find at the moment
http://browndrake.net/nanas/curl1.jpg

http://browndrake.net/nanas/curl2.jpg

http://browndrake.net/nanas/curl3.jpg

http://browndrake.net/nanas/curl4.jpg

http://browndrake.net/nanas/curl5.jpg
this one is healthy.
http://browndrake.net/nanas/normal.jpg

will fungicide or potash-based ferts help, once the condition is contracted or only help to prevent it?
Should infected plants be pulled and trashed to avoid spreading?

Does anybody know of any good tasting, resistant hybrids that will reproduce, from their own seeds, true to form?

Any feedback will be appreciated.

thanks

aaron

conejov
07-18-2009, 09:43 AM
It could be lighting but To me the plants look fine.

Richard
07-18-2009, 09:52 AM
Does anybody know of any good tasting, resistant hybrids that will reproduce, from their own seeds, true to form?


There are hundreds. If you want to gather seeds for next year, then the plants must be grown in isolation because the wind, bees, and other insects will cross-pollinate them from other tomato varieties up to a mile away.

Why anyone would bother with gathering seeds is a mystery to me -- you can purchase 1,000's of seeds of most any variety for about $20.

Since you are in Utah, consider contacting your Agricultural Extension office for information on maladies and remedies for your area: Agriculture - Utah State University Extension - extension.usu.edu (http://extension.usu.edu/htm/agriculture/)