Suddenly Shriveled

AlittleSalt · June 11, 2016

Yesterday evening, this was a healthy looking leaf part. This morning, it looks like this. What do you think caused this? -- It didn't rain overnight or anything like that.

Worth1 · June 11, 2016

I dont know but you should see some of my pepper plants, they just up and gave up the ghost over night.
Just like last year.

Worth

AlittleSalt · June 11, 2016

I just pulled 5 plants up that didn't have a chance. It actually looks better in that part of the garden now. I put the plants directly on a bed of hot coals. It's strange to feel good about getting rid of a diseased or whatever plant.

I pulled T posts up that were tie downs for the cages they were in. The ground is still wet 18" down. It hasn't rained since last Saturday - a full week ago.

Worth1 · June 11, 2016

I think a lot of it is just root rot sometimes it comes on way after the rain has stopped.
I will be very lucky this year if my Tuscan Blue rosemary lives through it or some of my agave yucca or other cacti.
The only thing I have watered is my trash can as I keep it washed out.

It rained so much the pomegranate dropped all of its fruit but the tree is thriving.
The English Ivy is growing like a weed.

Worth

DjonesNC · June 13, 2016

I just found my Paul Robeson is in the same condition. I looked at it Friday and all was well; and now it's as brittle as leaves in the fall. So far not other plants seem to have the same issue; but I was really looking forward to this plant since I haven't grown it for a couple of years and I wanted to replenish my seed stock. Oh well, I guess it's back to the starting block or having to order more see.

b54red · June 14, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Yesterday evening, this was a healthy looking leaf part. This morning, it looks like this. What do you think caused this? -- It didn't rain overnight or anything like that.

It looks like Gray Mold to me. Is the plant a black or GWR ? They tend to be far more susceptible to GM than most others. Use the bleach spray at the higher rate of 5.5 oz added to a gallon of water and then do it again in two days. Remove as much of the shriveled up dying leaves as possible the day after spraying. After spraying the second time use a copper fungicide and just wait to see the first signs of it again and repeat the process. Gray Mold is particularly hard to control during rainy weather and it has a tendency to come back even after you think you have it whipped. Whatever you do don't let it get too far along or it is unstoppable or nearly so. If you follow the above instructions you have a chance to control it before it gets too bad and save your plant but it will mean a lot of leaves will have to be removed because however much you see is only the tip of the iceberg and the bleach spray will show you how far it has progressed by killing infected leaves.

During long rainy spells when I am fighting GM I will sometimes spray the bleach spray everyday to keep it under control as no fungicides can stay on the plants. If the leaves are particularly wet I will sometimes go up to 6 oz added to a full gallon of water but sometimes will get a bit of leaf burn; but sometimes that is a price I am willing to pay to slow it down or stop it. Good luck.

Bill

Worth1 · June 14, 2016

The title of the thread reminds me of what might happen to someone if they woke up the next day with someone after they drank too much at the bar.

Worth

AlittleSalt · June 14, 2016

Worth

Bill that leaf section came from a Sungold F3 plant. It has rained a lot every day since I posted that picture. They're saying that it's supposed to stop raining tomorrow and get into the upper 90s. I'll step up the bleach spray. I have had black mold out here in years past.

Dewayne mater · June 14, 2016

I agree with Bill about mold. I've had it this year because of the rain. In fact, it was more severe than I realized and bleach spray caused a huge leaf loss. I'm not sure I've gotten rid of it either. I"m seeing some brown stems still. Gonna use bleach again as I think my last round of copper and daconil was washed off in the heavy rains yesterday. When you add heat and sun, the effects of mold on the plants explodes in one day.

My plants are pretty sad looking, but, the tops are putting out new growth that is healthy and lots of fruit is on the vines still. This is a challenging hobby, every year!

Dewayne

b54red · June 15, 2016

I have had gray mold so bad at times that I would lose all the lower leaves of the plants leaving the tomatoes open to bad sun scald but the option of not treating it aggressively is dead plants. I pulled up one of my three large tomato plants that are infected with TSWV because it got a bad case of gray mold and I didn't want it spreading to the healthy Indian Stripe plants on each side of it. Since the plant only had a couple more tomatoes big enough to ripen before the TSWV destroyed it I thought that the best option was to just get rid of it. If the plant had not had TSWV I would have sprayed it with the bleach solution this morning and removed all the infected stems tomorrow; but in its weakened condition I decided that it wasn't worth the effort.

Bill

Starlight · June 16, 2016

I almost wish I had your problem. State has been getting rain, but not where I am. We have had 1/16th" of rain for the past month and with heat index tomorrow it will be 105 or better here. We on major water restrictions and 1,000 dollar fine if caught watering on Sunday for my area.

With all the rain you had there in Tx and other parts, your ground gonna be soaked for awhile and now as it starts drying you'll see the rots and molds I imagine show up.

I don't know if this would help or not, but I wonder if you couldn't like use some sort of pole or pipe or something and make holes down deeper in the ground, like when you dig for soil samples.
I wonder if by having open holes, if you could get your ground to dry out faster. Let the air and your Tx heat dry it up. Just a thought.

drew51 · June 17, 2016

I'm not getting any rain either, a pain having to water a lot, at least my tomatoes are in the best shape I have ever seen, ever! Not one sign of disease at all.

TexasTycoon · June 17, 2016

I agree on the grey mold. Make sure when you spray the bleach to get the dirt around the plant, and spray it heavily on the soil of the plants you pulled. Looks just like what my I-lost-count-of-how-many-restarts-but-believe-me-it-was-several beans keep getting with each rain. I'm finally having success after planting in a new pot with new dirt because I'm pretty sure the mold spores were in the potting medium itself after so many plants getting infected. As happy as I am for all this rain and ending our drought and having mild temperatures and all of that, I bet I'd be even happier about it if I weren't trying to grow plants in this crazy weather!

Hope your ground dries out soon, Robert.

Starlight · June 17, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew51

I'm not getting any rain either, a pain having to water a lot, at least my tomatoes are in the best shape I have ever seen, ever! Not one sign of disease at all.

For past couple of weeks I have been having to water twice a day. Out at 6 in morning giving a watering and then about 2 in the afternoon a quickie small drink. Keeps them from wilting in the afternoon heat and cools the containers down some. By 4 the shade from trees moving over them and they good til morning.

No diseases, no molds, even though I did spray once a month a go as a preventative after the last time we had rain and temp hit 98F. No flea beetles other than a couple here or there. Only problem so far is 6 hornworms in past couple of days. grrrr

Salt... If you don't go fishing everyday, while your getting your soil fixed back up, have you thought about growing some plants in containers? I would put them up in the air like on a wooden pallet or something so that if you get more heavy rains the containers aren't touching the soil at all.

Shapshftr · June 26, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Yesterday evening, this was a healthy looking leaf part. This morning, it looks like this. What do you think caused this? -- It didn't rain overnight or anything like that.

Those two stem pieces in your hand appear to have holes in them and look hollowed out. If that's the case you have a borer of some sort drilling into them and hollowing them out. I just found an incidence of that on one of my plants. It was beautiful one day, the next morning it had a bent over and wilted stem with a borer protruding from a hole right where it was bent. I determined it's a Common Stalk Borer.

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/kpn/kpn_00/pn000619.htm

https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/us...n-stalk-borer/

June 17, 2016	#12
drew51 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Sterling Heights, MI Zone 6a/5b Posts: 1,302	I'm not getting any rain either, a pain having to water a lot, at least my tomatoes are in the best shape I have ever seen, ever! Not one sign of disease at all. Last edited by drew51; June 17, 2016 at 12:12 PM.

June 17, 2016	#13
TexasTycoon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Round Rock, TX, Zone 8b Posts: 1,157	I agree on the grey mold. Make sure when you spray the bleach to get the dirt around the plant, and spray it heavily on the soil of the plants you pulled. Looks just like what my I-lost-count-of-how-many-restarts-but-believe-me-it-was-several beans keep getting with each rain. I'm finally having success after planting in a new pot with new dirt because I'm pretty sure the mold spores were in the potting medium itself after so many plants getting infected. As happy as I am for all this rain and ending our drought and having mild temperatures and all of that, I bet I'd be even happier about it if I weren't trying to grow plants in this crazy weather! Hope your ground dries out soon, Robert. __________________ -Kelly "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn Bloom where you are planted.

June 11, 2016	#2
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	I dont know but you should see some of my pepper plants, they just up and gave up the ghost over night. Just like last year. Worth

June 11, 2016	#3
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	I just pulled 5 plants up that didn't have a chance. It actually looks better in that part of the garden now. I put the plants directly on a bed of hot coals. It's strange to feel good about getting rid of a diseased or whatever plant. I pulled T posts up that were tie downs for the cages they were in. The ground is still wet 18" down. It hasn't rained since last Saturday - a full week ago.

June 13, 2016	#5
DjonesNC Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 31	I just found my Paul Robeson is in the same condition. I looked at it Friday and all was well; and now it's as brittle as leaves in the fall. So far not other plants seem to have the same issue; but I was really looking forward to this plant since I haven't grown it for a couple of years and I wanted to replenish my seed stock. Oh well, I guess it's back to the starting block or having to order more see.

June 14, 2016	#7
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	The title of the thread reminds me of what might happen to someone if they woke up the next day with someone after they drank too much at the bar. Worth

June 14, 2016	#8
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Worth Bill that leaf section came from a Sungold F3 plant. It has rained a lot every day since I posted that picture. They're saying that it's supposed to stop raining tomorrow and get into the upper 90s. I'll step up the bleach spray. I have had black mold out here in years past.

June 14, 2016	#9
Dewayne mater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 1,212	I agree with Bill about mold. I've had it this year because of the rain. In fact, it was more severe than I realized and bleach spray caused a huge leaf loss. I'm not sure I've gotten rid of it either. I"m seeing some brown stems still. Gonna use bleach again as I think my last round of copper and daconil was washed off in the heavy rains yesterday. When you add heat and sun, the effects of mold on the plants explodes in one day. My plants are pretty sad looking, but, the tops are putting out new growth that is healthy and lots of fruit is on the vines still. This is a challenging hobby, every year! Dewayne

June 15, 2016	#10
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I have had gray mold so bad at times that I would lose all the lower leaves of the plants leaving the tomatoes open to bad sun scald but the option of not treating it aggressively is dead plants. I pulled up one of my three large tomato plants that are infected with TSWV because it got a bad case of gray mold and I didn't want it spreading to the healthy Indian Stripe plants on each side of it. Since the plant only had a couple more tomatoes big enough to ripen before the TSWV destroyed it I thought that the best option was to just get rid of it. If the plant had not had TSWV I would have sprayed it with the bleach solution this morning and removed all the infected stems tomorrow; but in its weakened condition I decided that it wasn't worth the effort. Bill

June 16, 2016	#11
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	I almost wish I had your problem. State has been getting rain, but not where I am. We have had 1/16th" of rain for the past month and with heat index tomorrow it will be 105 or better here. We on major water restrictions and 1,000 dollar fine if caught watering on Sunday for my area. With all the rain you had there in Tx and other parts, your ground gonna be soaked for awhile and now as it starts drying you'll see the rots and molds I imagine show up. I don't know if this would help or not, but I wonder if you couldn't like use some sort of pole or pipe or something and make holes down deeper in the ground, like when you dig for soil samples. I wonder if by having open holes, if you could get your ground to dry out faster. Let the air and your Tx heat dry it up. Just a thought.