Distressing Tomato Problem

[digitS']

Could you root cuttings for the fall, @Kassaundra ?

I know nothing about it . . .

I'm sorry you have had this happen.

Steve

 

[Kassaundra]

Too late to plant tomatoes in OK? That would be a big disappointment. Maybe you'll find somebody somewhere selling late tomato starts?

Oh well, hopefully you'll be able to figure out what happened to them so you can prevent it from happening again. Don't forget to bring the magnifying glass.

Our summers are very hot and dry, if the tomato doesn't have a good root system in place no amount of watering will help it, and if it doesn't already have tomatoes set it won't set them in the heat.

 

[Kassaundra]

Could you root cuttings for the fall, @Kassaundra ?

I know nothing about it . . .

I'm sorry you have had this happen.

Steve

I might give it a try and see.

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh, that's so discouraging, sorry you lost them all Kassaundra.
I would definitely suspect a gopher, they don't always have their entrance mound near where they tunnel, and can go quite a ways underground without emerging, especially if there are old runs made by previous gophers that they are using.

 

[lesa]

Well that is just plain depressing! I certainly hope you can figure that out...very strange.

 

[seedcorn]

On gravel, I have to mulch as sand heats up and burns roots. Pix of roots would help although I can picture what plants did in my mind

No tobacco products near them, wood shavings? If you dig them up, split the stem, should be white inside. Did the leaves get bumps or lesions on them?

http://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/articles/2002/tomatowilt.shtml

 

[Kassaundra]

Not hot enough to burn anything highs in the 70's and lows in the 60's last couple of days. I haven't dug the plants yet, hoping against hope they will be okay. No tabacco anywhere. No bumps, discoloring, holes, bruises, or any other s/sx of anything, yesterday morning perfectly beautiful growing awesomely healthy plants today whole plant wilted half or more of the 16 plants I have.

 

[897tgigvib]

So sorry to hear!

It does sound like something got the main stem or the roots.

Time for an AUTOPSY.

You really want to know what did this so you can fight back next year.

UnderGround varmints will have gobbled up the roots and left a mess. The plant will pull out of the ground easily.

There are 12 different species of Pocket Gopher in North America. Each does it differently. The species I have here are gourmet fruit eaters above ground, and they dig right through roots. Luckily they can't climb for beans. 12 inches is like 12 feet to them.

Moles, a completely different animal, are not even after plant material at all. They only dig through roots killing them, while they are after worms and grubs.

Nematodes are microscopic roundworms that work their way into a plant in its roots, and then make their way up the stems. They leave nodules in the roots. I think that's where they lay their eggs. There are hundreds of species of them, each with its favored host plants. They like the south. They also like loose composty soil. I hope I never get them! I hear tell there are beneficial nematodes...

Overnight death does not seem like a fungus.

If its a gopher problem, I can help by showing you how to make antigopher cages out of hardware cloth.

 

[Kassaundra]

I'll give everyone an update tomorrow, likely w/ a plant autopsy results.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[catjac1975]

A couple of things come to my mind but I doubt they apply. I have never seen this happen. Fertilization burn or root damage from tilling too close. If it's not dry I would dig it up to look at the roots. Could it have sen poisoned by a neighbors chemical use? Or was they too much rain?