Question
QUESTION: You have been very helpful before and I hope you can help me again.  I just lost all 5 of my tomato plants to either fusarium or verticillium wilt.  I have never had this disease in my garden before and wonder if you can educate me on how this could of entered my garden and why just the tomatoes?  I am solarizing the soil in the infected area and will not plant again there until next year.  Can I plant beans or corn in this area next year safely?  Also, I have had a few perennials suddenly die or show signs of wilt disease recently. Could the wilt disease from the garden have gotten to my perennials via my pruning shears?  Any info. you can share with me on this disease will be GREATLY appreciated.  Thank you.  Doreen Thomson

ANSWER: Hi Doreen

I dont know whee your geographic location is, but if you are planting varieties such as better boy, early girl, celebrity, etc., there should be no Fusarium wilt. Most varieties sold today are resistant to Fusarium and Vert. wilt.  You may be dealing with Southern Stem Blight, another fungal disease of the crown that causes the plant to wilt rapidly and die in just a few days.  Look at the soil line around the stem and see if you see white spider web looking growth on the stem surface and maybe even the soil.  There also may be some small round brown balls present, which are spores of the fungus.  Would you please respond back with the variety you are growing and if you see this white fungal growth on the plant near the soil line and I will recommend a control strategy.  Thanks.

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QUESTION: My early girls were the first to show signs of the disease.  It is not the southern stem blight.  The plants did not have the symptoms of this.  I cut into the stems and there was the brown streaking associated with the wilt diseases.  The insides looked spongy and were getting hollow.  Also the lower stems started to get a bumpy look to them.  My other varieties were better boy, sweet 100 cherry, and another I can't recall.  All of them had the brown streaking inside the lower stem when cut.  I am in western North Carolina.  Thanks for your help.  Doreen

ANSWER: I come to Asheville each year for a meeting and I know that the tomato growers in your region have problems with bacterial wilt.  Your varieties should be resistant to Fusarium Wilt.  The way to tell if you have bacterial wilt is take a one inch piece of stem cut longitudinally and then place it in a clean clear glass of water with the end just into the water up against the side of the glass.  Hold the stem piece still for about 2-3 minutes and you should see a white milky substance begin to pour out from the end of the stem.  If you see this, it is bacterial wilt.  Wash the soil off the stem piece first so you dont cloud the water with dirt.  If you find this ----- I am afraid there is no control except to move the tomatos to another area.  The bacterium survives a long time in the soil and will not go away.  There are no resistant varieties or treatments for bacterial wilt.  I wish I could tell you something better.  Good Luck.

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QUESTION: Hi.  I wasn't able to do the test with tomatoes as I had removed them already, but I am having some perennials wilting now.  It starts with one stem and then they just continue to die one by one till the plant is gone.  I am being VERY careful about sterilizing my pruning shears now.  I have tried the glass test with some of the perennials and see no substance coming out.  It's gotten some phlox, a hardy hibiscus, and a blanket flower.  Also a Zinnia stem I removed today had a big brown spot through the center like the tomatoes.  Could there possibly be anything else that is attacking my plants?  I fear I have transferred whatever it is from the tomatoes to other things before I knew the tomatoes were really diseased.  Thanks once again for your help.  Doreen Thomson

Answer
It is doubtful that whatever attacked the tomatoes has moved into the other plants.  Bacterial wilt has also been ruled out with the glass test.  Other fungi such as Rhizoctonia can cause crown rots as well and can cause the plants to show symptoms that you describe.  I would go buy some Daconil fungicide at a garden center and mix 2 tablespoons in a gallon of water.  I would then drench each plant with about a 1/2 to 1 cup of this mix.  The fungicide will also have activity agains Fusarium and other soil fungi.  This is about all that is left to do.  Bugs should not be an issue here.  Let me know of your success.  Thanks.