|
Sun, Aug 17, 14 at 18:48
| My 12 year old son and I have been growing tomatoes together (for the first time) and this plant is our pride and joy. Yesterday, my son came up to me and proudly announced that he noticed an anthill forming near the base of the plant, and poured boiling water into it :O Today, the plant isn't dead (yet), but all of the stems have gone floppy. It is still green at least. Is there anything that I can do to give the plant a better chance of surviving? My son will be crushed if it dies because of something he did. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| If it is not too late flush it well with cool water and then hope for the best. It may recover. Otherwise try to make it into a positive learning experience. Dave |
|
| My first thought is to flood it with cool water but it may be too late. I hope he won't feel bad-we all learn some things the hard way. |
|
| Explain to him that the very, very best gardeners kill more plants than anyone else. It's because the experts are always experimenting and trying new things. So he's on his way to becoming an expert! If you learn from your mistakes, then they are not mistakes. It's only a mistake if you don't learn. Gardening is all about experimenting. I hope he continues to garden. In 20 years the tomato plant will be something you can laugh about together, over a plate of the fabulous vegetables he has grown. :^) |
|
| It depends on how near/ far the ant hill was from the plant. Also the roots grow around the plant, 360 degree. So hot water may have killed some of the roots but not all of them. It would be too late for cold watering to do any help after the fact.The damage is nor reversible, IMO. |
|
- Posted by darktendril none (My Page) on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 20:27
| Thanks everyone! We tied up all of the vines, so that they were at least off the ground, and today the plant seems to be doing much better - even starting to sprout little suckers again :). I was worried, because the anthill was only inches from the base, but some of the roots must still be ok. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Growing Tomatoes Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
