How to Save Wilted Tomato Plants
Tomato plants that are perfectly healthy one day yet are wilted and yellowing the next are the bane of many a confused gardener. Wilting can be caused by a variety of different factors such as disease, insects, too much heat or inadequate nutrition. If you notice your tomato plant wilting you must take steps to immediately diagnose the problem. This will help you save the wilted plant and, if that is not a possibility, protect other tomato plants from suffering a similar fate. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Check the area around your yard and your tomato plants for a walnut tree. The roots of walnut trees release a substance into the soil known as juglone. Juglone will cause tomato plants to suffer from "walnut wilt". Moving the tomato plants a good distance away from the walnut tree should remedy the problem.
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Water your tomato plants deeply. You should not worry about root rot with tomatoes. Tomatoes use up the available moisture in the soil too quickly for their roots to suffer. A tomato plant that is not given enough water can wilt within hours. Provide the plant with the appropriate amount of water and it will perk back up quickly.
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Check the ground around your wilted plants for ants. Ants can do considerable damage to the root stalks of tomatoes simply by nesting in the area. Damaged stalks prevent the leaves and fruit of the plants from absorbing the necessary nutrients and will result in wilting. Take measures to get rid of any insect infestations and the plants should gradually recover.
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Evaluate the wilt patterns your tomatoes are demonstrating. Wilting on just one side of the plant may indicate Fusarium wilt. Fusarium is a type of fungus that infects the soil and is then absorbed by the plants. Fusarium is more common in cooler climates and there are currently no preventative measures gardeners can take to kill Fusarium in the soil. If you believe your plants are suffering from Fusarium wilt, immediately remove them from the ground and repot them in containers that do not contain any of your area's native soil.
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Consider whether you have recently transplanted or moved your tomato plants. Plants that have recently been moved will take time to grow adjusted to the soil of their new home. During this time period, they may yellow or appear wilted. This is normal and should disappear with a day or two.
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Tips & Warnings
Avoid planting tomatoes in areas that have demonstrated fungal issues in the past. These problems may or may not rectify themselves in time.
Consider planting tomatoes in pots or hanging containers. This will make tomato plants less susceptible to insect damage of the stalk.
You can purchase varieties of tomato, such as the Roma tomato, that are resistant to some common forms of disease that cause wilting and result in the death of the plant.
