Tomato Plant Wilting - Ask Extension
My tomato plant was wilted during the day yesterday and then came back at night. Today, it is wilted again. I am concerned that it has some sort of ...
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Tomato Plant Wilting #839244
Asked July 06, 2023, 10:04 AM EDT
My tomato plant was wilted during the day yesterday and then came back at night. Today, it is wilted again. I am concerned that it has some sort of fungal disease but wanted to get your opinion. Do you have any thoughts on what might be causing this? If so, is there anything I can do? Should I remove the plant so it doesn't spread to the healthy plants near it?
Thank You,
Alan Weiss
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
Hi- too much or too little water can cause wilting. If water is not the issue-
Check for signs of animal feeding or other physical injuries near the base of the plants, or borer feeding along the main stem.
The symptoms of diseases that cause wilting in tomato are usually progressive: wilted stems recover at night and the wilt symptoms start at the top of the plant or start on one or two stems. Slice back the "skin" of a few wilted stems and look for tan to brown discoloration of the stem tissue. This would indicate a wilt disease such as fusarium wilt. Verticillium and bacterial wilt of tomato would be two less common diseases causing wilt in tomato. These wilt diseases are all soil-borne and can survive in the soil for years.
Walnut trees growing adjacent to vegetable gardens can also cause tomato plants to wilt.
If the problem is a wilt disease you should remove the plant. If your other plants are of the same variety, they are at high risk for infection.
In the future, select cultivars with resistance to all three races of fusarium wilt disease (in seed catalogs it will appear as "F" followed by 1, 2, 3 in subscript).
Other resources:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/fusarium-wilt-of-tomato
Jon
Check for signs of animal feeding or other physical injuries near the base of the plants, or borer feeding along the main stem.
The symptoms of diseases that cause wilting in tomato are usually progressive: wilted stems recover at night and the wilt symptoms start at the top of the plant or start on one or two stems. Slice back the "skin" of a few wilted stems and look for tan to brown discoloration of the stem tissue. This would indicate a wilt disease such as fusarium wilt. Verticillium and bacterial wilt of tomato would be two less common diseases causing wilt in tomato. These wilt diseases are all soil-borne and can survive in the soil for years.
Walnut trees growing adjacent to vegetable gardens can also cause tomato plants to wilt.
If the problem is a wilt disease you should remove the plant. If your other plants are of the same variety, they are at high risk for infection.
In the future, select cultivars with resistance to all three races of fusarium wilt disease (in seed catalogs it will appear as "F" followed by 1, 2, 3 in subscript).
Other resources:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/fusarium-wilt-of-tomato
Jon
