16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Probably those leaves got pest.
Examine closely under good lighting with a magnifier.

definetly watering issue

I have tomatoes growing on my bay window sill. They have extremely deep purple undersides of their leaves. The tomato plants growing of the same variety 12 inches away on a table in front of the bay window are not purple. I think it has to do with the cold. We have been getting some night below freezing. The purple tomato plants on the window sill are much healthier and larger looking then the ones further away due to more sun light near the sill despite the cooler conditions.

It has to do with cold : NOT cold air but cold SOIL, that the roots cannot uptake the nutrient, especially "P"

Too much watering (with COLD water) can also aggrevate it.

THAT IS WHAT they SAY.

I never really perceived there was a problem with my seedlings.

Unfortunately most don't realize it until the leaves develop a bit more and become too heavy for the weak stem to support. The plants fall over and often the stem is damaged or broken.

That's why transplanting them deeply now, burying all the stretched stem, is important as it prevents that from happening. Plus it allows roots to develop all along the buried stem and strengthen the plant at the same time.

Dave.

if you have èlight handè using fork and lifting them out of the cup and burying deeper in same cup works wonders as well.

Woohoo! Now if it would only get warm outside...

I agree. I'm in NB and we just got walloped with a storm (nasty storm) and on Sunday we're supposed to get another! UGH!

Jon, your seedlings are looking great IMO - like others have said - keep the light an inch or two above the plant. I don't think they look a whole lot different than mine looked 6 weeks ago and you can see how they turned out and what they look like today. The photo shows the same tomatoes as they grew and were transplanted to larger pots. The photo does not show the seedlings in the 3/4" blocks but the photo was taken the day I moved the 3/4" blocks (seedlings) to 2" blocks.

I planted the seeds in 3/4" micro blocks which makes it easy to move to 2" blocks and then planted them in 4"wide X 5" tall square pots before going to the GH. Using the block method - I did not disturb the roots in any of the transplanting (except for a few stragglers seen on the 2" block). Leggy tomato seedlings are easy to correct when you transplant them up to their necks every time you transplant anyway IMO.

They aren't perfect but after 6 weeks we planted them in the GH up to their necks.

This post was edited by Hudson...WY on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 5:48

They seem to be doing fine. You'll see that some of them are deeper or doing better than others.

I am gonna buy a cheap fan and may end up moving them farther from the peppers so they can be cooler. room temps are 60-70 but it gets warmer than that under the lights even though the tomatoes are on the bottom rack.

Thanks, bigpinks. My wooden stakes either break or rot by the end of the season so I think I'll try rebar.

Wooden stakes ,other than cedar, will rot. And any wooden stake can break easily, IF they are not thick enough or if you force them . Rebar is a good choice, I think. I am also going to try 3/4" EMT (electrical metal tubing ?). They come in 10ft length and cost about $3.50(I think). So 2 stakes is made out of each costing about $1.80. Not a bad deal. Considering they are stronger than wood, and should last longer.

I'm wondering whether any of the chemicals in the paint may be absorbed by the veg. plants, over time.

Plant systems don't work that way. They have a very active filtering system and if they didn't, given all the things that are naturally found in dirt, we'd all be eating contaminated vegetables. :)

This is not to say that one should freely add anything they wish in the way of chemicals to a garden, they shouldn't. But some paint flakes from a T-post scattered over the soil over many years, even petroleum-based paint if that is what is used, are a very infinitesimal part of garden soil overall. Plus many of the components of paint are volatile chemicals that evaporate into the air.

So think of it this way, we walk in our gardens and track in all sorts of things, we use metal tools, metal cages, plastics of all kinds, cars with exhaust drive by, dust and fungus and bacteria drift in from all over, etc. The garden isn't a sterile or even a clean place so if the plants were going to suck up all the contaminants then we'd all best give up gardening.

But if it concerns you then you can always re-coat the stakes with fresh paint or scrape it off before using them and just let them rust. Rust (iron oxide) is a normal component of soil anyway.

Dave

I'm not worried about anything "dirty," just the chemicals. I guess using rebar would solve that problem. :)

If asking about X pollination between tomatoes go to the top of this page, click on FAQ's and scroll down to find the best article I know about it that's called How To Prevent Cross Pollination.

You'd only detect X pollination from saved seeds of fruits that had been X pollinated in one season and those saved seeds planted the next season.

And you sure would know you had X pol since the plants you grew from X pol seeds would be very different from what you started out with from the original plant.

Of course that depends on what the X pol male parent was, as to traits, meaning if a red X pol a red, it might be hard to tell.

Carolyn

how could you tell?

If they were crossed before you bought the seeds? The simple answer is you couldn't tell. There are numerous variables to be examined and unless there is a really obvious change from the norm you'll never know - unless you want to get the DNA tested. :).

What is the name of the variety? That is the place to start. Then look up that name and learn what the characteristics of that variety is supposed to be - the shape of the leaves, the size of the fruit, the color of the fruit, the shape of the fruit, the shape and number of the locules inside the fruit, etc. etc. and those are just the obvious to the naked eye issues.

Dave

I haven't fed the other plants that are doing great. They are living off the compost and microbiology in the soil mix thanks to the worm castings. Similar to soil blocking or direct seeding.

I don't think overwatering is the problem. I water them with a nozel set to low on the shower setting for a half second in a 100 degree greenhouse. I think the problem is moisture retention. This particular mix may be too dense and is retaining too much moisture....especially at the bottom of these tall pots.

I'll proceed with the re-potting of these starts.

I very much appreciate the insight and suggestions. Thanks.

I posted that last message before I read your reply digdirt.

The sand was an experiment. After my last post I re-potted all 60 of the seedlings into my typical mix of 1:1:1 compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. The soil with the sand mixture was still crumbly--as I suspected it would be when I tried this--and it might work in shallower pots, but mine are quite tall and the soil was just way too soggy. It drained well, but the problem appeared to be that the sand left too small gaps for air to penetrate.

I can show you full flats of lush tomato starts that have not been fertilized once. Planted weeks after this first set but already larger. I understand what you're saying about the soil food web, but I think it's possible there may be enough bacteria and fungus in the mix of compost and worm castings to activate a soil food web and sustain a seedling through planting. If I'm wrong, then, great. I'm hoping to be wrong a lot.

I appreciate the watering advice.

I'm in the process of adding more vents to the greenhouse. It doesn't have permanent power though. I have a weather-proof inlet on the outside to plug an extension cord into with an outlet inside for running a heater or fan periodically. But the goal is to have the greenhouse be mostly passive.

Again, thanks for the replies.

Bingster, How you doing bud. Glad to hear your had a good crop
as ALWAYS:). Don't send him to TIMMY1, when he see's his plants loaded with fruit he will be hooked!! Ami

i vote better boy too....but other large varieties are not that far behind when everything is right....trying mountain pride this year, a 3 or 4 ft bush tomato about 10 oz size, just plant and pick, no pruning....will start at different times for continuous production...i think i have some bush champion seeds too....need large strong cage for better boy...the indian

Yeah . If he wants HONOR his mother in law, has to create his own hybrid or whatever. So probably he does not want a duplicate name.

Hi Carolyn, Dave and seysonn.

I can contribute this tidbit, that gar is looking to buy a variety right now, not develop a special variety (though the thought of bestowing such an honor may suddenly start a tricky and healthy longer term compulsion in anyone with the resources to become a breeder), based on their comment in the rose forum trying to buy Mart* named rose seeds or cutting.

I am new to this forum and wanted to say hello (this is my second post). Hope to learn some stuff here from you tomato enthusiasts or obsessed and I'm excited as Spring in the air with a hankering to grow a few plants to try for slice-of-bread-covering-sized slices from tasty large ones.

Water them when they are dry and not on a schedule. Miracle Grow potting mix has fertilizer in it already. If you do fertilize dilute it a lot. What the direction say I think it may be a tablespoon per gallon is for grown plants not little seedlings. My tomato plants are three or four weeks old and I haven't fertilized them yet. I may when they get a little bigger but so far the potting mix is fertile enough. I am surprised your plants are still alive after being outside all day. Maybe you are putting them in the shade and out of the wind. Did the brown show up after the fertilizer or before. Your lights in the closet are not the same as the sun so when you put them in sun just do it very gradually.

It sounds strange.
You hardening off tomatoes while they are in those small starter cells !!! I am not saying it is wrong.
Can you post a picture ?

Agree with Frank. NitronA35 is nothing more than a surfactant

compounds that lower the surface tension between two liquids or between a liquid and a solid

covered with lots of expensive hype. While they don't list the actual ingredients (it's a secret formula) there is much web speculation that it is nothing more than a combo of yucca extract, some soapwort (herb) infusion, and maybe some beer by-products or amino acids. In other words cheap ingredients sold for a high price. Like most of these "secret ingredient" mixtures it has its advocates and its scoffers.

But there are many cheap, readily available surfactants: baby shampoo, yucca extract (health food stores), any natural soap, beer, fabric softeners, etc.

And please do keep in mind that there are negative side effects to the use of any surfactant, primarily for aquatic life forms from any run-off, but also for beneficial soil dwelling organisms.

Due some research into surfactants as a whole before deciding to use one.

Dave

Regarding the OP's question: Would the motivation be for the growing of a more vigorous tomato plant that can eventually deliver more nutrition in the fruiting phase?

If so, I would be grateful if someone could address the following:

Regarding stimulating the plant to grow with more vigor using essentially a single plant drug (natural or not) - to increase overall yield of seeds per plant or for that matter size of flesh, is this hypothesis demonstrated with any single clear example agent for any flowering plant at all?

If so, what's an example?