Does Pith Necrosis Recur?

[Fert1]

In trying to figure out the cause of my recurring wilt issues, I was wondering if Pith Necrosis is something that tends to come back year after year in infected soil. Does anyone know the answer to that?

[Suze]

Pith necrosis (bacterial) is soil borne, so yes, it can reoccur.

I do not know what the likelihood is -- from what little I've read about it, having the bacterium in the soil is not a 100% guarantee plants will be wiped out. Different plants can be affected to varying extents, and can even outgrow the condition if affected.

[carolyn137]

Holly, if I lived in SC and had wilt issues, as you put it, one of the least diagnoses I'd make would be Pith Necrosis b'c it's not all that common.

But there are plenty of soil borne diseases where you live that would be much more probable.

I don't know all the symptoms associated with your wilting plants, but if it were me I'd look to Fusarium first, and then others before landing on Pith Necrosis as a possible Dx.

I just noticed you have a long thread here already about your wilt problem, which I haven't read. I'll give it a look when I have time and post there, I guess, unless all other possibilities that you've considered are not applicable.

[Fert1]

That's the whole problem - it doesn't seem to exactly fit anything I can find on the Internet. It's like a whole new mutant strain of something has cropped up. They always wilt from the top down, not the other way around. The pith does not turn brown, it is usually gone completely, and I've had it the past 3 years running. It usually will completely kill infected plants, but some try to make a comeback, but it's always too late in the season.

[Suze]

Three years is a long time to have an undiagnosed problem -- must be frustrating. Have you considered submitting a sample of an infected plant for testing?

[Fert1]

Originally Posted by Suze

Three years is a long time to have an undiagnosed problem -- must be frustrating. Have you considered submitting a sample of an infected plant for testing?

Yes, but my county agent is not very helpful in that regard. I called to ask about doing just that. He's only in his office one or two days a month, insists it has to be a plant that just died, (within 24 hours), and his office hours are typical day hours, which would clash with my work schedule, not to mention suddenly taking an unscheduled day off is just not done where I work (UPS). It's just not practical for me to try to do that.

And yes, it's EXTREMELY frustrating, to the point that I'm considering only growing cherries next year. They are the only thing that holds up to this disease. If I do grow something other than cherries, it will probably be something experimental, such as growing in pots or straw bales, or trying varieties that have some resistance to wilts and seeing if that makes a difference. Every time I go out and find a previously healthy plant dead, I just feel like screaming, raving & ranting and throwing a hissy fit. I don't, but it's tempting.

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by Fert1

----And yes, it's EXTREMELY frustrating, to the point that I'm considering only growing cherries next year. ------

Here was what happened to me last year:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...=bio+terrorism

I didn't give up. The lack of space prevents me from rotating crops. I tried different varieties and methods this season. So far I am overwhelmed with nice harvest.

dcarch