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katemonster47

Unidentifiable Tomato Issue

KateMonster47
10 years ago

Hello, I have some heirloom plants a friend gave me and the leaves are curling and yellowing, mostly on the bottom limbs. One plant has slightly different symptoms - it's yellowish, brownish with dark veins. The plants I grew from seed don't seem to be effected. I will attach a photo - is there a way to attach several? I want to include the various symptoms. It's been very rainy here, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Comments (6)

  • KateMonster47
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The first photo is the odd man out. This one is typical.

  • KateMonster47
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Leaf curl - these three photos pretty much cover all the symptoms.

  • KateMonster47
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Found a photo of what they looked like before when I planted them - they were droopy when I got them and waaaaay too big for their little planter pods, but they have continued to go downhill instead of back up. Here's a photo from about 2 weeks ago (I took the dead/yellow stuff off when it got bad so only green was left - since then there has been more yellowing)

  • ianna
    10 years ago

    I had the same issues with my indoor grown tomatoes that remained a bit too long in their pots. However within a couple of weeks in the ground they recovered and are now thriving. I think it's just due to a lack of nutrition and minerals.

  • KateMonster47
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks. I really hope that's all it is. I haven't fed them or anything. I have high clay content soil, so what I did was purchase a few bags of topsoil (not the super nice, dark, rich stuff, the cheap-o stuff from lowes that feels somewhat sandy) and some compost/manure of the same brand (didn't look like compost/manure to ME, looked the like crappy topsoil - guess you get what you pay for). Anyhoo, I dug holes post-hole-digger width and about a foot deep for each plant, threw some gravel in the bottom of them and filled the rest with topsoil and a heaping handful of the compost, mixed and planted. Then I filled the last inch or so in with clay again.

    I have a worm tower which is how I'm doing kitchen compost but I I guess it's not been enough. I have not fed the plants. I'm getting a soil test and some miracle grow tomato food today. This is my first time every attempting a garden and while in theory I don't particularly care to use synthetic fertilizer, I am also very much aware that I have no clue what I am doing, started the season late and had no chance to prep the soil. So maybe next year I'll try another (baby) step towards organic. This year, I am hoping plant food helps!

    Did I do something wrong and mess up the plants?

    Here's a photo of the roots when I took them out of the seedling planters (mind you, the plants were easily a foot tall by the time my friend gave them to me) just to show they had to have eaten all the nutrients out of THAT dirt already and were already starting to yellow. Maybe I didn't the root ball up enough before planting? I didn't want to damage it but I did squish it around a little to encourage new growth.

  • ianna
    10 years ago

    Hi, it should have been in the ground earlier but it will recover. it does look very root bound though. What i do if the plant looks overgrown before transplanting is the bury the plant up to the first top leaves. This way the rest of it's leggy trunk will be forced to produce new roots. It becomes healthy in no time. I use only composted manure as a fertilizer.

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