Withering tomatoes

Question: My tomatoes were looking great until last week.  I noticed one of them was shriveling up and pretty much dead 2 or 3 days later. Now a lot more are starting to shrivel. This started before we received 10 inches of rain last week.  I am concerned it's a blight although there are healthy tomatoes still standing.  I am worried they will get it too. Or could they possibly have been een sprayed? I will attach a picture of one that is just starting to wilt and a picture of the first one. Thanks so much for your help!

responder: An Ask Extension Expert Replied June 25, 2024, 10:27 AM EDT
response: Hi Lori, With the wet weather, blight is certainly possible.  Both early and late blight can occur early in the season, and in wet, humid weather blight can quickly kill plants, but late blight is less common. They have slightly different symptoms, but the treatment is the same.   Remove all affected leaves and discard them in the trash. Prune or trellis the tomatoes to increase air flow. Mulch the area under/around each plant with straw to prevent spores from splashing up onto the stem and leaves. Plants can be treated with a fungicide early on in the disease, but it may not be effective after the disease has progressed. However, if caught early and affected material is removed, fungicide is often not needed in home gardens. (If you do opt for a fungicide make sure to use one that is labeled for tomatoes and always follow the label directions.)  Rotate your tomato plants next year, and do not plant in the same location for at least 2 years. I've linked two articles that provide additional information. https://extension.umn.edu/disease-management/early-blight-tomato-and-potato https://extension.sdstate.edu/wet-weather-leads-tomato-problems Herbicide damage will usually cause leaves to curl, become deformed, and be thick and leathery. In addition to some signs of disease, if you till your garden, it's possible that all of the rain has compacted and water logged the soil,  so the roots aren't getting enough oxygen and eventually rotting.  This could be why many of the plants are wilting without showing too many signs of disease yet.   Good luck, and hopefully things will start to dry out!   Sincerely, Robin

responder: The Question Asker Replied June 25, 2024, 1:37 PM EDT
response: Thank you for your advice.  Some of the plants actually look a little better today which was a nice surprise.  I think I will pick up a fungicide though and treat them just in case.  The first plant started looking bad before the rain and it's pretty much dead but maybe the others were just affected by all the moisture since they didn't start looking bad until then.  I'm going to pull the bad plant and treat the others.  Thank you for getting back to me so quickly! Lori   From: ask=<personal data hidden> <ask=<personal data hidden>> on behalf of Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 9:27 AM To: Lori Jorgensen <<personal data hidden>> Subject: Re: Withering tomatoes (#0144466)

responder: An Ask Extension Expert Replied June 25, 2024, 4:19 PM EDT
response: I'm glad they're looking better! Good luck with the treatment.  Hopefully we won't get any more rain for a little while.   Robin