Tomatoes killed by heavy rain

[PigletJohn]

I have tomato plants growing at the back of a flower bed against a sunny wall. They are bush plants of a beefsteak variety, usually Marmande or similar.

We recently had a cool spell and heavy rain, and they seem to have been killed. I had something similar couple of years back when I watered the bed with a hose, so now I keep it off the foliage.

I don't believe the roots were drowned because the bed is thickly mulched and rich in humus.

Is this common? I have not seen it mentioned on sites such as RHS.

We had a short sharp frost one night last week, and if you had one too, that would have caused it, not the wet weather.

They will probably come back next year if is a mild winter. However if left in the ground they take so long to get going you don't get tomatoes.

I have some tomatoes slowly taking over an unused bed and they all collapsed for the winter in the last week.

I have dahlias and begonias in the same bed, no signs of frost damage.

South coast location.

No frost where I am, other tender plants are happy but the tomatoes have clearly decided this year is over.

It sounds like blight.
Tomatoes (and potatoes) can get this .It's a fungal thing spread by spores. The spores are present pretty much all the time, but need to be damp and at the correct temperature and when they are, the plant canbe killed quickly.

Pull up the plants and dispose of - dont compost them as that will keep the spores in your garden.
You can help prevent blight by keeping the leaves and stems dry, mulch round the plants to stop soil splashing them. Take off the lower leaves and any others that look affected (again don't compost them)

www.thespruce.com/early-blight-on-tomato-plants-1402973

Also came to suggest blight - do you have a photo? I've never heard of anyone overwintering tomatoes before!

This time of year? Be careful the bugs will be bedding in. If green, they won't ripen now but are great in chutneys.

My green tomatoes have ripened with bananas in the bowl. We've had loads turn red.

Sounds like blight. Nothing you can do once it sets in.

Thanks. Late blight does look likely. I will take some pics if it's not raining.

It's wayyyyy too late for tomatoes. Dahlias are completely different they're in their season. Each plant has its own time of year. Tomatoes are a summer crop

Thanks for the blight link , lost all my tomatoes this year. Need to find out how to get rid of it?

Apart from good hygiene and ventilation, one thing you can do to protect against blight is to spray the plants regularly with a soluble aspirin solution. It strengthens their immune system so they can resist it better.

AFAIK there is no cure for blight so the only options are keeping the plants indoors where the spores can't get them, or growing blight resistant varieties. I used to like Ferline but I now prefer Crimson Crush, they have an excellent flavour unlike the first blight resistant varieties. They still get blight eventually but I picked my last useable outdoor tomato only yesterday, which isn't bad going.

I grow my tomatoes in pots that stand in tubs of water so they’re wet all the time, in Jersey I have seen them growing only in water/nutrients so you really can’t overwater them. Far more likely to be blight.

I looked at them today, and they have rotted to nothing, there are a few yellow stalks remaining, and some green mush of seeds where the fruits have rotted away on the ground. No sign of leaves or small stems.