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Tomato stem rot?

Womble54Womble54 Posts: 348
in Fruit & veg
Is this tomato stem rot? A few of my tomato plants have come down with this. Is there anything I can do or should I pull them up to stop it spreading?
TIA

Posts

  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    Yes whip them out quick or it will spread @Womble54.☹
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    That's botrytis, a mould which loves warm humid conditions so they may have been infected while under cover, possibly at the point a sideshoot was removed.  Cut the main stem back to disease-free tissue just above a sideshoot and that shoot will then quickly grow into another main stem.  Be careful when cutting,  as the spores rise like dust from the infected parts, and I would clean the secateurs between cuts (diluted bleach is fine.)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    I think the stem was damaged by the short support allowing disease in. Supports need to be taller than the plant, and the ties need to be figure of eight to stop wind rock. Hope this helps.
  • Womble54Womble54 Posts: 348
    Bugger, thought so. Thank you.
    4 out of 12 affected. I’ve got a couple of spares in the greenhouse still. They did take a bit of a beating in the wind soon after I planted them out. Maybe that was it. Fingers crossed the rest won’t be affected. They’re looking pretty healthy.
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