Even though you don't suspect herbicide damage, I do.

jean001a

You may be right unfortunately. Just can't figure out why the other plants look good - to me at least. The herbicide might not have effected all the tomatoes. I'm totaly organic with my lawn, actually better to call it weeds. 3 neighbors in the hood use TruGreen. Just saw TruGreen at my neighbors 2 houses down, he has them out constantly.

Yet, he has a good size raised bed garden and grows some great tomatoes. I don't know how this is possible considering they spray right next to his garden - unless he doesn't use herbicide with TruGreen. I find that unlikely - I am going to ask him today. I posted a pic of another tomato plant that looks healthy to me.

Dave

latest

This post was edited by JFHunter on Tue, Jun 25, 13 at 20:20

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Lost my original text... We have similar approaches. These are our first attempt with tomatoes. 15 gal Smart Pots with Black Gold potting soil.

I use fish emulsion and seaweed alternating with Epsom salts. Using the Burpee XL Pro cages with one set of 2 foot extensions.

These plants average an inch a day of growth. I expect them to top the extensions by July 4th. I fertilize weekly and water every day now that the weather is hotter.

I also pinched blooms for weeks and just stopped about a week ago. Now, we have plants that are over 5 feet tall and growing with tons of blooms.

These face East and get sun until about 4pm each day. I also spray them with Epsom salts and water about once a week.

We had a ton of rain since I transplanted them into 15 gal Smart Pots. The great thing about these pots is they dry quickly and it is hard to overwater. So far I'm really happy. Also have 9 different types of very hot chili pepper plants and using the same approach. I just started using copper mesh on the stems of all plants to keep slugs off them.

To my inexperienced eye your plants look like they lack both nutrients and water. But, I am brand new to this and hoping my luck holds out. I made a ton of mistakes last year and did really poorly. Trying to correct them all this year.

The first thing to address with containers is the growing medium. It should be a fast draining 'soilless' mix. That will give the roots room to grow quickly, and it will almost be impossible to overwater them. The second thing to address is the feeding. Some people add some CRF when making their mix, but they also feed them regularly with a water soluble fertilizer. When I say regularly, I mean at almost every feeding/watering at 1/4 strength. That's what I do. Your plants don't look too bad, and I might see a little herbicide damage. IMO they need water and good dose of fertilizer, and keep feeding and watering as long as they are draining decently.

I ruled out herbicide damage. I talked to my neighbor and he doesn't use any herbicide plus my peas are healthy and producing like mad and the bush beans look good so far. I read they are highly susceptible to herbicide. I posted some pics.

JFHunter
Your plants look healthy and vigorous. I have the 20-Gallon Smart Pots. What area are you in and when did place the tomatoes in the pots? Do you just use liquid fertilizer? How quickly does your potting soil "dry" out and do stick your hands in and feel it?

The problem could be that I didn't use potting soil in the smart pots. I used a 50/50 mixture of Sweet Peet and compost from green materials. The mixture does seem to drain very well when I water but it does feel moist right now. But, we have had a ton of rain in the last month - 9 inches by my rain gauges in 30 days and 2 inches just yesterday and it hasn't had a chance to dry out.

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Here is a link that might be useful: Sweet Peet

The plants look much better in the smart pots, I didn't need to water with all the rain we have had. I fertilized twice with Tomato-tone. My question is - I just applied Tomato-tone a few days ago (directions state to apply every 2 weeks), and then watered the smarts pots. We then had about 2.5 inches of rain, Should I reapply the Tomato-tone after the rain - does it wash it all out of the pots - Does this apply to the plants in the ground also?

IMHO....ed has hit the nail right on the head. I could not have said it better. If there is no evidence of herbicide...why suspect that? The truth is: container growing is quite a bit different than in-ground.

Not too much you can do about the potting soil now. I think the compost is holding you back. Compacts too easily and doesn't drain well. But they definitely still need more food. The Tomato Tone is ok in the long run, but it takes too long for an organic granular fertilizer to break down so the plant can use it. Suggest using a water soluble or liquid fertilizer on a regular basis starting asap, and your plants will thank you for it. No need to reapply the Tomato Tone.

Would organic liquid fish fertilizer be ok, should I use regular strength or dilute it more than directions and how often? (directions state fertilize monthly)

I've had good results in container-grown tomatoes with fish/kelp emulsion (Neptune). I'd use 1 tbsp per gallon and fertilize weekly, not monthly.

Gary

Sure, if you want to use an organic liquid, fine. Give it a full dose now. Gary's suggestion of weekly feeding (at least) is a good one. I feed mine almost daily with weak doses. Large tomato plants are heavy feeders. Not saying it's impossible to over feed one when it's growing at maximum, but they can definitely take quite a bit of fertilizer.

Cableman:

Many people in the Container Gardening forum recommend 1/4 strength liquid fert every feeding, but every fourth feeding using plain water. The idea is that the watering in the containers flushes the nutrients out of the soil, unlike when the tomatoes are in the ground and surrounded by soil. Frequent low-strength fertilizing is preferred to infrequent high-strength fertilizing because it gives the plant a more consistent food source, instead of starving for a week.

New too, but learning. :)

Is that 1 tbsp per gallon of fish fertilizer per plant or all of them?

Just water normally with the 1 tablespoon per gallon mixture until you are convinced the soil is saturated with it. You might go through several gallons to water everything depending how many plants you have.

This post was edited by edweather on Fri, Jul 12, 13 at 18:34