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New plants wilting
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Posted by
growneat (
My Page) on
Sun, May 25, 14 at 17:17
| Every year I plant about 50 tomato plants. For the last two years I have had several of these plants wilt within 2 days of their being planted. When I put another plant in the same spot it does okay. What could this be? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: New plants wilting
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| My first thought is whether they are hardened off properly. What is your process for that, and where do you live (general area)? If they haven't been gradually introduced to direct sunlight, they can wilt or fry in the heat. Replacing them with seedlings that have stayed in their pots longer could work because those pots have had more time to get used to outside weather. |
RE: New plants wilting
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| Could be the roots are damaged during transplanting, can't support the top growth. Have you ever left them in to see if they recover? Or do you pull them out 2-3 days after transplanting if they're wilted? |
This post was edited by ajsmama on Sun, May 25, 14 at 20:03
RE: New plants wilting
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| They have been hardened off properly. They had been outside 24/7 for about a week prior to planting. Only 2 of the many plants wilted. I will dig them up tomorrow and look at the roots. I might have damaged them while planting but I don't think so. I will see when I dig them up. More to follow. Thanks. |
RE: New plants wilting
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| Don't dig them up, just give them a little more water than the others, some shade maybe. Can you post some pix? You said this has happened in the past - have you ever waited a few days to a week to see if they recovered? Given them a little extra care? When did you plant the ones this year? |
RE: New plants wilting
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| The only time I have seen tomatoes wilt has been when : 1--- they were dry and thirsty.
2--- after a few days of overcast cool weather a bright sunny day followed. I would water it and give it a few more days to adjust.
JMO |
RE: New plants wilting
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| You were exactly right. It was 94 degrees in the garden today and a few more wilted. Those that had wilted that I put shields in front of came back. It was just way too hot. This is a new problem for me because the weather here has never been this hot this early in the season. |
RE: New plants wilting
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| Here is what I have learned. If you have small plants that have been hardened, they still will not be able to withstand extremely hot weather as their root systems are not well enough developed to sustain the plant. You must shade them and make sure they are moist. Otherwise they will wilt and maybe even die if you do nothing. |
RE: New plants wilting
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| Even plants that have been in the ground a while have a hard time handling 94 degrees. New transplants even more so. Just baby them a bit. Where do you live? I know in TX and places where it gets really hot they grow "spring" and "fall" tomato crops, b/c they won't set fruit when it's 95. Hope it cools down for you soon (and warms up for me - past few nights near 60, but Thurs AM low is predicted for 43!). |
RE: New plants wilting
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I went ahead and planted about 8 monday, (holiday)...unseasonably hot. I have plenty extra to experiment with as most did well from seed to potting to hardening. Those left out still in pots are tall and strong...those in the ground?...we shall see. My main garden is up in the mountains and just visited weekends. Probably best that i walked away for the week to give them a chance to recover un-watched.
Planting two weeks early is always a risk...but i have room for maybe 60-70 and have over a hundred that look good...
Having a shade solution that can be used for various plantings is good to have handy. Not really addressed your question about why some do better than others...but often obvious with the varieties that have the potato leaf and a more flexible top stem that seem easier to wilt, the more cold hearty varieties...
Give some shade on a hot clear day.
I have three densities that can also take a layer of shade cloth if needed. (Wood frames with a grid of light-weight slats). I also have a few old cotton sheets that cut some half-moon slits in that i can clamp to the tom trellis. Very windy in my area. |
RE: New plants wilting
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| I want to thank all of you for your great advice. It was rainy and cloudy yesterday and I had shaded and watered with a mist most of the plants that had been effected by the sun and heat. All plants except one look as though they will survive and that one just might as well. I had six varieties of plants growing and only two of the varieties were effected and so I believe the varieties do vary in tolerance and this is most likely something to do with their root systems although this is just a thought. Without some of the posts here I would have removed several of the plants unnecessarily and so you saved them. These were some of my most precious and I was very unhappy at the thought of losing them. I had gotten the seed from France. The weather has been problematic and unusual and I hope this is not a trend. Again, THANK YOU! |
RE: New plants wilting
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| No harm misting the plants to cool them a bit when it's that hot, but when you water it needs to get to the roots so a good soaking will help perk the plant up and get new roots growing. Keep watering the ground, not the leaves as the season goes on. You can encourage fungal and bacterial diseases with wet leaves once it cools down and doesn't evaporate so quickly. Ugh, cool here today about 50 and drizzle, waiting for it to stop so I can go out and work - tomorrow (after it warms up from 42 degree low) is transplant day for me - nice and cool and some rain expected Friday. So where are you, and what are the names of the French tomatoes? |
RE: New plants wilting
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| I am in Pennsylvania and the seeds were from Fabrice Boudyo in southern France. He grows grapes and tomatoes and makes wine. His seeds were an F8 Big Zac and he grew 3 tomatoes over 6 pounds last year with the seeds. |
RE: New plants wilting
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| Wow, giant tomatoes! Are you planning on entering them in a fair? I'm surprised it was that hot in PA already. It was supposed to get to 83 here on Memorial Day, it was more like 75. Only 54 now, drizzling, I did go out and start building some raised beds but it's miserable. Came in to charge cordless drills/drivers since both are DEAD. Not getting much done today I'm afraid. |
RE: New plants wilting
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| I am hoping to break the world record. lol. |
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