Problem with tomato garden

[Smallaxe]

Potatoes and tomatoes are related... When the disease hits the potatoes it may spread to the tomatoes, miles and miles away... Weather that is conducive to the growth of fungus seems to be the biggest factor, that supports the contagion...
We had a scare at the end of summer a couple of years ago, in that the potatoe crop was affected and was spreading to tomato gardens around the area, but it was almost over with anyways...
As I understand it, there may be a virus, fungi, or bacterium that kills tomatoes... Too bad the extensin office can't tell you which is which so you can know what went wrong...

[White Gardens]

Kirk, are you rotating your tomatoes every year or putting them in the same spot?

[agrostis]

Originally Posted by Will P.C.

I am not sure why extension offices always push 'herb drift' When I call them about a problem, they immed. say its herb drift and send me a whole bunch of links about it.

I highly doubt it is herb drift in this case unless you got right up on the plants or used a the same sprayer to spray some fungicide, blossom end rot, etc. on the tomatoes.

That does not look like cutworms either. You would be able to pick those fatties off the plant if you looked close enough and I do not see limbs half gone.

Tomato's are super sensitive to herbicides. They use those for a lot of different tests. That's probably why your ag people latched on to that.

[44DCNF]

Inversion? Do you add lime or calcium to your holes?
Spray seaweed extract? Tough deal that you had the problem with so many plants. Good luck sorting it out.

[kirk1701]

Originally Posted by White Gardens

Kirk, are you rotating your tomatoes every year or putting them in the same spot?

We rotated the year before last, we try to plan ahead and get the small stuff in front, Bigger stuff (tomatoes) in the middle and Okra (taller) in the back this way first of all the beans and tomatoes get pulled up first in August or when they stop producing so we have one large area for a fall crop. Okra then produces all the way up into November. Second reason for doing it this way is so the sun hits everything and the bigger stuff don't shade the smaller stuff.

Not much room for rotating unfortunately

Originally Posted by 44DCNF

Inversion? Do you add lime or calcium to your holes?
Spray seaweed extract? Tough deal that you had the problem with so many plants. Good luck sorting it out.

Lime last fall, very heavily for turnip greens so I didn't lime this spring. Have never put calcium down, whats the benifit there?

A little more info, to keep the weeds down my Brother-N-Law told me he uses his grass clippings and newspaper so I did that this year. Last year I only put preem around the tomatoes and worked half decent. Now and only now after its too late I'm being told the pre-emergent I put on the grass back in March could now be transferring in the grass clippings to the garden? I find that hard to believe so could there be any truth to that? And if so would it even do this to the garden?

Thought I'd add a pic of what the garden looked like last week before this all hit.

[Smallaxe]

You put tomatoes in Limed Ground? They are an acid loving plant, like potatoes and strawberries... That may explain why your plants succumbed so quickly...

[kirk1701]

Originally Posted by Smallaxe

You put tomatoes in Limed Ground? They are an acid loving plant, like potatoes and strawberries... That may explain why your plants succumbed so quickly...

I thought tomatoes were acidic plants also Smallaxe, I've been told by (Henry fields.com) where we buy our seed thats a misconception. The fruit from the vine is acidic but the plant itself needs to be in sweets soil.

http://www.frostproof.com/phchart1.html

[kirk1701]

Just an update:
Just got back from the extension office where I left about 6 different plants from different areas in the garden. The master gardener was at the university so I didn't get to talk to her but she's suppose to call me when she looks at the plants and to answer some questions.

I've been told not to pull up anymore plants till she has a chance to look at them and if she can make a diagnosis and if there is a cure.

Needless to say, I'm expecting nothing more then a answer of herbicide drift so I'm ready for that too. Stopped at Lowe's and bought $30 in plants and if Herb drift is the answer I'm going to ask; "so I can replace the plants that dies with new ones in the same place then right?"

Got home and 6 more plants have welted since this morning; its noon now and the garden is in full sun.

[kirk1701]

Have a question to throw at you guys, I posted this above but think it was overlooked and now it actually looks like it could be the main cause. Yesterday, I started pulling the grass clippings back away from the plants so the soil could dry out, in my opinion along with all the rain we've had and .75" today already (and its 10 AM) I think the soil hasn't had a chance to dry.

Question:
I'm being told the pre-emergent I put on the grass back in March could now be transferring in the grass clippings to the garden? I find that hard to believe so could there be any truth to that? And if so would it even do this to the garden?

[White Gardens]

Originally Posted by kirk1701

Have a question to throw at you guys, I posted this above but think it was overlooked and now it actually looks like it could be the main cause. Yesterday, I started pulling the grass clippings back away from the plants so the soil could dry out, in my opinion along with all the rain we've had and .75" today already (and its 10 AM) I think the soil hasn't had a chance to dry.

Question:
I'm being told the pre-emergent I put on the grass back in March could now be transferring in the grass clippings to the garden? I find that hard to believe so could there be any truth to that? And if so would it even do this to the garden?

Possibly. Need to know the specific Pre-Em you put down. That any herbicide you used. Some herbicides specifically say to not use grass clippings for certain things such as animal feed or composting.

On top of it, if the grass clipping are too thick, then yes you've got a moisture issues on top of the fact that you could be breeding pathogens in the clippings.