16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I found the culprits -- quail. Some small poultry netting cages solved the issue.

Sjerin, bird netting lets almost all of the sun through. If it had a shade rating it would be less than five percent.

Zeuspaul

my tomatoes leave turned to dark green color and don't grow much, what is the possible problem? they were nice and green when I planted them in my 5 Gal. containers,
thanks,
Kasey

Because containers are watered more often and are shallower and smaller in volume, some good portion of the nutrients go down the drain (literally). For that reason two methods are more suitable, IMO.

1- fertilizing with a weak fertilizer solution (like 1/4 rec. strength, water soluble) more often (Maybe every other time)

2- mixing in CRF to your potting mix before potting. That is how and what MG does and says it (plants grown in their potting mix) won't need fertilizing for up to 6 months. That might be an over blown claim but there is some truth to it. And CRF is responsible for that property .

One more thing: Use a CRF that also has calcium in it. I am using MG "Shake n Feed".

From time to time I also use MG "all purpose" water soluble (the one used in sprinkler type feeders)

So, there are many ways. It is hard to say what is "BEST".

Is tomato tone anything more than just a fertilizer? Googling for ~ tomato "Tomato Tone" site:gardenweb.com ~ it seem there are more questions than answers here on this GW tomato forum. [careless hyperbole].

This post was edited by albert_135 on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 16:52

Is tomato tone anything more than just a fertilizer?

No it is just an organic fertilizer like many others. Made by Espoma and has a rating of 3-4-6.

Googling for ~ tomato "Tomato Tone" site:gardenweb.com ~ it seem there are more questions than answers here on this GW tomato forum.

Not sure what you mean. Yes there are lots of questions posted about it. And they all have several answers posted to each of those questions.

Dave

Once a plant reaches a certain size and age then it is normal for it to start forming buds. Pinch/snip them off. If it gets rootbound in its container or if it is growing in very warm temps they form buds due to stress.

Your plants would appear to have been started too early as the plant in the photo is more than ready to be planted out much less wait another month.

Dave

Early budding is very common with rooted suckers. I see hundreds of open flowers on 4" plants that likely barely have formed roots. I believe there may be stress involved in certain cases but other times the plant is just programmed to start producing fruit.

The picture of your plant bothered me a little. I can't see the growing point on the plant. Did you top the plant or is the growing point obscured?

Looks like early manganese deficiency to me. Smatter scattering of tiny yellow freckles on all the leaves including new growth. Progresses to interveinal chlorosis and larger spots which turn necrotic.

The soil/compost mix you used in that container - which is never recommended for a container - is very likely low in many of the minerals but high in calcium carbonate - most all rockery soils are - and that CaCo3 interferes with manganese uptake by the plant. If there are no signs of any pests then I suggest some internet research into that deficiency.

There are many different tomato nutrient deficiency websites with photos that you can compare your plant to.

The simple solution is to transplant it into the ground which is rarely manganese deficient (not sure what the purpose of that container is anyway). Or if you are going to confine it in a container then use a proper soil-less container mix, one that also contains added soil bacteria so that your compost can be of any benefit to the plant. Compost provides no nutrients without an active soil food web to digest it to a form usable by plants.

Dave

Thanks, CaraRose. Unfortunately my veggie growing area is way too far from the spigot for irrigation or even hose-watering, not to mention that I would need my own well (the current well I'm on supposedly can't handle a two-person household, a one-person household, and a garden). So I have no experience with irrigation systems except occasionally seeing a set-up here or there, or a photo of one.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I definitely understand how massive growth is NOT a good thing. :) It is very helpful to know so I can plan accordingly!

I would say that a determining factor in choosing this tomato might be whether blight, especially late blight, is a problem in your area. Saw big, fancy 6-packs in a local nursery, in our area where late blight is only a remote possibity. Seemed sort of odd.

I start all of my tomatoes outdoors in full sun. I soak them in water for a couple of days until one of the seeds shows signs of sprouting. Then into a 2 or 3 inch pot with a fine textured mix. I screen any of my potting mixes. The fine texture might be a blend of bark fines, peat, compost, DE, perlite, dolomite. I cover the seed with about 1/4 inch of the blend.

Then outdoors in full sun and water 1 to 3 times per day from above to keep the blend damp or wet. When they sprout you can cut back on the watering a little bit.

I keep them elevated and covered with bird netting. If you plant in the ground you may have trouble with birds, rabbits, mice, insects and ? If you wait to put them in the ground until they are six inches tall they have a better chance of surviving.

Edit: If nignt temps drop into low or mid forties in the early stages I bring them indoors.

Zeuspaul

This post was edited by zeuspaul on Tue, Apr 8, 14 at 13:30

I only grow one variety from seed and I started them
outdoors in a 6-pack (never know if they'll all sprout).

I started them in a sunny spot similar to the garden
location they'll eventually call home.

This gives me the chance to grab the best one of the
six (if they all sprout).

Now, of course, I have 5 to get rid of! They all sprouted!

I did not know that it is forbidden ..

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

There is no such a thing as "forbidden" here. Some do it , many don't. But that does not make a rule. It is more common among pepper growers than tomato gardeners. I think it would make sense when a plant left of its own grows 10 ft tall (when staked). I like them to be within my arms' reach. Plus I grow them for fruits not foliage.
Lets just say that it is a personal practice.

Yes, any plant can be suckered but in some cases it doesn't help your cause and in other cases it is just futile. As an example I've suckered Determinate variety Florida 7514 to a single stem and it seemed to perform well but its Florida counterparts 47 and 91 are far too vigorous at shooting lateral branches that keep ahead of the growth.

I will note that you need to be more careful if you attempt to sucker determinate varieties since the is a greater tendency to top the plant by mistake. It is just something you might not want to tackle.

Yes they look very wet. Light is not the problem but two feet away is too high. I planted lots of different tomato seeds this spring. A few had knobby tops and funny leaves and those were from old seed. What is your planting medium? Something is very wrong there, starting over sounds right to me also.

Did you make your own media?
Or did you "fix" a store-bought mix with something?
If one or the other, what are the ingredients?

Seysonn, Your first points make perfect sense and I'll agree that almost any commercial tunnel tomato grower will prune to optimize yield per square ft. covered space. I've been doing it for years and the yields per plant for me far outweigh the outside unpruned plants. I will clarify that I plant Indt. plants inside at least 2 months earlier than Det. plants, outside. Support for inside pruned plants is stringline, dangled from stuctural frame. For outside plants, also on plastic, I just place a cylindrical cage on each plant. The real yield difference is likely a combination of three times the harvest season, 6 months compared to 2. But I regularly will harvest more on an average harvest day inside (pruned) from 1/10 acre than outside (unpruned) 1/10 acre simply due to the fact that I have over 3 times as many plants inside as outside in that same acreage.

So thats my take on the topic. I know Dave and others on this site don't care to prune and I'll admit that it involves work. I like the tradeoff for work on "Off-days" that allow me to pick in half the time on my twice weekly harvests- Fruits are readily visible and none are burried under a tangled mass of plant vegetation. Then there is the fruit quality issue but my results are skewed due to weather protection provided by the tunnels.

take your pick. I will continue growing both ways as I have for the past 15 years. I'll just add that if I had a few more greenhouses I would abandon planting outside tomatoes completely.

Thanks bmoser

There seems to be two schools of gardening, in general:

One: Plant and let the mother nature and the plant's grow habit do as they wish.

Two: as a gardener/grower , get in there and interfere FOR YOUR ADVANTAGE.

I belong the the latter school.

Thanks so much for your advice Dave! I figured I should have stuck with my gut! They were doing so well too, but I think it's time to cut my losses at this point and start fresh! Lesson definitely learned!

Keep them. They can grow back fuller.

Yes, I've done that too but there's no one site shows all in order kind of site. Ugh :(

Check out Youtube for nctomatoman's videos, you may have to search for the dates since he uploads videos on peppers, etc. too but you can probably track the progress of a particular flat by going backwards from the most recent, he usually mentions the last video that he showed those plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: NC Tomatoman videos