Tomorite

[kardav]

All my tomatoes and cucumbers, in fact most everything in my greenhouse has wilted and died, the only thing I can think of this I used some Tomorite which may have been a couple of years old. Anyone ever experienced this. I tipped the rest of the bottle, undiluted, at the top of the garden and now my glorious weeping willow has turned yellow and brown and looks like it is dying too.
HELP PLEASE

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, welcome! Can you post some photo's of your tomato and cucumber plants and also the weeping willow tree please?

[Matt_B]

Maybe it was not what you expected in the tomorite bottle

When we moved into our house, in the shed was some type of tomato feed that had obviously been there for years unused ( the greenhouse had not grown anything for years either)

Wether it fed the plants is another thing, but it certainly didnt kill anything

[kardav]

was definitely tomorite can't understand why everything is dying it is awful

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, we are assuming that the cause of this problem was the bottle of Tomorite. But it is quite possible that the plants in your greenhouse going yellow and dying and your weeping willow tree turning yellow are completely unrelated - two entirely separate pests, diseases or deficiency. Just a pure coincidence that Tomorite was used on both. I have searched the web for hours trying to find another incident where Tomorite killed plants and there is absolutely nothing at all.

So, are you able to post photo's of the plants in your greenhouse and also your weeping willow tree? If not can you describe what the leaves looked like when this started and what they look like now please?

[kardav]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Hi Kardav, welcome! Can you post some photo's of your tomato and cucumber plants and also the weeping willow tree please?

Hi I am trying to attach some pics, hope it works, we attacked the poor tree yesterday and removed as much of the dead as we could so the photo is not much help.
Would welcome any comments

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, the first thing I would do is to ask all your neighbours if they have been using weedkiller as this will travel on the breeze to your garden.

[kardav]

ok will do but the damage to the tree is huge I would be surprised if weedkiller caused it and ironically the worst damage is on our side of the tree. This is embarrassing my husband just told me it was not branded Tomorite but a B&Q one When we peeled the bark off the branches we removed there was red underneath.

[kardav]

One other thing, the damage to the plants in the greenhouse occurred within two hours of them being watered with the "feed", up until then they had been healthy, but we had previously lost three other lots of toms and cucumbers before we realised what was doing the damage

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, I think your weeping willow tree has the disease Anthracnose or Canker. It causes yellowing leaves which drop and twig die back with the stems eventually becoming twisted. It's a fungal infection and the diseased stems should be cut out then burnt along with the diseased leaves. Fungicide applied in April - May will help control it. The amount of info available on the web is very, very limited. An American contributer said there was a reddy brown ring in the branch. Does that sound like the red on yours?

[kardav]

Hi Lesley
Thanks for your informative reply, sadly that sounds exactly like our problem, do you think we will lose the tree, it would be awful if we did it is over 30 years old !

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, as I said the info available on the web is very limited but the American contributor was told by his local nursery to cut the tree back until the branch was green wood rather than reddy brown and then seal the cut branches. I have managed to find a small mention in the UK of painting the cut stems with a tree sealant such as Arbrex. The tree in America is now growing new branches - so your weeping willow should recover!

[kardav]

Hi Lesley
Thank you so much we will try to salvage what we can, your advice has been most helpful and I really appreciate the time you have obviously spent on this. What did you think in the end about the toms and cucumbers, do you think it could have been what we put on them, or also some disease ?

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, you said that almost everything in the greenhouse was wilting and dying. Did you water everything with the "feed" and were the plants that you lost earlier showing the same symptoms? It does look like weedkiller damage. The leaves are cupped and some are twisted, the growing tip is curled and twisted - did you ask your neighbours if they have used any and are you storing a bottle in the greenhouse?

[realfood]

It looks rather like weedkiller damage. "Gardening which" reported last year that they had found that B&Q organic tomato feed was contaminated with the weedkiller Clopiralid, and had to be withdrawn.
This problem was not widely reported, and I have heard of another person who bought the product last year and got caught out this year when he used it for the first time.

[kardav]

Yes everything was fed with it, as you say looks like contamination. Haven't had chance to ask the neighbours yet but I think they are far enough away from the greenhouse for it not to be an issue. Strange thing is we have used the feed in previous years without any problem oh well no tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines or courgettes for us this year !! Never mind there is always next year.
Thanks everyone for your helpful comments

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, to lose your crops like that is an absolutely awful thing to happen. The problem first emerged in 2008 with manure contaminated with Aminopyralid weed killer but two years later and alot of campaigning to get it totally banned, we still have this dreadful contamination from both Aminopyralid and Clopyralid. Garden Organic are asking everyone whose crops have been affected to fill out this quick questionnaire (there's only five questions).

Aminopyralid and Clopyralid Contamination Questionnaire

[kardav]

Hi Lesley I have filled in the form, we now believe that although we purchased the feed last year we used it for the first time this season.
Once again thanks for your constructive help, luckily we still have carrots, beans, beets, and other crops only the greenhouse and the tree have suffered.;

[kardav]

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who advised us during our greenhouse crisis followed by the weeping willow catastrophe. Looks like we have saved the tree, it is looking really healthy, we cut out all the yellow bits and so far they have not returned so fingers crossed.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Kardav, that's great news about your weeping willow tree!