16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Besides needing a little fertilizer to green them up, your plants look healthy. The heat is probably making the leaves defend themselves a little by curling. The Osmocote is slow release. Give them a dose of a liquid or water soluble fertilizer and you'll see faster results.
Agree. Tomato leaf roll is a physical response to stress. Remove the source of stress and it goes away. It poses no threat to the plant if the cause of the stress is fixed.
The growing method you describe has several possible stress causes in it: containers, containers of unknown size, the growing mix you are using, the frequent shallow watering leading to shallow rooting, keeping surface soil wet causing even more shallow rooting, the feeding regimen you are using, etc.
I would suggest some reading over on the Container Gardening forum here and a review of the 'growing in containers' discussions on this forum since trying to grow in containers is a unique form of growing tomatoes with its own set of needs. The search will pull them up for you to browse through.
For example, common recommendations are containers of 12-15 gallons minimum, soil-less potting mixes only, weekly feeding with a full spectrum, well balanced fertilizer, adding beneficial soil bacteria if using organic fertilizers so they can work (otherwise you need to use synthetics), less frequent but deep watering to maintain consistent soil moisture levels, etc.
From the color in the photographs your plants could really use a good feeding. In a container you can't count on compost for nutrients since there is minimal if any soil bacteria.
Dave
Excess fertilize causes good plant growth but no tomatoes.
Use about 5 oz of some triple fertilizer and 1/2 bag of Humus & Manure Compost from Wal Mart. I mix this in the soil about 12 inches with a pick and also garden tiller. This year were the plant goes I used a post hole digger to get the 12 inches of depth I wanted. My vines are now loaded with tomatoes. One table spoon of Epson Salt and Lime.
Plants raised from seed and grow lights. I'm not very good with grow lights.
What could be causing this and how can I get them to grow/ripen faster?
Any number of factors could be causing it. The unusual weather this past spring is the most obvious for most growers. Nutrient availability, soil moisture levels, excessive soil moisture causing root rot, sun exposure, the variety, stress from pests or weather, etc. etc. etc.
However, expecting ripe fruit within 5 weeks from fruit set is not realistic. Tomatoes run on an average of 6-7 week cycles and the average # of days between fruit set and ripening is 52-60 days. So patience is required.
What you can do is insure adequate nutrients and consistent but not excess soil moisture. The rest is determined by the genetics of the variety and the weather for the most part.
Dave
I Think that foliar feeding is effective. Plants have ability to absorbs water/moisture through leaves. AND if there are nutrients DESOLVED in the water, they will be absorbed it, naturally. We know that herbicides like Round Up is absorbed through the leaves and then goes down to the roots and kills the plant. Some years ago, an older gardener told me that a herbicide is actually a VERY strong fertilizer(Nitrogen Solution ?) that burns the plants.
So, in conclusion, there is no doubt in my mind that foliar feeding works thou I may not be able to measure its amount and degree of effectiveness.
"Generally, ... foliar application of particular nutrients can be
useful in crop production situations where soil conditions limit nutrient availability."
From "The Myth of Foliar Feeding"
at
http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda%20chalker-scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Foliar%20feeding.pdf
Here is a link that might be useful: foliar ferts explained
Nice setup, that's high enough to last for the season.
Also be careful not to squeeze all of those branches inside, you want some airflow, and leaves stacked over each other take a much longer time to dry.
You *can* eventually go in there and pinch off a couple of the less productive looking suckers. Or let some of the branches "escape" then tie them to the assembly with some twine for support as they grow.
Nice lush green looking plants, but I'm not seeing any flowers or maters near the bottom/middle, they seem to start near the middle/top. I wonder if that's from excess nitrogen or just plant type and or climate conditions.
It would be fun to see how much they've grown in another week or two :)
This post was edited by sjetski on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 12:35
Not bamboo, they're plastic coated metal stakes. Very stiff. I think I may also use the same stakes to secure the tops of adjacent cages to each other to provide some stability from gusty winds.
The fruit and flowers are scattered throughout the plants though I guess you're right in that I should be seeing more down low. I fed the plants Tomato Tone right after transplanting and then every three weeks since. They're both cherry tomatoes (the two that I just staked).
Some consider Kellogg's Breakfast to simply be the best.
In my garden, it is perhaps the one tomato variety with the most variability in flavor. It can be anywhere from good, to very good, to excellent, all from the same plant, with only about half a week between pickings.
Gary
so real question will be if I have lush and green plants but very few tomatoes- I can see evidence of having plenty of nitrogen and except of keep taking the soil for testing, is there evidence that we might have low P and K numbers or nitrogen needs are overriding everything else and we might have plenty of P and K but it is not being used? And since it might be hard to lower N level except by leaching it out by repeated watering, what else can be done to balance?
P and K just don't get depleted/leached as much as N, and P is something you don't want to add if it's not necessary so it's best not to fertilize with anything until/unless a soil test indicates it's necessary.
Now, I did have a situation this year when with all the rain the N got leached to very low levels, but the plants were showing mainly P deficiency symptoms, which I knew wasn't right. The roots just weren't growing well with the constant wet (though sandy soil drains well) and the plants weren't able to take up the P that was there. Once it dried out a bit (and I did do 1 foliar feed with fish emulsion) the roots were able to grow and the plants established themselves, they are looking great now though smaller than I would expect for a month in the ground (they stalled for a couple of weeks).
I have never heard of anyone *trying* to decrease the N present in their soil. Just don't add more. I suppose if you want to "use it up quickly" you could try throwing in some kind of leafy green as a companion to your tomatoes. But I think that just normal watering/rain would work - have patience, don't flood your plants just trying to wash the N out (not like containers that you're trying to leach salts out of).
Well I just got home from 10 days away and the mega bloom has been aborted, along with many others. I have been spared the majority of the rain this year until now, when I got home I was pretty disheartened. My garden has turned into a blight infested hole with many of my plants suffering from too much water. I guess it rained here most every day for the last two weeks. I cleaned out 4 garbage bags of blighted leaves, yanked all of my potatoes and spent the rest of the day weeding and spraying. The poor little guys between the water and the blight I don't think a lot of them will make it. I suspect root rot on quite a few. Anyways ill post up some pics of the fused branches later today. Oh and thanks for the good info wildflower.
Hard to tell without seeing the whole plant, but your plants have several issues. Only 4 plants from 40 seeds survived? When were they planted? What kind of soil are they planted in? Your container looks too small for one plant, not to mention 4. They don't seem to be getting enough light or food. I can only suggest starting over at some point and reading the FAQ about starting seedlings.
This post was edited by edweather on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 8:25
They were planted during summer (April). The other plants all are doing fine. Its just the tomatoes! A friend planted them in a bigger place and they grew fine. But after the rain they too have gotten really bad. So i'm assuming its the weather.
I wanted to understand what can be done during these gloomy days to keep the plants healthy. Artificial light? More plant food? Less water?
This post was edited by rosie21 on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 8:42
Yeah cherry tomatoes are just insane by the end of the season(s) here or anywhere with two growing seasons. I am still concerned that this will not be enough but I like the idea of growing down from way up high at the edges of the Y, as long as they would not snap at the wire from weight.
Lots of discussions here about 'topping plants' and why it isn't recommended. Of course it is always the growers personal choice.
But it depends on if the reason for doing it is valid or not. And the reasons range from "too tall for the cage" in which case the cage is the problem not the plant, to "I don't like the looks" which again isn't the plant's fault, to "I never thought it would get this big" which is a result of not doing any homework before hand.
In this case you are assuming that topping the plant will let the fruit grow and ripen and that isn't what happens.
Topping an indeterminate stimulates new top growth - new vines sprout from the nodes just below the cut off branch. So now you have 2 where 1 was. It is the nature of indeterminates. Plus it triggers the plant back into the vegetative growth mode and out of fruit set/development mode. That defeats your purpose.
So if encouraging the ripening of existing fruit is the goal rather than getting more fruit then topping isn't the answer. That is accomplished with selective fruit removal from clusters that already exist, picking fruit as soon as color breaks, and then most importantly stressing the plant with root pruning. Take a sharp shovel and 6-8" out from the base of the plant carefully slice straight down through some of the roots on 2 sides of the plant. Then water it well and wait. Existing fruit will begin to ripen.
This is assuming you can't just cover the plants to extend your growing season to allow for natural ripening.
So experiment and see what happens and which works best for you. Top one plant if you wish and root prune another and compare the results.
Hope this helps.
Dave
Your location would help as well. Tomatoes only ripen between 58 and 85 DEG F. Temperatures outside those turn off the production of the ripening factors. Tomatoes require 1300 to 1400 Growing Degree Days (GDD) to ripen. Depending on the temperatures a given day can be 28 to 60. There is a formula that requires you to know the maximum and minimum temperatures. Any temperature below 50 DEG F does nothing for us.
I plant mine no more than 24" apart, but they never look this bushy....I stake them and also live north so now I have buds..no toms yet...all heirlooms many colours.this year I planted about
30...and gave away the same amount...cheers, martha/zucchini
How often do you water and how much?
As a general rule, tomatoes need an inch of water every week. An inch of rain is exactly that, water that is one inch deep. One inch of rainfall equals 5.6 US (4.7 Imperial) gallons of water per square yard. Cool weather or soil with lots of clay needs will be less, hot weather or sandy soil will need more.
Dig down with your finger about 4", is the growing medium wet, dry, or just right? If it is wet, don't water, if dry then water. If it is just right, check again the next day. Water deeply once or twice a week. Watering daily encourages shallow roots which means the plant is affected more by variations in soil moisture. In my garden during the heat of the summer, I water deeply every 4-5 days, early spring I may only water every 8-9 days and when the weather is moderatly warm (70-80 degrees F), about once a week.
Mulching heavily (to a depth of 6 - 8 inches) with compost, straw, hay, rotted leaves, grass clippings, even shredded paper or sheets of paper or cardboard helps maintain a consistent moisture level.
Betsy
No apologies by anyone necessary. I was not very clear
which is why I've edited my original post.
I only stated where and how I got the plants and my selection
process to show my agreement with sjetski's selection process.
In fact, I picked up a cilantro plant at a big box store the
other day and didn't even look at the tag. I got home
and the tag said 'oregano'. It's not, because I know what
both oregano and cilantro look like and smell like.
Well, I think that you've got a nice surprise ; Golden Cherokee, or green Cherokee, whatever. Hot it is tasty. I love the shape and color.