Diseases of tomato (
Verticillium wilt
Verticillium wilt of tomato is caused by the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae. Typical symptoms on tomato are yellowing of leaves, wilt and leaf drop. Cut stems show a characteristic discoloration along the xylem.
Like Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt is very uncommon on tomato in Arizona and is often misdiagnosed. The most common cause of wilting of garden tomatoes in Arizona is tomato russet mite. Verticillium wilt can be distinguished from russet mite damage since Verticillium wilt causes plants to wilt from the top down or branch by branch and exhibits xylem discoloration while mites cause tomatoes to yellow and wilt from the bottom up and there is no xylem discoloration. Russet mite can be controlled with applications of sulfur.
Link for more informations:
http://vric.ucdavis.edu/veginfo/commodity/tomato/Verticillium-tomato.pdf
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/tomatoes.html http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/tomwilt.htm
Comparison with tomato russet mite:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r783400111.html
http://cals.arizona.edu/urbanipm/mites/tomatorussetmites.html
January 8, 2007