Doesn't look like Verticillium to me, based on the pictures... V wilt tends to cause yellowing before the whole plant wilts like that, and these are still green all over.

It looks like some of the leaves have gone all skinny and twisty, sort of like corkscrews; am I seeing that right? They're still green, but they've sort of rolled up and elongated into ribbons, then curled.

Have they been anywhere near herbicide use of any kind? Did your neighbor spray Roundup, or fertilize a lawn nearby with weed and feed? Did you use lawn clippings in your compost, or as mulch? Is there any way something could have drifted their way? Tomatoes are especially sensitive to 2,4-D, which is a common herbicide, and they tend to get symptoms rather like this. Roundup causes something slightly different, but still similar. Either one would stop the plants in their tracks.

If it's herbicide damage, plants will either stall and then recover after a couple of weeks, or they'll steadily decline and die. Which one it is depends on the severity of the exposure. (The good news is that, unlike Verticillium, it doesn't stick around for years.)

--Alison

If herbicide damage -- which I think it is -- it's more than likely 2,4-D. It's in any number of broadleaf weed killers.

Roundup damage during the growing season is quite different; the newest part of the leaf (the base) acquires a pale to yellow color.

Perhaps someone decided to "help" you manage the weeds while you were on vacation?

Hi,

Thanks for the replies! Its definitely like you said, kind of wilted/twisted.

now that you mention it, i believe my neighbor did spray weed and feed. He had a sprayer attached to the back of his mower, so its possible that is the cause. i cant remember if this started before that was sprayed or not. The wind generally blows from my yard over to his yard. And it seems that its only the tomatoes that are affected. On one side of the tomatoes are green beans, the other side is peppers. Neither seem to have any wilting issues. Would a herbicide affect tomatoes more than peppers or green beans?

The only thing i have sprayed on the tomatoes is eight and a fungicide. I sprayed eight after the wilting started as i thought something might have got in to the plant.

You don't need wind to move the spray from one place to another. All that's needed is turbulence when the spray is applied. Then, too, some weed killers volatilize when temps exceed 80 to 85.

Further, the damage in a garden can look strange in that it can skip from plant to plant, leaving others in good conditions. It all depends upon atmospheric conditions.