Sudden death forn tomatoes

What could turn a green, healthy-looking tomato plant into a dead one in a matter of days? when I say "days," I'm talking about two or three days max, and when I say, "dead" I mean brown, dry, and easily crumbled. My nurseryman says "Tomato Blight". Is that possible? I might add that lack of water cannot be the problem.

I should have mentioned that this has now happened to eight of the nine plants that I was growing in a raised bed. although not all at the same time.Two of the plants have always done better than then others, but I had thought that that was because of a difference in the sun they received, but I just noticed that the ninth plant (the sole survivor) is now half-dead.

Finally, since I live in San Diego, I can grow tomatoes year round, and I bought replacement plants yesterday. These are modern varieties, while the others were mostly heirloom varieties. Anyway, I don't want to lose these, too. Any ideas? Oh, yeah, I don't have any gophers.

It certainly sounds like "blight" - either early or late. Not sure which but it can happen very quickly. I would not recommend replanting the new ones in the same soil as the old ones. Here in PA the cold winter kills the late blight spores but not the early blight. Someone more experienced will have to advise you but I would probably replace the soil if you were growing them in containers or plant the new ones somewhere else. Sorry to hear you had to go through this. I know how devastating it is - we have experienced that here as well in past years.

herbicide
severe root-damage under a blazing sun

I suspect it's some kind of blight, especially with all the rain we've been having this summer.

I don't think San Diego has gotten a lot of rain. It sounds like Spider Mites to me, or at least a possibility. Do you see any webbing? When they hit, they hit fast and they can kill a plant.

I know nothing about spider mites as we fortunately do not seem to have a problem in this area with them. But from what I have been reading it doesn't sound like the plants suddenly turn brown and die the way my neighbors and I have experienced with blight. Here is a link about them and tomatoes which may help.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/insects/mites/spider-mites-outdoors.aspx

Whatever the cause it is certainly heartbreaking!!

gardadore - thanks for the link. The photos were very useful for identifying an infestation of spider mites.

Glad they helped. I often refer to the missouribotanical garden website for useful information even though they are in a different zone.