Here is another pic of the actual plant.

Given the excessively wet weather in much of the country this year I'm finding bacterial wilt to be the dominant problem rather than the other wilts. Has f. wilt been a problem in your soil in the past or were these seeds from a source where they might have been contaminated seed?

Dave

How is this going to work for next year? If plants are getting bacterial wilt caused by excessive rain, will it remain in the soil to contaminate our plants next year?

Linda

<Should I just pull the plant? I'd rather lose this plant than chance it spreading.>

IF it is b. wilt then it doesn't "spread" but it can contaminate the soil. So before you do anything you fist have to determine if it is b. wilt. The symptoms and the test for diagnosing it is detailed in many places on the web if you just Google Bacterial Wilt. Then you can decide what to do.

As for carryover in the soil for next year, that depends in part on where you live and your weather. In the northern zones where there are hard ground freezes and ice, generally it (Ralstonia Solanacearum ) won't survive. And if you practice good fall garden hygiene and if you regularly amend your soil with lots of quality compost the beneficial bacteria in it will take care of the pathogens just as it does with other soil borne pathogens. Lastly, while the bacteria often exists in any soil it only becomes an issue when given the ideal weather conditions of lots of spring rain, constantly wet soil, and early unusual warm temps.

Dave

Hey gigielle - I went through the exact same thing over the last week with two of my heirloom plants. See: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3166041/paul-robeson-uppermost-foliage-wilted-but-not-discolored

Try
putting a cut piece of lower stem in a glass of water for 5 min - you
can Google up pictures easily to understand what you'd see if there was
bacterial wilt. In my case it was NOT, though I was 99% convinced that it
was. I'm thinking that the sharp increase in heat/humidity, followed by
all of these soaking rains, just rotted out the plant from the bottom. Been rough on some of my flower bed plants too. Just my two cents!

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I wound up pulling the plant - well, actually my husband did. His reasoning was to just try and nip whatever it is in the bud since we have plenty of other plants (including a second of this variety). At least this way I would stop worrying about it because it is gone. I did dip the stem in water and did not see the whitish secretion. However I am not sure I did it right as I may not have left it in the water long enough. In any event, it is gone and I will keep an eye on the rest of the plants.