rotting tomato stems?????

rxkeith · June 18, 2020

after enduring a week of cold wet miserable weather, most of my tomatoes look like
they have decided to live, and are beginning to show new growth. two of my matina
disappeared, and the third one looked barely alive. i decided to yank it, and replace it
with a spare plant. when i dug it up, i discovered that the stem below the ground was
pretty much rotted away. there was some small root growth near the surface that was
keeping the small piece of healthy stem alive, so i potted it up to try to save it since
that was the last matina. a sun gold seems to have had the same problem.

i had suspected cut worms at first until i dug up the matina that was still alive. the stem
seemed to be in one piece, just brown, and rotting below the soil, and green from soil surface up.

any clues??

keith

taboule · June 18, 2020

Keith, how about the stem above ground, is it by any chance hollow and brown and rotten on the inside?

KarenO · June 18, 2020

Sounds like either Alternaria or damping off.
KarenO

zeuspaul · June 18, 2020

I would cut it to where the stem is good and then root it in water and then pot it.

KarenO · June 18, 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeuspaul

I would cut it to where the stem is good and then root it in water and then pot it.

Disagree with Trying to re-root a diseased plant Personally.
KarenO

slugworth · June 18, 2020

Your first sentence said it all.
I would do a Lazarus and try to save it.
I use a wet potting soil mix vs water
Put it in the recovery room indoors for a couple of weeks.
Under lights.

taboule · June 18, 2020

+1 to what Karen said. Cut your losses.

brownrexx · June 18, 2020

I had the same problem with 8 out of 17 of my mature tomato seedlings planted in the garden. I detailed this with photos on that "other" site that we can't talk about here and the consensus was damping off.

I did cut off my plants above the brown area and rooted them. I just replanted them in the garden yesterday.

I have never had this problem in the past but we did have a cold, wet May.

I also planted some store bought seedlings in the same holes where the bad plants were removed. We'll see what happens.

rxkeith · June 18, 2020

the stem above ground feels solid.

i wouldn't have thought damping off could occur on outside transplants.
the previous weeks weather was pretty miserable for a tomato.

i have 40 other plants in ground. most are showing new growth. i could start
checking to see if any other plants are affected. disease vs environmental, i dunno.
this is a new thing for me.

thanks for the replies.

keith

zipcode · June 19, 2020

Cutting and rooting is no different than rooting suckers. It will certainly be faster than growing new plants if you don't have any. Probably damping off, if it's cold for longer periods after transplanting, it can happen.

brownrexx · June 19, 2020

I wouldn't have thought about damping off either but I read online, and I can't find the link again, that it usually does not occur in mature plants because of secondary tissue in the stem but it definitely is possible.

My stems are brown below the soil line but hard and shriveled, not mushy and the stems above the brown part are green and healthy looking.

My stems narrow to a small skinny area in the middle of the brown part too. Do yours do that?

My Big Beef were so large that I could not bear to rip them out so I piled soil up around the stem above the brown part and they are growing and flowering but time will tell.

I am having the same problem in several of my Bell peppers.

rxkeith · June 20, 2020

brownrexx

i had the thin strand of stem you describe.
the part near the surface was softer, and brown.
i did not dig out all the way to the roots, but did not
notice a hard dry section of stem. from what others have
said, it could have been damping off.
the living piece is potted up, and seems ok. it is a guess
if it will produce tomatoes. matina is an early variety, so maybe so.

keith

b54red · June 24, 2020

I have had this problem in the past when I planted deeper than the soil level on the seedling when in the original cup. I quit trying to plant deep after experiencing damping off on the buried stem many times over the years and have not had a problem since then.

I had this happen over and over again but it was sporadic and I couldn't figure out what was happening until I was in a hurry one day trying to finish up my plantings and didn't plant a bunch of tomatoes any deeper than the soil line on the seedling. So I had one bed of tomatoes planted deep and one bed planted shallow and over the next two weeks I noticed problems with nearly a third of the seedlings planted deep while the ones planted shallow had no problems. That ended deep planting for me and it has made my life easier.

Bill

brownrexx · June 24, 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

I have had this problem in the past when I planted deeper than the soil level on the seedling when in the original cup. I quit trying to plant deep after experiencing damping off on the buried stem many times over the years and have not had a problem since then.

I had this happen over and over again but it was sporadic and I couldn't figure out what was happening until I was in a hurry one day trying to finish up my plantings and didn't plant a bunch of tomatoes any deeper than the soil line on the seedling. So I had one bed of tomatoes planted deep and one bed planted shallow and over the next two weeks I noticed problems with nearly a third of the seedlings planted deep while the ones planted shallow had no problems. That ended deep planting for me and it has made my life easier.

Bill

I have always buried deeper and never had a problem but last year I had this brown stem problem on just one plant. I never knew what caused it so I just moved on and this year I planted deeper again.

I have come to the same conclusion as Bill and I will no longer be planting my seedlings deeper than they were in their pots. The replacement plants were planted in the same holes but not deep so we'll see what happens.

The ones that I rooted and re-planted seem to have taken hold and are green and growing. I am hopeful that they will be OK.

GrowingCoastal · June 24, 2020

The only time I had a brown stem like that was on a plant that was planted right after taking off the lowest leaves and cotelydons. I could see where the rot had entered through one of those spots where a leaf was removed for deeper planting.
Since then I strip off anything that will be removed days before planting time so the wounds have time to heal and seal over before planting. No more brown stems.

June 18, 2020	#1
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,839	rotting tomato stems????? after enduring a week of cold wet miserable weather, most of my tomatoes look like they have decided to live, and are beginning to show new growth. two of my matina disappeared, and the third one looked barely alive. i decided to yank it, and replace it with a spare plant. when i dug it up, i discovered that the stem below the ground was pretty much rotted away. there was some small root growth near the surface that was keeping the small piece of healthy stem alive, so i potted it up to try to save it since that was the last matina. a sun gold seems to have had the same problem. i had suspected cut worms at first until i dug up the matina that was still alive. the stem seemed to be in one piece, just brown, and rotting below the soil, and green from soil surface up. any clues?? keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

June 18, 2020	#9
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,839	the stem above ground feels solid. i wouldn't have thought damping off could occur on outside transplants. the previous weeks weather was pretty miserable for a tomato. i have 40 other plants in ground. most are showing new growth. i could start checking to see if any other plants are affected. disease vs environmental, i dunno. this is a new thing for me. thanks for the replies. keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt. Last edited by rxkeith; June 18, 2020 at 11:24 PM.

June 20, 2020	#12
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,839	brownrexx i had the thin strand of stem you describe. the part near the surface was softer, and brown. i did not dig out all the way to the roots, but did not notice a hard dry section of stem. from what others have said, it could have been damping off. the living piece is potted up, and seems ok. it is a guess if it will produce tomatoes. matina is an early variety, so maybe so. keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

June 18, 2020	#2
taboule Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: MA Posts: 903	Keith, how about the stem above ground, is it by any chance hollow and brown and rotten on the inside?

June 18, 2020	#3
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,922	Sounds like either Alternaria or damping off. KarenO

June 18, 2020	#4
zeuspaul Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: North County, San Diego Posts: 418	I would cut it to where the stem is good and then root it in water and then pot it.

June 18, 2020	#6
slugworth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: connecticut,usa Posts: 1,150	Your first sentence said it all. I would do a Lazarus and try to save it. I use a wet potting soil mix vs water Put it in the recovery room indoors for a couple of weeks. Under lights.

June 18, 2020	#8
brownrexx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Southeastern PA Posts: 1,420	I had the same problem with 8 out of 17 of my mature tomato seedlings planted in the garden. I detailed this with photos on that "other" site that we can't talk about here and the consensus was damping off. I did cut off my plants above the brown area and rooted them. I just replanted them in the garden yesterday. I have never had this problem in the past but we did have a cold, wet May. I also planted some store bought seedlings in the same holes where the bad plants were removed. We'll see what happens.

June 19, 2020	#10
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	Cutting and rooting is no different than rooting suckers. It will certainly be faster than growing new plants if you don't have any. Probably damping off, if it's cold for longer periods after transplanting, it can happen.

June 24, 2020	#13
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I have had this problem in the past when I planted deeper than the soil level on the seedling when in the original cup. I quit trying to plant deep after experiencing damping off on the buried stem many times over the years and have not had a problem since then. I had this happen over and over again but it was sporadic and I couldn't figure out what was happening until I was in a hurry one day trying to finish up my plantings and didn't plant a bunch of tomatoes any deeper than the soil line on the seedling. So I had one bed of tomatoes planted deep and one bed planted shallow and over the next two weeks I noticed problems with nearly a third of the seedlings planted deep while the ones planted shallow had no problems. That ended deep planting for me and it has made my life easier. Bill

June 24, 2020	#15
GrowingCoastal Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Vancouver Island Canada BC Posts: 1,253	The only time I had a brown stem like that was on a plant that was planted right after taking off the lowest leaves and cotelydons. I could see where the rot had entered through one of those spots where a leaf was removed for deeper planting. Since then I strip off anything that will be removed days before planting time so the wounds have time to heal and seal over before planting. No more brown stems.