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Verticillium or fulsarium wilt

 
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Hi team
I just removed a tomato plant with early signs of wilt. Space is a premium in my garden. I’d rather not leave an empty space. Is there a food plant or plant family that doesn’t get wilt that I could plant to rehabilitate the space? Thanks Max
 
gardener
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Hi Max,
Wilt as you know is caused by fungi.  To minimise the risk, you need to minimise the risk of water splash.  One method is to plant sweet potato and inter-plant with tomatoes once there is adequate leaf cover.  Heritage tomatoes suffer the worst but newer hybrids tend to have some resistance.  
This is a good Aussie site for information and high quality seed:  https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/blog/our-blog/16-common-tomato-growing-problems-and-how-to-solve/
Straw  and grass mulches tend to foster fungal growth where as a live mulch tends to manage to ward off a lot of diseases.  The other thing for tomatoes is to water before midday and only below the first set of leaves.  Keep tomatoes staked and the leaves well above the ground so that the air can circulate freely.
Good luck with your garden
 
gardener
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I second the tip on keeping the leaves up high off the ground. I always trim the bottom foot or so of leaves so there are none touching the ground, less surface area to get water splashed onto, and to increase the air flow at the bottom.
 
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Location: Western Colorado, Zone 5b-ish
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Depending on the pathogen you are facing, the previous advice may be spot on. But, if you have a soil-borne pathogen like Verticillium infecting the roots and stems, then replacing the tomato plant may be the best option. Verticillium comes in species and within-species categories called vegetative compatibility groups. These are often rather host-specific at the level of plant family or thereabouts. Fusarium also has many species and plant-specific types. So, depending on what you've grown in that spot in previous years, you might be OK with almost any unrelated plant family. Maybe beans, chard, or some big crucifer?

Tests exist in many diagnostic labs to determine the pathogen species involved and even to determine its host plant affiliations. Those cost money of course, and may take weeks to get results, but it might be worth it for planning future years' gardens.

On the other hand, some wilts are caused by non-specific bacteria. But, bacterial wilts are often slimy and icky, looking very different from fungal wilts.
 
Max Farmer
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Thank you everyone for your excellent advice. What is annoying is this is a new raised bed garden built up with soil from the local garden centre. They had 3 soil blends and I bought a mix of all three. And the plant was bought at a hardware store. It has taught me that purchased soil is not always safe. I suspect it was mined soil bereft of good biology so I added good amounts of manure and mulched with sugar cane mulch. I hope the other tomatoes in the bed stay safe. The bed also has chilli, basil, thyme, beans, yakon, sage, eggplant and peanuts. If they survive I’ll rest it with cabbage in winter and sweet potato next year.
 
pollinator
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Hey,

I just want to throw out the idea of Brassicas, and the bacteria that help the health, this is also good for bad fungi and as a rotation crop!

Regards,
Alex

 
Paul Fookes
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Max,
If you are buying stuff like garden soil, watch out for not only pathogens but persistent herbicides, helmenthocides from contaminated horse poo and other chemicals.
Best to build your own soil from compost, wood chips from a known source and sterilised potting mix.  Plants AKA veggies only use the top 150 mm so you can use Hegel type building to build up the fertility you need.
 
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