I have been hoarding all of our medical supplies because I’m a prepper... and, well, COVID. I’ve yet to see cleaners/sanitizers return to our local stores, so you better be dying before I pull out what we have! OK, I exaggerate a little bit, but I definitely did not want to use my rubbing alcohol in the garden. Unfortunately, when you’re dealing with something like, “tomato pith necrosis”, you definitely want to make sure you clean and sanitize your hands and any tools you may have used in treating the plant. One of my yellow pear tomatoes had all the hallmarks of this bacteria: brown, necrotic stem lesions up and down the stem and the appearance of adventitious roots erupting from the main stems. According to Clemson U, “Tomato pith necrosis is usually an early season disease that occurs in greenhouse and high tunnel tomato production. However, during cool and rainy spring weather, tomato pith necrosis may infect tomatoes and occasionally peppers in home vegetable gardens. Pith necrosis is caused by multiple species of soil-borne Pseudomonas bacteria, including Pseudomonas corrugata, as well as Pectobacterium carotovorum. These bacteria are considered weak pathogens that infect rapidly growing tomato plants during cloudy, cool, and moist environmental conditions.” Blah. Blah. Blah. We’ve had a cool, wet spring, so I really wasn’t surprised to see something like this. It’s just so disappointing - even though I heavily pruned the bad leaves and stems (tossing them in the garbage and NOT the compost) we still ended up pulling this plant and trashing it. Since this bacteria for can remain in the soil for a year or more, we will not be replacing the plant with another tomato. I may try some herbs or bush beans. #gardenfail #tomatopithnecrosis #soilbornepathogen #necrotic #fromseedtotrash #pnwgarden #rubbingalcohol https://www.instagram.com/p/CDML4YuARaB/?igshid=mbxiu6xxk1ul
