Question
Hi Mike

I went through the already asked questions, and I think this is a NEW one for you.

I'm in upstate NY,(near Saratoga Springs, NY) and have been a casual  vegetable gardener (organic) for many years, five years at the current location. For the past two years, my tomatoes have been suffering....The plants are home grown, healthy, grow very well, bear heavily, and just before fruits begin to ripen, large portions (60 to 80%)of the entire plant go brown (crispy!), green fruit falls. Plant is dead within days.  It happens on all varieties (cherry, beefsteak, plum), but not all at once, and some plants seem to avoid it altogether. (It is a small 10 x 10 garden so having any survivors is odd to me)

It is definitely not the normal replacement of leaves, it doesn't appear to be a fungus (not gradual, no spotting, no mildewy powder), doesn't appear to be insect related (no signs of borers or hornworms or aphids etc) Soil fertility seems to be okay (working on building up sandy soil with leaf compost etc)

The only other clue, which may or may not be related, over the same time period, the bush string beans (green and yellow wax) have had abysmal germination rates, and those that do sprout are often deformed,underdeveloped.

What are your thoughts?  If it is soil borne is there a way to "pasturize" the soil so it won't happen again?  It's so frustrating to lose the tomato plants that I'm even willing to go over to the "dark side" and buy napalm or some other garden chemical :-)

Thanks

Jon

Answer
Jon, you sound very knowledgeable despite only being a "casual" gardener.  You have correctly identified the problem to be a soil-borne disease.  The problem with soil borne diseases is that they normally linger in the soil for 2-3 years.  

Normally I would advise rotating your crops.  But with a single 10X10 garden, that is not an option.  Your best option would be to solarize the soil.

Solarization is a fairly simple process, especially for smaller gardens.  Simply cover the area with black plastic secured by pins or bricks.  Leave the plastic on for 6 months.  The heat from the sun will kill the disease.

Next spring, after removing the plastic, amend the soil with as much organic matter as possible.  These materials include compost, peat moss, shredded leaves, and aged manure.  Also, try and grow disease resistant varieties.  You can identify these varieties by reviewing seed catalogs such as Johnny's Burpee's, and Park Seed.  All three companies have great websites and offer free catalogs with thousands of annual and vegetable varieties, more than you could ever find in any nursery.

I hope this answered your question.  Please write again if I can ever be of assistance.

Regards,

Mike