Tomato by Stephie McCarthy

Kill, Destroy, Combat, Prevent, and Fix Verticillium Wilt on Tomatoes

#KillVerticilliumWilt #DestroyVerticilliumWilt #CombatVerticilliumWilt #PreventVerticilliumWilt #FixVerticilliumWilt

by © Stephie McCarthy

It's time to plant our tomatoes on the mountain.

— watch the video here —

watch how to kill Verticillium Wilt

In the past we had a problem with the tomatoes yellowing and dying. It was truly heart breaking, but now our tomato plants stay green and alive, and don't wilt.

#FixVerticilliumWilt

This is what Verticillium wilt looks like on tomato plants. It is common and fatal. BUT ... we've cured it in our own small tomato patch. We don't have room to rotate crops. Preventing wilt fungus is critical to our tomato success.

#DestroyVerticilliumWiltWithBuckwheat

Here's how we fixed the problem of blighted tomatoes: we planted tomatoes directly into patches of buckwheat and experimented with disease-resistant and heirloom varieties as well. You need not do this every year. The benefits of buckwheat last for a few years.

Now we have no more early wilt!

#PreventVerticilliumWilt

Every few years, we use buckwheat as a cover crop because it is easy to remove, beautiful to see, and attracts beneficial insects.

— check the price of buckwheat seeds here —

check the price of buckwheat 8 ounces

#GrowingBuckwheatToPreventWilt

Buckwheat is delicious in pancakes, noodles, and roasted for a savory tea.

We use the non-GMO sprouting variety of buckwheat in the garden.

#CombatVerticilliumWilt

How buckwheat stops verticillium wilt:

In the 1980s, experiments were done on potato patches adding lots of nitrogen and phosphorous.

Verticillium wilt fungus was reduced by 95%! This is why buckwheat is such a great companion plant for tomatoes too. It adds a lot of phosphorous and nitrogen where it grows, naturally.

#StopVerticilliumWiltOnTomatoes

You'll find that buckwheat sprouts quickly.

If it crowds our tomatoes as it grows, it pulls easily and can be left on the ground as a nutritious green mulch.

#KillVerticilliumWilt

Buckwheat also comes in a pink variety from Baker Creek Seeds and from Amazon.

It's a variety developed in Japan called "Takane Ruby."

#PreventVerticilliumWilt

It has beautiful and long lasting flowers, alive or cut.

We bought the Baker Creek Seeds variety.

There is also a variety on Amazon at the following link, for price comparison:

Buy Red Buckwheat Seeds

"Takane" means "high price" in Japanese. The pink buckwheat seeds are much more expensive than classic white.

It's a good idea to combine your buckwheat planting with disease resistant plants ... at least for a few years while you are super-charging your soil with buckwheat-produced phosphorous and nitrogen.

We are able to use less-resistent varieties now, thanks to using buckwheat every few years.

#HowToCureVerticilliumWilt