16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Thanks, wardda, seysonn, and Ohiofem.
Yes, I saw that thread, thanks, seysonn, and I'm in awe of the production, especially in Hudson's later photos. Most folks around here just grow celebrity or whatever bonnie plant caught their eye in the checkout line at HD, so it's hard to choose when you have very limited space and not much chance even to sample the fruit from other varieties.
@ ncrealestateguy
Yea plenty of blooms, but with my particular climate I have the luxury of pinching off until I'm ready for fruit.. I like to let them get to at least 3+ feet before I allow them to put their energy towards fruit production.. It's just about that time..
I had what seems to be a mild version of this on one of 14 plants this year. I had tried to get rid of about 8 hard wood weeds. I cut them to about 6 inches, put red plastic solo cup cuffs around each stump, brushed each stump with a foam brush dipped in a bit of round up. Closest "stump" probably 30 feet away. So far the plant has survived. Probably the stumps will too.
This post was edited by nanelle on Wed, Jun 18, 14 at 17:22
Yes, it still looks like the primary issue is nutrient deficiency - the inconsistent coloring of the leaves, all the leaves that show interveinal chlorosis (green veins but pale leaf tissue).
You have some secondary issues (plant leaf chews/holes, and perhaps a touch of Early Blight) but the main issue is nutrients (see causes in link below).
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Causes of chlorosis in plants
Okay thanks again, Dave. I removed all the leaves that looked like that which also opened up the bottom part of the plant for air circulation. The growth on the top 2/3 of the plant looks good so I will just hope that the fertilizer regimen is working, and spray neem oil as well for the possible blight.
Last week it was in the 70's during the day and high 50's at night but it rained all week. The past couple days have been very humid and in the mid 80's. The parts that look dark green in the pic are almost black looking in real life. Maybe it's the variety?
It is phosphorous deficiency and both of the fertilizers you are using are low phos so some additional supplement is needed. Soft rock phosphate is the quickest acting organic, a dose of MG the fasted synthetic solution..
You can Google pics of 'phosphorous deficiency in tomato plants' for pics to compare if you wish.
As Linda said, it is difficult to grow organically in containers. There is no soil food web to feed the plants so you have to provide all the nutrients on a regular basis and during periods of heavy rain that often means weekly.
Dave.
Nope, No idea about the spots, but I had similar spots on my Brandwine OTV, perhaps even a bit larger.
It was the only tomato out of 9 heirlooms, (all Beefsteak) that had any spots~~~~~~alto I will check my Red Brandywine for spots too~~~~~~thanks for the "Tip"
I'm gonna eat them anyway!!!!!!
Gary
The two most common causes of the symptoms you describe are (1) over-watering and (2) lack of nutrients.
Which of the two is the most likely? Posting a photo of the plant would help. Otherwise we need more details - containers or in ground, size of the container, potting mix used if container. fertilizer used and how often, age of plant, how often do you water, variety, etc.etc.
Dave
then why do people do a fall planting? Is it because by August the plants are 10 feet tall and ravaged by pests and disease?
Amount and type of care will determine the health of the plant when the cooler season arrives. Some prefer to just rip out the older plants and replace with new ones if their season length allows. Less work. And with determinate varieties not much is gained by trying to keep them going.
But with indeterminate varieties or in shorter growing seasons, it can be worth the effort to keep the plant well-fed, watered, affected foliage removed, damaged branches trimmed, and healthy until the weather breaks.
Some will trim the plant back to trigger new growth, many will take cuttings from the existing plant and root them. Lots of ways to insure a later crop.
Basically it boils down to your choice.
Dave
Dave is spot on. There are a few tomato plants in my garden that once the ripe fruit is harvested I will rip out. I will then plant fresh plants there. The ones that are being removed are dying off from producing fruit, and the heat is taking its toll as well. Not to mention some issues of blight. While the plants would survive, and maybe spring back a little. The output they would give once the weather cools here pales in comparison to plant that is more healthy.
Also production of new fruit takes a nose dive for most of the larger fruiting plants here this time of year for a couple of months due to the high heat, and humidity. A fresh plant will grow very large though that weather. It takes the cooling off to get fruit production going.
Oh and in my experience cherry varieties tend to be able to set fruit when the larger varieties shut down. The trade off is they seem to take a long time to ripen in the heat though.
All plants need some source of nutrients to use throughout the growing season. No way to get around that part.
In ground soil, well amended prior to planting, soil that has lots of added compost, manured compost, and other organic forms of nutrients can do well all season if there is a an active soil food micro herd in the soil to digest the amendments and convert them to nutrients the plants can use.
New beds or soil that hasn't been well amended first, hasn't been well maintained over the years, has no active micro-herd etc. cannot feed the plants adequately and you have to supplement it regularly with N-P-K and the needed micro-nutrients. The only way to know what your soil needs is to have a soil test done.
Container grown plants is a whole outer ballgame.
So the simple answer to your question is yes, you do have to fertilize/feed your plants assuming you want them to be health and productive. How you do it is your choice.
Dave.
Thanks so much, your advice helped me a lot Dave! Sorry if I miss worded the org. question I was trying to ask how often to put the fert. on the garden. I had already added the 10 10 10 2 weeks ago and it was looking better so I was orig. trying to find out how often to add it. Being that the garden really got better after adding it I know now something was missing (the tomato plants have 10 new baby tomatoes!!)
>> What's wrong with MG?
Big target. Miracle Gro is Scotts which is joined at the hip with Monsanto (Round-up), the biggest middle finger chemical company on the planet.
I won't use it, but there's nothing wrong with it. It's just chemicals, as is all its competitors. If someone won't use it or any other chemical fertilizer either, that's fanaticism. My kind of fanaticism, actually.
If someone won't use it but will use another chemical fertilizer, that's only unfounded bias. To single out MG is stupid.
I find that most spell it as Rosa de L'omio and I'm going to give you a Google link below which you can look at the links for it.
I checked Tania's page for it, nothing, I checked Ventmarin inFrance, I checked my latest SSE YEarbook, and nothing.
There is a thread at another message site where someone wasgrowing it in 2008 and said it had wispy leaves so was possibly a heart, but that was not confirmed.
From the Google search I found origins for it said to be from France, Spain, and Mexico. Sigh.
Any variety with a de, usually is from either France or Spain, sometimes Italy, so do have a look at those links.
Hope that helps,
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Rosa de L'omio
It is rather wispy:
I will post an update once it has fruited. Thank you, Carolyn, for your input. I thought maybe something was amiss with the name, so I tried "Rose de l'Omo" but didn't think to try "Rosa". I don't even know where Omio is, but I have a little piece of it growing in my backyard!
Elisabeth
Yep.
Instead of removing the branch/sucker from the plant, you can disable its growth end, leaving the leaves intact for photosynthesis. I do this when the sucker is over grown.