EasyBloom Forum

All of a sudden my patio tomatoes growing on my balcony started getting yellow and brown - the tomatoes are still growing, but the leaves are getting brittle and drying up. Any suggestions? Paddie

Hey Paddie...This to me does not sound like tobacco mosaic virus. It sounds more like Fusarium or Verticillium wilt. Fusarium is very prominent amongst tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other plants in the same family of plants. These wilts are caused by fungi that are in the soil and that will attack the roots. Plants are much more susceptible to infection when the soil is waterlogged. In fact the model plant seen most commonly in the scientific literature concerning research on waterlogged soils is tomato because they are very susceptible to this problem. What happens is that fungus infects the roots and then grows up the plant's water conduits. This blocks water from getting to the leaves, which can cause the plant to wilt and eventually turn brown and crispy. Gardeners can easily mistake this disease for lack of water. Unfortunately, adding water to the soil exacerbates the problem.

What probably happened is that at an early age these tomatoes were either given too much water or the soil they were growing in did not drain very well. If your tomatoes are in fact infected with a type of wilt, I would strongly recommend throwing the plant (and potting soil if it's in a pot) out. Trying to squeeze out some tomatoes out of a Fusarium infected plant will allow the fungus more time to sporulate and then you'd have a very difficult time trying to get rid of the problem. To check to see if you have this infection, cut off a piece of the stem and cut longitudinally along the stem. If the center of the stem is brown and somewhat mushy, you have an infection. I would throw out the plant and clean the cutting utensil you used (this is to ensure you don't infect other plants if you used pruning shears that would go on to cut other plants). You don't have to worry about these fungi infecting animals or yourself. They strictly infect plants and will have no ill effect on you.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but at least this will give you some insight as to what is most likely causing the problem. I would recommend not allowing the plant's soil to be completely saturated with water for too long. Don't worry too much if this is what caused the plant's downfall. This is not an uncommon occurrence. In fact it's common enough that this field of research is what my PhD research was about. It's a problem in both commercial situations and in the home garden. :) I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy Gardening! --Robby

Dear Robby, Thank you so much - it is not easy growing in containers on a balcony that gets max-6 hrs of sun and occasional 45 mph winds! Sometimes I do not know if it is me or mother nature fooling around causing problems. Your response was very helpful. Sincerely, Paddie