Question of the Week – Bacterial Wilt

This week, the question was: Why is this row of tomato plants dead, but the next row is perfectly healthy?

The row on the left has succumbed to bacterial wilt. In the row on the right are grafted plants that had bacterial wilt resistance. You can see the night and day difference between the grafted and un-grafted plants. Bacterial wilt is a devastating disease in South Carolina and gets worse each year a susceptible crop is planted in the same field. In many fields, growers have trouble rotating properly due to many factors, such as land availability and infrastructure. In this particular case, the grower had been growing tomatoes in a high tunnel. Keep reading about bacterial wilt here.

This week’s question is from Zack Snipes, Coastal Region Fruit and Vegetable Agent.