650 grams
1 lb 7 oz
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Iāve never seen this before! Has anyone else?
I recognize the adventitious roots, which Ive seen as a symptom before, and the dried and somewhat darkened leaves, but rarely the wilting at the top of some stems, and never the browning and hollowing of the stems. Iām wondering if what looks like black mold is secondary.
Iāve never seen this, and Iāve never grown this Uhlru Ochre Dwarf Tomato Project
tomato before. There are green tomatoes on the plant, but Iāve only harvested one, and that one rotted almost as soon as it ripened.
I will reach out to our local master gardeners. They are pretty amazing. 
Or @bogman ā¦if you drop by ā¦
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Yes, you can. Cuttings are faster; but, why not? Let the berries mature to a dark, almost black color. Your picture has a couple ripe ones ready to pick. Donāt let the berries dry out, or germination will be reduced. Squeeze the seed(s) out of the berries, as the fruits of plants usually have germination inhibitors. The berries contain one or two seeds. Iād soak the seeds for 4-6 hours in water at about body temperature. (It can cool gradually.) This will help remove any germination inhibitors. Drain and plant. Again, donāt let them dry out.
Sow the seed in rich, high organic soil with good drainage. Cover the seed about two times the seedās thickness with soil. Keep them very warm and moist.
FYI: Rabbits love curry leaf! I had two plants decapitated one year, by a wild rabbit.
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Thatās a good guess. It looks like sooty mold, which is normally a detritus feeder. If there was not an insect borer, the next likely culprit is fungus. I canāt quite tell from the images; do the brown/spotted leaves have zones, like circles of different shades? If so, Late Blight could be the pathogen. It usually starts on foliage, moving into stems before (usually) killing the plant. Itās the #1 killer of tomatoes in the southeastern USA. The spores blow for many miles on the wind.
Another bad actor is Stem Rot, Didymella lycopersici. The last part of the name refers to the genus of tomato, Lycopersicon (now synonymous with Solanum). Bacterial soft rot is another possibility. Thatās usually evidenced by some slimy stuff, often dark, in and outside the plant in fresh lesions. Many plants give off a foul odor. This bacteria, an Erwinia, usually enters through wounds, but can enter plants if the foliage and/or stems are wet for long periods. It favors hot weather.
Iād get the plant in a tight trash bag to isolate spores. The soil needs to be pitched or buried deeply and the pot sterilized with a 10% bleach + a little dish soap spray, in a bleach-safe area. Wear rubber gloves and safety goggles. In 10 minutes, the bleach should destroy any spores.
If the stem area was exposed to extreme sun or heat, it could kill the stem and the interior will decay, first from enzymes, then decomposers.
No circular patches, no spots, nothing moist , let alone slimy or wet.
Might be wishful thinking, but that might fit! As much as I know a fungal disease would be an obvious answer, I wonder if they are no match for this hot, dry climate.
It is about 108 f right now, and that plant is front and center facing afternoon sun, so while I havenāt seen it before, I can imagine it killing a stem.
Iād get the plant in a tight trash bag to isolate spores. The soil needs to be pitched or buried deeply and the pot sterilized with a 10% bleach + a little dish soap spray, in a bleach-safe area. Wear rubber gloves and safety goggles. In 10 minutes, the bleach should destroy any spores.
I know I should.
I sure donāt want to see all the plants wiped out.
So far I removed most (but not all 
) of the plant in question. I put it in our city yard waste bin, which now also accepts meat and bones. Can spores survive that kind of composting?
My dad used to say āa hard head makes a soft behindā.
ETA The brownish stem is on the side away from the afternoon sun. Iām pulling it.
OK. Wiping the spittle off of my computer screen. I love your Dad! And Iām not talkinā about gardening hereā¦
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Garden update:
- Tomatoes drowning.
Three days ago, I forgot that my drip hose was on for like 6 hrs. Then the following two days, it rained. So this morning, I pulled at least a dozen split-open Black Cherries off the plant and had to throw them away.
Yesterday I probably trimmed away 15% of the total Black Cherry plant volume (all from the overexited top third of the bush) because I realized it was choking out the adjacent Purple Cherokee, a plant that grows much more slowly and reservedly even under ideal conditions. So I couldnāt realistically fret about wasted split fruit, because I already have an absolute unstoppable beast on my hands. There will be moreā¦like, six weeks of being pummeled by tomatoes more.
The Purple Cherokee is still working on ripening its second bunch of enormous tomatoes. The more ripe they are, the more they are threatening splitting, so yesterday I cut the most ripe one off and stowed it in the fridge. No other solution. I hate refrigerating tomatoes, but I hate wasting them more.
- Ancho pepper plant leaning.
This morning I found my Ancho plant listing rakishly against the garden border. I had to tie it up. I forget every year that pepper plants are skinny and weak.
- Celery is whoa.
Not sure when Iāll know itās time to harvest it, but it sure is growing vigorously. And all of it will be ready at the same time, which will be interesting.
- Lemon verbena finally feeling its oats.
My LV was a little sluggish this year, but it appears to have found its footing.
- Shishito and bell peppers are fine.
I only bought one shishito this year after many years of always having two. Iām the only one who eats them though so I finally talked myself out of doubling up.
- Radicchio experiment was a bust.
I grew some in the garden proper, which a critter ate when the heads were fully developed (bastard!) and some in a container on the deck. None of it was very tasty, neither raw nor cooked. Wonāt grow that again.
- Lettuce is done until it cools down, then Iāll plant some more in my deck containers where nothing bothers it.
Now if youāll excuse me, all this talk of vegetables has made me hungry for ice cream. Iām churning a new recipe as we speak.
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Thank you for sharing! Please share a picture of your celery when you can. I donāt think I have ever seen celery in a garden.
I am trying two new Ancho varieties this year; Bastan and Sargento in addition to Baron. Do you know what variety you are growing?
I just did a quick lookup of Didymella lycopersici, the stem rot fungus, to get more details. The spores are black. So; itās likely not sooty mold; itās most likely Didymella. The bumps on the stem look like cankers, which often appear with the disease.
Iāve seen several plants, even dogwood trees, have their stems/trunks damaged severely from usually afternoon sun. On an estate, I painted the trunks of 75 dogwood trees, newly planted, to help prevent sun scald. Since your damage is/was appearing on the shadier side, thatās the preferred spot for fungi.
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Thank you!
Weāre going to need a bigger boatā¦
@mig , are you missing your chonkmeister groundhog.?
And my pepper plants were getting jaunty too!
Iām trying to un-rakish them with chairs.
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Oh no!!!
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Black cherries right off the vine and into my recipe. I canāt bring myself to eat any other cherry toms.
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Those look amazing! What is the recipe? Did I miss it?
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Really impressed with those onions. I just purchased a bag, but would much rather have some of yours, they are pretty onions!!
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Thank you! They are a pet project of DH. The red ones will hold up only a few months, so we target those first. The yellow globe onions and shallots (doesnāt look like those are shown), will hold up until early next year if handled properly.
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What do you do with them next? Do they need a certain situation for drying?
That partially-eaten tomato looks like raccoons got to it! For many years, raccoons didnāt bother tomatoes; but, now they, and opossums, go after them. Both mammals have had a population explosion out here, which has devastated all ground-nesting birds. Overpopulation may be nudging these pests to eat foods they ignored in the past.
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Onions need to be cured out in the open air for a couple of weeks before storing. The following is from Gardeners Supply:
Curing onions is a super simple process, and the most important thing to remember is: youāre trying to dry them out, so make sure your onions have plenty of space for air to circulate, and turn the onions every few days to make sure they dry evenly. Ideal conditions for curing onions are warm (75-80 degrees F), dry, breezy, and out of the sun. Spread the onions out in a single layer, taking care not to bump or bruise them.
As the onions are curing, their necks will gradually wither and the papery skins will tighten around the bulbs. Once the necks are completely tight and dry, and the stems contain no moisture, you can use scissors to trim the roots off the bottom of each bulb. The leaves can also be trimmed to within 1ā³ of the bulb. Cull any onions that still have green necks, or have bruised or damaged bulbs.
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