Two most common causes of slow or stunted growth are over-watering and lack of nutrients.

What and how often have the plants been fed? What nutrient supplements were added to your soil before planting? Have you ever had your soil tested? Are they in ground or in containers?

And what exactly do you mean by "watering religiously" as that can easily be over-watering which only leads to root rot, stunted growth, and shallow rooted plants?

How hot has it been? If they are setting fruit it can't be overly hot for them since they won't set fruit once it gets to about 94 or so. What seems really hot to us isn't overly hot for them. :)

Dave

Hi Dave,

It's possible I've overwatered, although there are no yellowed leaves or any other signs.

Right now, the soil is a bit dry, but I watered them today, so I've restrained myself from watering again.

It's been in the mid/high '80s all week, with one night of rain.

I've not fed them anything. I plan to get Tomato Tone tomorrow. I hope it's not too late to feed them.

An organic gardener built and filled the raised beds last fall. I saw it and smelled the compost he used, and the mix seemed rich and good. This is the first year I've planted in these beds. I did not test the soil, though.

Back to the water issue. Raised beds dry out faster so I find I need to water more often. But only after I do the finger test and the first few inches are dry.

Any suggestions?

A few photos.

Another photo.

Another photo.

{{!gwi}}

They look pretty healthy in the photos but a new bed won't yet have an active soil food web to digest the compost and provide nutrients to the plants so liquid organic fertilizers will be of more help to them this year - nothing fancy just some fish emulsion or one of the fish kelp blends work well.

80 degree temps isn't all that hot so if you are having to water daily or even every other day then something is out of whack. Either you are over-watering or the soil is draining too rapidly. Is it 100% compost? If so then yes it will drain too rapidly so you will have to water more often. That means you will have to feed more often too - perhaps weekly - as the nutrients will leach out of the soil rapidly.

Dave

Many thanks! I have fish emulsion and will use it at my next watering. If I begin using it now, is it likely that fruit growth will speed up?

You say "SLOW". What is your measure of "slow"?

Your plant(s) look quite healthy and at least normal. Maybe your expectation clock is ticking too fast. It take time for tomatoes to grow. It takes about 45 days from flower to ripe fruit (average). So roughly it takes tomato about 40 days to grow to full size then it would start color break.
That is my opinion.

This post was edited by seysonn on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 10:53

I seem to remember that when I grew them in actual soil, they grew more quickly--I'd see growth from day to day. They just seem to be in a holding pattern, but I could be wrong.

I am a helicopter gardener--I hover, and fret, and watch, and worry. But this is my first year gardening in raised beds, and it's nerve-wracking. :)

Mine always get to golf ball size then slow down until early to mid July when they take off on a huge growth spurt and fast. I think that's just the nature of tomatoes here in the Ohio valley.

Just a thought. Weekly deep watering is better than frequent shallow or over-watering (plants can drown - well more accurately, suffocate). And containers can be tricky about that. They can dry out fast, but soaking them too often is fatal.

My grandad taught me to stick a finger in the ground deeply. If the tip of the finger was dry, water. If at all damp, don't.

Not meaning to hijack this thread or anything. I started out watering my 3 container tomatoes religiously with 5 gallons for the 3 of them every other day. I posted on this forum and got the finger in the soil answer. I haven't watered in 4 days or so and the soil is still very moist even though it has been up to almost 90 in Western NY. For us helicopter gardeners, is that normal? Plants seem to have been doing fine, no change from frequent waterings. If anything they slowed down growth and started setting out blossoms, seeing one to two new green pea-sized tomatoes a day.

I haven't watered in 4 days or so and the soil is still very moist even though it has been up to almost 90 in Western NY. For us helicopter gardeners, is that normal?

Yes it can be normal. Which is why so many way over-water. They just can't believe a plant can go 4 or even more days without them watering it. :)

But it will also change as the season progress so don't make the mistake of assuming that x # of days will always work.

Dave

Not to worry. I'm in zone 6B as well and all 14 of my varieties are growing beautiful foliage. Starting to get some fruit popping in here and there, especially on the Sioux, Sungold Cherry, Black Cherry, and Mortgage Lifter. I look back at my pics from last year and saw that I didn't harvest anything until July 20th and it was a banner season. This year I'm looking at a better crop yet because half my plants are in 5-1-1 containers and they are just loving it. I water every 4 days give or take. Deep soaking every time, especially those in the 5-1-1.

Thanks Dave. I will keep checking daily, but it's just confusing for new gardeners especially with some people writing about watering twice a day.

Also, what is a 5-1-1 container?

This post was edited by livetaswim06 on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 13:39

5-1-1 is a popular homemade planting mix that you can find the recipe for over on the Container Gardening Forum. (If I remember correctly it's 5 parts pine bark fines, 1 part peat, and 1 part perlite, some lime, and fertilizer.)

Rodney

This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 14:10

Are the parts by weight or volume?

Question about the fish emulsion - mine is 4-1-1 and it seems most are high nitrogen. So this is still a good idea even after they've started fruiting? It's not too much nitrogen and too little p/k which would result in leaf growth but not fruit? (I've been confused about liquid organic fertilizers - and have the same problem as the OP in terms of "new" soil....)

Parts are by volume.

4-1-1 is not a high nitrogen fertilizer. It is almost the ideal ratio of nutrients (3-1-2). plus the applications rates on the label instructions are quite low. Plus fish emulsion, fish oil, and fish/kelp blends come in various formulations - all depends on the brand - but all are low.

This compared to MG at 24-8-16 for example which is a high N fertilizer.

There are few, if any, high N compounded ferts. They most all fall into the 2-1-1, 4-2-3, 3-3-3 range. If you want high N organic then you use a nitrogen-specific organic. Same for high P or K needs. Use a product specific.

Dave

I see - thanks for clarifying.

"That means you will have to feed more often too - perhaps weekly - as the nutrients will leach out of the soil rapidly."

One more clarifiying question then: in the case of my and the OP's situation of "new"/poor soil and given how mild fish emulsion is - do you suggest using it more often than the bottle says? My EB stone bottle says once a month for tomatoes, at 2 tbl / gallon. My soil is native sandy loam with organic amendment added last fall.

This post was edited by slowjane on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 15:57

I am a helicopter gardener--I hover, and fret, and watch, and worry.

******************

As Grandma Judy always said "a watched pot never boils." Case in point: I just spent 2 weeks out of town. When I got home, my garden looked like it had grown more in those two weeks then in all other weeks that I had previously been home "watching the pot" ;).

As long as we are discussing watering here. Does anyone have experience with chlorinated water? I am a homebrewer and have Campden tablets on hand. I think those would work great to remove the chloramine from tap water here.

Hi there,

I'm the OP, with an update (and what an informative thread this turned into!).

I fertilized and am doing the finger-in-the-soil method to discern when they need to be watered. Happy to report that growth has resumed. They're getting bigger, and more maters are popping up each day.

I believe I'm supposed to fertilize weekly now. True?

One last question--some of the leaves (I believe on the Amish paste, not the Brandywine) are large at the ends of the branches, and tiny in the middle. Is that normal?

As for the fertilizer, I think that depends on which kind you use. As for leaves being much larger on the ends, that should be because they have more sun access while the interior leaves don't get much.