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Old June 8, 2017   #91
b54red
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My tomatoes got hit by the worst mite invasion I have seen in over 40 years of growing tomatoes last season. I did not react quick enough and several of my plants that looked like some of yours were killed before I got them under control and most of the badly infected plants never did produce too much after the initial mite damage. By spraying everything with the Permethrin, Dawn and DE spray aggressively even on plants that showed no damage and the mulch under the plants and any other species of plant in the garden that could carry mites I was able to stop them before they could get my newer plants and those not heavily infested into that just hanging on condition. I sprayed twice in a couple of days to make sure I got everything covered and then removed all the damaged leaves. It left me with quite a few of those palm tree plants that didn't do much until fall because it took so long for them to regain enough foliage to be productive. The problem was worsened by the drought we had last year so I had to give the damaged plants a couple of extra doses of TTF and a lot of water to coax them back to somewhat healthy plants. To further make it more difficult every few weeks after that I would have to repeat the spray because new mites kept floating in and trying to get my plants colonized again.

It took me a few years to learn to spot mites and much longer to find a way to stop them. They can be very persistent in dry weather and they particularly will take over a slightly sick plant very fast. I figured out that any RKN increased the chance of mites greatly and that even mild fusarium problems with a plant would frequently incur mites far sooner than healthy plants. Despite years of fighting mites and usually coming out on top, I was totally caught flat footed last season by the swiftness and totality of that mite problem so what happened to you is not unique nor will it be the only time you are faced with these little monsters.

You could also have the additional problems of RKN and fusarium to make mite problems much worse and more likely to reappear year after year. It would probably save you a lot of future problems if you find out whether you have those underlying soil problems so you can plan for how to deal with them in the future.

Bill
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Old June 9, 2017   #92
AlittleSalt
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I have a question about taste. (One of the first things I learned not to ask about here.) But does Fusarium and RKN effect the way a tomato tastes? So far, all of our larger tomatoes taste acidic. The fruit looks wonderful. I ask my wife what she thinks of the taste and she only eats a couple of bites. I end up tossing the rest of the tomato in the compost bin because I don't like them either.

I had the luxury of spending a rare day with my wife today when she wasn't working and we didn't have grandchildren here. She got to eat an Oranje Van Goeijenbier and Peacevine tomato - a couple of her favorites. She loved them.

It leaves me confused. Why is it that cherry tomatoes still taste so good growing with Fusarium and RKN and larger tomatoes are tasting so acidic?

There is one larger tomato that has produced for us this year that we do like. Big Beef, but it needs some FFF rootstock help because it's only growing 3+ tall.

Could you imagine growing expensive root stock just to grow cherry tomatoes? Or trying to improve Big Beef? That is where I am at.
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Old June 9, 2017   #93
Worth1
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The two sun gold tomatoes I have ate suck this year.

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Old June 9, 2017   #94
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Worth, could it be a weather type thing? It rained Friday through Monday. No rain Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but it's raining a lot again this morning. I just had to bring in the 12 Big Beef seedlings that sprouted yesterday. Too much rain makes tomatoes taste mealy/mushy - but not acidic. I guess it is just too much rain at the wrong time?

This is the third straight year of what I call a failed garden. It is weighing heavy on me.
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Old June 9, 2017   #95
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I had to pull the second plant out of the main garden today. Again, I couldn't find any RKN on/in the roots - it was Fusarium that got it.
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Old June 9, 2017   #96
b54red
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I know for a fact that some years what I would call a well balanced tomato will taste acidic and then be fine the next or fairly bland then great the next year. That is why I usually give a tomato two or three years of taste testing before deciding whether to keep planting it in my garden. My favorite full tasting tomato varieties year after year are German Johnson PL, Brandywine Cowlick's, Brandywine Sudduth's, Giant Belgium, Delicious, Neves Azorean Red, Couilles de Taureau, Red Barn, Spudakee, Indian Stripe reg and PL, JD's Special C Tex, and Spudakee. That doesn't mean that some years they are not up to snuff but they are more consistent than most of the other varieties that I grow also.

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Old June 9, 2017   #97
Worth1
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My guess is not enough sunshine where I have it growing.
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Old June 9, 2017   #98
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I've had tomatoes that taste really good one year and the next year when it rains too much taste awful. Porter was our first must-grow favorite. In 2015, when the rains wouldn't stop, Porter tomato was a spitter and a splitter. All of the varieties this year have been very wet inside and are soft at first blush.
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Old June 9, 2017   #99
Worth1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlittleSalt View Post
Worth, could it be a weather type thing? It rained Friday through Monday. No rain Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but it's raining a lot again this morning. I just had to bring in the 12 Big Beef seedlings that sprouted yesterday. Too much rain makes tomatoes taste mealy/mushy - but not acidic. I guess it is just too much rain at the wrong time?

This is the third straight year of what I call a failed garden. It is weighing heavy on me.
Salt my brother and everyone else.
Success isn't the tomato or the fruit or anything else involved it is the end product of the best you can do.
Do not beat yourself up on this it isn't anything you can control.
I cant even begin to tell you guys all of the flops I have made and ended up in the trash.
For a person to get up and do something even if it is wrong and is a flop is worth far more than a person that never even tries.
The guy helping me today is an example.
For the life of him he could not get the gait to close.
I had no idea how to get the gate to close but I had a wild guess.
I wired it up (((NOT)))) knowing if it world burn up the board or not.
Well the gate closed.
I was lucky today and that is it, just luck and a wee bit of inclination.
If the board would have burned up well at least we tried.
Learning what you cant do is a step towards learning what you can do.
The end result of failure is success.
Worth
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Old June 11, 2017   #100
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I just started pulling tomato plants on the side of our main garden that stopped growing a month ago (May 1). I want to share this picture so that others learning about Tomato plant problems can see it to compare to.

Fusarium and RKN on the same plant -
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Old June 11, 2017   #101
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Default Fall Garden

I have 7 out 12 Big Beef F1 sprouting that I intend to grow in the raised bed that I know for sure has both RKN and Fusarium wilt. Big Beef is VFFNTA.

If Campari is actually Mountain Magic - they have a resistance to Fusarium races 0-2, early and late blight, and V according to Johnny's http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetable...seed-2513.html The ones I have started are F2s.

Both varieties are seedlings right now, and should be ready to plant out sometime around July 4-15th (I'm hoping to plant them on July 4.) That is a month before the recommended plant out date for transplants in my area of Texas.

The bed I want to plant both of them in is the one I have shown pictures of in this thread along with the results of planting in it. Five plants in that bed out of 17 tomato plants have already been pulled due to Fusarium. Three more plants will be pulled soon.

This is a question for you all - that involves my thoughts without knowing the answer. Is it possible that the Fusarium resistance in the Campari be transferred to the F2s that I have seedlings of? If so, that would mean they are still FFF.

Bill, I do remember what you wrote about Big Beef F2 on the first page of this thread. When it comes to genetics - I understand X+Y = a baby/s male or female with genes and DNA from both parents and their grandparents... but that is where my understanding starts to wane.

Last edited by AlittleSalt; June 12, 2017 at 12:27 AM.
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Old June 12, 2017   #102
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Tomatoes taste more acidic at the beginning of the season, it's probably a leaf vs fruit number thing or some other mechanisms in the plant.
They also have a stronger, better taste. I actually much prefer the earlier ones. This is just based from my observations on many different years.
And as I always say, nutrition is generally at least as important as variety. Know how and when to fertilize for best taste results.
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Old June 12, 2017   #103
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I'm a little confused and a little concerned.

Can someone please point me to a reputable site that talks about the likelihood that fusarium is carried inside a seed?

I keep finding places that talk about it being carried on (not in) seeds, and others that don't specify in or on.

A few people here have mentioned seed being a carrier and it has me worried about sharing my seeds with anyone. I do ferment then bleach before storage, but I haven't found anything saying that is or isn't enough to kill any fusarium living on a seed. Other places talk about needing heat treatment, which implies fusarium is present in seeds.

And to those who have fusarium and have started grafting after determining you had it -- did you toss out all your seed saved from plants killed by fusarium for your first year grafting? If not, then did you see any sign of fusarium in the grafted plants.
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Old June 12, 2017   #104
Worth1
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I think Carolyn said it could be in tbe seeds.
I hope she or another expert chimes in.
From what I understand any virus can be carried in the seed.
I planted squash some years ago that had it in or on the seeds.
These seeds were commercial.
The virus was mosaic.
Worth
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Old June 12, 2017   #105
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I am yet to see fusarium passed on in any of my seeds, which are processed with Oxy Clean. I think it is mostly viral matter that can live in the center of the seed, and require hot water treatment to kill.
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