Any fertilizer as yet? If not, add it and water in well.

Hi Jean,
Yes, they have been fertilized. I took the recommended amount of organic cottonseed meal and mixed half in with the top soil before spreading it and then spread the second half after planting. It's been watered in well but my instinct is the same as yours, for whatever reason nutrients aren't getting to the plants. I don't see any rhyme or reason to why it is these particular plants but I'll give them another week or so and see if they perk up. Any idea what might be blocking the nutrients at the root end to lead to paling (it's not yellowing)?

Are you saying that not all of your tomato plants show the whitish areas on the foliage,just some?.

If it were all and you garden near the coast, then I'd suggest it's the June Glooms along coastal CA starting in late March.

And to me that means one of the two Powdery Mildew fungal diseases.

Carolyn

I'm living in New Orleans and only 4 of the 12 plants are showing this. I've dealt with powdery mildew before and this is not the same.

Cottonseed meal is a good Nitrogen source (as protein) but the plants need the Nitrate form of Nitrogen. I would suggest you wait a while for soil microbes to break-down the protein unless you are willing to use a standard fertilizer source for faster response. In the meantime the plants appear to be holding in there.