Sick Tomato Plant?

[so lucky]

I still haven't put most of my tomato plants out in the garden yet; the weather has just been too variable. Inside, under the lights, with a fan on "low" they are doing OK but getting leggy. One plant is starting to have some of its leaves get limp, and eventually curl up and die, at various locations on the 24" plant, not just at the bottom. Sometimes a whole trio of leaves, sometimes just one leaf. It is still growing and looks vigorous otherwise. No visable insects or other means of damage. Doesn't look like spider mite damage. Does this sound like any disease you know of? And should I discard this plant? (I know, I should post a picture, but I can't)

 

[lesa]

I don't think there is cause for panic, yet... Are you able to start hardening the seedlings off? I think the starts just don't do their best, until they are really out in the natural light. When you plant them, remember you can bury the stems quite deeply- so the leggy issue won't be too terrible. Happy Gardening1

 

[catjac1975]

Don't worry about them being leggy. Tomatoes should be planted deep anyway. If is is one plant and you have plenty I would get rid of it.

 

[so lucky]

Yes, I did go ahead and plant two plants in the garden yesterday, and ended up planting them at least a foot deep. I put milk cartons over them. They hadn't had much hardening off lately. Too windy, too cold, and now they're too tall to stand up outside! I think I'll have to set them down in buckets just so they can get a little sun on their heads, lol!

 

[897tgigvib]

The description of your sick Tomato sounds like Fusarium wilt.

Some varieties are very susceptible. It gets the stems, sometimes right at ground level. The stem gets no good inside and can't carry nutrients or water very well. Some varieties can tough it out, others die.

 

[so lucky]

I decided to just dump that one tomato plant after I took a good look at it. It is a Better Boy. Besides the dying leaves, it had sort of brown scabby looking skin near the base of the plant. I just threw it, pot and all, in the trash. I hope the other plants don't catch it, what ever it was.

 

[897tgigvib]

That was fusarium, and Better Boy is supposed to be resistant.

Fusarium is the F part of those initials sometimes seen after the name of a hybrid tomato.

VFFN for example stands for resistant to Verticilium, Fusarium type 1, Fusarium type 2, and Nematodes.

I actually do not know how Fusarium spreads.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

That was fusarium, and Better Boy is supposed to be resistant.
Fusarium is the F part of those initials sometimes seen after the name of a hybrid tomato.
VFFN for example stands for resistant to Verticilium, Fusarium type 1, Fusarium type 2, and Nematodes.
I actually do not know how Fusarium spreads.

Marshal - is there an official list of all those letter designations somewhere? I have always wondered what they mean.