That looks pretty serious. At the risk of asking a stupid?, have you watered recently? Other than that it might be something affecting the main stem or roots. I'd carefully inspect near the soil line.

I have been watering every 3 days. They were watered this morning and the photo was taken at about 6:30 this evening. As I mentioned all the other plants look fine.

Tomatoes seem to be sensitive to certain chemicals. Years ago I planted tomatoes unde the canopy of black walnut and thety wilted(just like yours) and died one after another.

I hope other readers will shed more light on ths.

Gopher?

The only chemicals they've been exposed to, as I mentioned are actinovate and excel/lg which were applied 2 weeks ago, and copper spray, applied on Saturday. The plant has had treatments of both in the past with no problems....and I live in LA....there are no gophers here. LOL

Don, did that plant perk up in the evening? I've had some plants that would get very wilty looking in the heat of the day and perk up in the evening. It has been a while, but if I recall correctly, I found that the dripper at the tomatoes that did that were partially blocked (darn bugs!) and when I replaced the drippers, the plants stopped drooping durning the day.

Also, it looks like you are growing in a raised bed, correct? Have you checked the soil moisture level at that plant and compared it to the non-droopy plants? Perhaps the position it has in the bed is in a spot that drains more rapidly than the others, or conversely, it might be in a spot that holds water (both because of the substructure below the bed.)

Betsy

This post was edited by bets on Wed, May 22, 13 at 12:06

Google fusarium or verticillium wilt. They're tomato diseases that causes the sudden onset of wilting and are irreparable. Unless your plant is a hybrid resistant to these two diseases, this is what it looks like to me. Watering stress would not cause something this severe.

Nubiegardener....you may have nailed it. When I googled fusarium and verticillium wilt, it described the problem pretty closely to what I'm experiencing. I will give the plant another day to see how it progresses, but I'm thinking I will probably have to pull this plant. In addition to the wilting of the plant, the fact that this plant is also stunted in growth compared to my other plants is also a clue. I now have additional questions:

1) Was this plant contaminated as a seedling or did it develop fusarium or verticillium from my soil. I'm suspicious, because I bought 2 of these seedlings from a grower and my friend who got the other one also had trouble with his plant. The difference is that his died in the first week. Mine is now 2 months old. Can fusarium or verticillium take 2 months to manifest?
2) If I remove this plant now, what can I do to protect the other plants that are in my raised beds? I live in Los Angeles, and don't have the space to plant elsewhere on my property....ie. no crop rotation.
3) If I replace this plant, I assume planting a variety that is resistant to fusarium or verticillium is best. Can anyone recommend disease resistant varieties, or is there a resource to find them?

Thanks all,
Don

I was going to guess gopher, too. Are you sure there are none in LA? I don't see why there wouldn't be. But if you have been gardening for a while and not met them, I guess it is most likely not a gopher.

Anyway, you will know when you pull out the plant. If there are no roots, it was probably a gopher.

(And if so, you better find the tunnel and set traps before they get the rest of your garden)

--McKenzie

No change in the plant today...I think I'm going to pull it. Still early enough in the season to replant and its one of 13 plants. One thing I did notice this morning was there were a number of earthworms in the surface soil close to the base of the plant. Don't know if this is indicative of anything.... I also took a cutting from one of the limp branches and put it in water to see if it had the white ooze that I've read may indicate bacterial wilt. Didn't see any white ooze after 30 minutes before leaving for work. But plant certainly doesn't look like it's recovering....all leaves are wilted and soft. :(

In my experience, earthworms on the surface of the soil indicates very wet soil. They are kinda like tomato roots, they have to have air spaces in the soil to breath.

It may mean nothing, or it might mean you do have a very wet spot where that plant is.

Betsy

Before you jump on the V and F wilt bandwagon contact your local county extension service and ask if they are even present in your part of CA. Both diseases are primarily prevalent in only certain parts of the country and I can't recall if either has been reported in SoCal.

Plus the onset is normally not immediate failure of the entire plant. Normally there is slight wilting, yellow leaves, only 1 side of the plant, etc. Of course there are always exceptions.

If you pull the plant there is an easy test to determine - slice open the stem and you will note a muddy brown, foul smelling core. If it is V. wilt the discoloration will be near the base. If F. wilt it will extend up the stem.

Far more common is some sort of damage to the root ball itself either from injury, pests or excess moisture. And your comment on watering so frequently - every 3 days - makes me suspect that it may simply have grown as a shallow rooted plant in response.

The vent right behind it - what, if anything comes out that vent? A/C, clothes dryer heat, anything that could be affecting it?

Let us know what you discover.

Dave

And for the record, gophers are prevalent thruout SoCal in both urban and rural areas, including LA. I have lost large plants from gophers before. Looks identical to what you posted. Comes on overnight and affects the entire plant.

Can't help with the wilt, but to seysonn, never plant under a walnut tree. They do something to the soil around them that makes it uninhabitable for most other plants.

Per seysonn and caryltoo, I have three different heirlooms just under the edge of a walnut tree canopy. All three were doing well until last week one had a couple of branches wilt, now today the whole plant is, and it looks like a second might be starting.

Until the walnut tree comments, I thought maybe I had pruned it too severely (training up a vertical pole).

Gary, it's the walnut tree roots that emit a toxin and it can hurt plants as far away as 50 feet from the edge of the canopy. A few plants can deal with the toxin, but tomatoes aren't one of them. Phlox, goldenrod, violets and wild bergamot are some that can.

I don't know if this will be helpful or not. I have been having the same experience with two of my Mortgage Lifter tomatoes. One wilted completely in the sun and the other had some wilted branches. By dusk they both had recovered.
They are planted next to a south facing garage so I think the reflected heat is a factor. Also we have had 4 inches of rain each week for weeks, and the rains finally stopped and the sun has come out strong.

I had this problem last year i.e. wilting during the day and reviving overnight. It turned out that something had chewed all around the base of the stem where it meets the ground! Cutworms with weak teeth? (LOL) I never found out.

I suspected some kind of rot, so pulled a plant and discovered that the roots were absolutely fine.

I piled soil up around the base of two of the affected plants and they put out more roots and were saved.

up till two weeks ago my plants were big and strong. the leaves have all started to wilt. i know it not a gopher as i have never seen one in my nighborhood. i water every day and feed every other day.

Good info about shade tolerance of tomatoes.
In my garden I get about 4-5 hrs of direct sun. Last year it was ok. The problem was long extended rainy cool spring weather. I consider 5- 6 hrs quite adequate for tomatoes in warm climates like south and central Florida. In bright day, the plants also use the indirect light for their need, though it is of low intensity.Shade is not a TOTAL DARKNESS.

AltoPaul -

can you tell me how the experiment end up working for you? I'm interested in this as I would try it next year.

I always noticed that some gardens with some shade tend to grow really nice dark green - leaved plants. Sometimes, here in Charlotte, NC, it just seems that the bright, hot sun is just too much for them to take and they get tired and yellowed - out.

In my first year of growing tomatoes, I planted some very healthy seedlings.

No mulch, no fungicide.

In ONE WEEK I lost all the plants.

They simply... wilted.

Then I start reading.

Now I know better.

Daniel_nyc, what did you learn?