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Wilted Tomatoes #761529

Asked July 13, 2021, 2:57 PM EDT

Here is a question from somebody who called the Yard and Garden Line. After discussing with my group I am submitting it to see if any experienced tomato gardeners know if and how this crop can be saved. The tomatoes belong to her daughter who lives in the Como area. They have been growing with full sun in 18 in raised beds with half tilled soil and half compost. The compost came from Kerns. Her daughter normally waters every 2-3 days. Kristin was not certain about how long her daughter waters them for. On Tuesday, July 5th it was cloudy and slightly rainy. Her daughter did not water the tomatoes that day. The tomatoes had been looking great for weeks—no signs of pests, discoloration or spots—strong, green and 5.5 ft upright. On the night of Friday July 9th to the morning of Saturday July 10th, all of the tomato plants wilted (see first photo). Kristin told her daughter to urgently water the plants. Her daughter watered each plant for one hour. On Sunday July 11th, the tomato plants improved a little but were still quite wilted (see second and third photo). Thanks!

Hennepin County Minnesota

Expert Response

Thanks for your question.

When a catastrophic event, such as with these tomatoes, occurs with great rapidity, pests and disease can usually be ruled out. Likewise even if a lack of water was the cause, it would be unlikely that this would occur so quickly over the night between July 9th and 10th. This usually means that some environmental factor is involved and the most likely candidate is the event called “herbicide drift”. This refers to the rapid evaporation and distribution of herbicide that is applied near garden plants. On both the 9th and the10th, temperatures in the Metro Area were 80 degrees and above with winds approaching 10 MPH. These are perfect conditions for herbicide drift to occur. Essentially if herbicide had been applied to the property during these days, or even if neighbors did so, the herbicide could have quickly vaporized from where it was applied and the droplets carried by the wind to the tomatoes.  If this is indeed what happened, it is unlikely that the tomatoes will recover. One could keep watering, of course, but I’m afraid that the damage has already been done. See the following:

https://extension.umn.edu/herbicides/too-windy-to-spray

https://extension.umd.edu/resource/herbicide-damage-vegetables

Usually herbicide drift does not just affect a single type of plant. I wonder if similar symptoms were seen in any other plants on the property? Tomatoes seem especially vulnerable to this, however.

Thanks for contacting us.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied July 13, 2021, 4:40 PM EDT

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