Some varieties have a wilt gene, which makes them act that way, it also may have something to do with rapid, soft overnight/early morning growth. A lot of mine wilt (the tops) as soon as the sun comes out in the morning. I don't worry about it, and I have deeply worked soil so I only water my tomatoes under drought conditions (maybe once a summer).

Some varieties have a wilt gene, which makes them act that way, it also may have something to do with rapid, soft overnight/early morning growth. A lot of mine wilt (the tops) as soon as the sun comes out in the morning. I don't worry about it, and I have deeply worked soil so I only water my tomatoes under drought conditions (maybe once a summer).

****

Actually the wilt gene is something quite different. I think it was Chuck Wyatt years ago who posted at his website that varieties with the wilt gene can show normal wilting.

If a variety has the wilt gene it means that if wilted it can recover from normal non-diseased related wilting faster than those varieties that don't have it. Meaining, it's a physiological issue in terms of water transport within the plant. Not all plants are the same in that regard.

I can have tomatoes under water in a field and at first they wilt, then the leaves turn yellow, then brown and die. But not all varieties react the same, that is, some will live and some will die quickly.

I spent some time searching for a link right now, but wasn't lucky enought to find the one I wanted. And no doubt it's in my faves somewhere but you don't want to know how long my faves list is, honestly you don't. LOL

(Of my four tomato varieties, all seem well except the two Beefsteak's I have planted. The only sign of something wrong is they always look wilted; droopy leaves and branches.)

Some varieties just normally have such droopy wilty looking foliage but quite honestly, it's usually the heart shaped varieties that do so.

Moles and voles can burrow and disturb roots and that can cause unexplained wilting as well, as distinguihed from any disease.

And spiced ham has given you some other ideas as well.

There are some wilt diseases that don't cause any obvious symptoms when they start, such as Verticillium where initial wilting is just with green leaves so you might want to check out that one as well. Same with Bacterial Wilt.

Below I've linked to a diagnosis site from cornell and here's another good one you might try first:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/

What are the two beefsteak varieties that are wilting and what are the other ones that aren't?

Are they all in the same area and all treated the same?

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell diagnosis site

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to answer in such detail and doing research! Where else could you get such great help?

The Beefsteak are labeled only as "Tomato Beefsteak" from Sean Conway Seeds. The others are Burpee's Sweet 100 Cherry, Yellow Pear and Rutger's.

Checked the link, but couldn't come to any firm conclusions. Like I said, after weeks of careful inspection the only thing I see is the wilting, droopy appearance. Go figuire?

I think I like the idea of the "wilt gene". Not much I can do about that except gene therapy replacing the DNA via a virus. Like many others, after what you spend for a single home grown tomato, what's a few $100,000 more! :)

aztomn, there's a late 19th century variety named simply Beefsteak. It's also known as Red Ponderosa, Scarlet Beefsteak, and maybe Crimson Cushion (opinions differ).

http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/vegetable/tomato/tomato.html

Carolyn137 I believe you have just solved my tomatoe wilting dilema! I have (now figure about 650) tomatoe plants. A wilting problem started in my hoophouse, then in the field. No sign of disease. Looked at several factors that could have been the problem, including variety, sprinkler damage, walnut root,enviormental damage, etc. Could not come up with a common factor, then started to think maybe a few different things were going on. A plant would start to wilt, then one or two in a different row, several feet down, etc. Plants right next were fine & healthy. Viola! I read the above post regarding mole/vole damage and I went, bingo! I think that is it. Makes sense if you follow the damage, could very well be a mole tunnel, hence the erratic damage. I have seen mole holes and we'll check for tunnels under the damaged plants. If this is it at least I can take some sort of action as I was hesitant to do anything until I figured out the problem. Thanks.