Q: We garden in raised beds. This year, we had to pull all of our tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans because of wilt. Our local Pike’s identified it as Verticillium Wilt and recommended solarizing the beds to kill the wilt. We began that in late May, and it hasn’t seemed to help- we have grass and plants growing up underneath the plastic that is stapled and weighted down by soil around the edges of the beds. What else can we do? Is there any chemical method or product to get rid of the wilt? The wilt is a visible presence throughout the neighborhood. Am I just doomed?

A: I’m not so sure it is verticillum wilt…in my experience this disease is not very common. What IS common is early blight. It can be controlled by
spraying with a fungicide containing chlorthalonil. I’d try the fungicide route next year rather than
sterilizing the soil.

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