re: Garden Updates

Are you sure it was a fungus? Tomatoes can have very hairy looking structures at the base of the plant. The finer ones are called trichomes. But a tomato plant will also grow roots out of the main stem. That's why you can bury them really deep and they will grow roots where the main stem is contacting soil.

As to why they died, was someone watering the plants while you were on vacation? Once it gets really hot, I've noticed plants on the end of a row will die easily if not well watered. Those plants don't have the benefit of getting shade from adjacent plants and will succumb more easily than plants in the middle of a row. The plant will also put out extra roots at the soil to air interface to try and take advantage of the morning dew that collects there. Pics would help.