Tomato diseases affecting heirlooms

[John Walker]

last night my neighbour called me about her tomatoes that were wilting.
The plants don't get much sun and she might have been overwatering them and not fertilising them much.
However the bottom sets of leaves were brown and dead, the top sets of leaves were definitely wilting and many leaves were curling.
I went home and saw the same leaf curling. Being a hypochondriac I thought I have the same thing......

She is taking the samples to extension today so I'll keep you posted.

This raises a big question, since most heirlooms tend not to be fusarium etc etc resistant, what do you do if you get these infections?
All books say rip out the plants and destroy, then don't plant solanaceae for 3-5 years. Most plants I grow that take up space are nightshades ( I can grow a years worth of lettuce in the space of 2 tomato plants...)
Has anyone had success grafting heirlooms on resistant rootstock?

Suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks
Pax
John Walker

[Michelle W. Flannery]

John, I found a great website with detailed information about grafting heirloom tomatoes onto disease resistant stock. You'll find it here. It's very detailed, step by step, and has good pictures of the process. Good luck!

[Marian Worley]

I always hedge my bets by planting again, but seldom do I rip out the existing without giving it a chance. There have been many great pieces of advice in past tomato discussions about curling leaves and wilting leaves. My best guess is that it is either a soil/nutrient issue or an insect issue. Both of which have fixes. For curling, try some added calcium. For insects, look for aphids, tiny winged creatures that leave a white egg casing on the top leaves. You will need to resort to an insecticide for that, there are many and you can choose according to your organic/non organic preferences. Me, I use a tiny bit and I mean tiny bit of isotox, which is a toxic chemical and a safer insecticidal soap which is non toxic. I have found no other combination that works for me and HATE the chemical route, but you do what you have to do to get those homegrown tomatoes. The best all round organic fertilizer I have used is called Garden Tone and my rule of thumb is that when I am feeling a little off kilter, so are my plants. So I add a little boost to them and take look for a little boost myself! Garden Tone has a wide range of nutrients and some microbes as well. Add liquid calcium and some fish or seaweed emulsion to a gallon of water and make a Tea to pour on your plants. Then a regular watering and you should see results in a week. As for the browning leaves, well I just ignore that, it is a blight, but your plants can survive that. Do not touch your plants when they are wet, wait always until they are dry or you will spread the blight. Good luck and let us know.

[Steph]

Dr. Stone at Western KY University has done work grafting tomatoes. Maybe a short search could lead you to a paper or two.

We have had soooooo much rain here in KY and the temperatures have been quite cool. I also have had a bit of leaf curl and I believe it simply has to do with the cool wet weather. Try checking out the UK pub... "Solanaceous Crops in Kentucky" ID-172 the pictures are quite helpful.

Best
Stephanie

[lou broering]

We had a very wet spring and summer with cool weather to boot in southern Indiana this year. As a result many of the tomato plants were hit with a blight that was traced to tomato plants raised at Bonnies in Arkansas I believe. They supply almost all of the big box stores who sell plants. The blight affected potato crops as well.

Up until this year my tomato plants would wilt just as tomatoes were formed. I found a website at Cornell that identified the problem. My garden is next to a tree line along the county road and there was a 15" diameter walnut tree about 15 ft. from the garden. It turns out that the roots of the walnut tree give off a substance that kills tomato and other plants. The disease is called walnut wilt. I had the tree cut down and moved the plants as far away from the stump as possible and my plants this year were fine. I bought my plants from a person who grows his own plants and had no wilt problems.

[Mike Taylor]

The comment on Bonnie's is interesting. I have prohibited my family from buying any of their plants. The wife has brought Bonnie's plants home suffering from every possible disease... There are some good growers, though. Do-Right's, here on the west coast, is very sanitary and well run, and their plant materials are very healthy - at least when they get to the stores.

[chris w]

Some heirloom tomatoes are prone to curling their leaves and flopping their tops over if the weather gets too cool for them.

Just thought I'd mention that.