How to Control Tomato Wilt
- 1). Cut away a piece of the plant's bark near the soil line. If the inside of the plant is brown instead of green, then it could have either Fusarium or Verticillium wilt. Pull out the infected plants and treat the soil with soil fumigant.
- 2). Check the stem for cankers and brownish-blackish discoloration. If these symptoms are present, then the plant has southern blight. Remove the infected plants and spread future crops out farther apart for better airflow. Deep-till the soil after all the tomato plants are removed to prevent a buildup of the bacteria.
- 3). Time how long the plants take to die. If your plants are wilting and dying without any prior yellowing or leaf drop, then the plants have bacterial wilt. To be sure, cut a piece of the stem and place it in a cup of water. If it emits a white ooze, it has bacterial wilt. Remove the entire plant, including its roots and treat the soil with soil solarization.
- 4). Study the fruit and stems of the tomato plants. If you see any bird's eye spots -- which are dark spots surrounded by a white halo -- then the plants have bacterial canker. Remove all plants with the symptoms and spray down the entire soil area with a mixture of copper and mancozeb.
- 5). Pull up the roots and check for round knots. If you see any, the plants have root-knot nematodes. Pull out the tomato plants and replace them with nematode-resistant varieties. You can also solar treat the soil to kill off any existing nematodes.