16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I'm having the same problem on the coast! It's hot, but only the low 80's. They seem to recover so far at night, but it looks like tobacco drying! I'm using straw, but maybe I should make a thicker layer. Also, I'm keeping the straw about 6" from the base of the plant to prevent mold. I'm not sure if that gap is a problem or if it's really important.

After few cloudy and cool days, when we got a warm sunny day, some younger leave on my EG was wilting. The other plans were ok.
Normally I water early in the morning. But during HOT days I water after sun down, to cool off the roots and intake enough water to battle the next day's heat. In such conditions, a good thick layer of mulch can help a great deal, that act like thermal insulation.

I would just position the stems in approximately the position you want them (but still growing upwards, of course) and then let gravity and nature gradually bend them as they outgrow their support. They rarely crack the stems or damage themselves in this way. They will rarely grow more than a foot and a half above their last support point before they start to tip over, and will not even get that far if they are loaded with tomatoes, but they don't generally hurt themselves if they gradually grow 'over' and start growing down again.

There are different schools of tomato gardening, to trim or not to trim. I am for trimming to keep things down to size and under control. having said that, my small fruited maters are close to 6 foot tall , with gazillion of flowers. I am going to stop their top growth soon. Each has about 4 branches. They just keep growing as you look at them. My situation is that I do not have 16 sqr-ft per plant(4' x4'') . So pruning is a must not an option.

If the recommended mix is 1 T per gallon of water (2 per 2) then give each plant 1 gallon of the mix. I know that is going to be a problem unless the rain stops. But 2 gallons of mix spread over 5 plants isn't much per plant.

Or if non-organics are ok with you just go buy a bag of 10-10-10 granular fertilizer and side dress each of the plants with it and let the rain soak it in.

Dave

Yellow lower leaves if often normal. They do not get any light, they do not make any contribution to plant's well being and thus they are aborted. But if the upper leaves are also pale green, then there is water, nutrient and sun issues. Often a doze of fertilizer rich in nitrogen can help. By experience, as somebody put it, you have to read your plants when it comes to nutrients issue. But One should do it gradually rather than dumping too much fertilizer. That is why I prefer 1/3 recommended strength but twice as often.

I do not believe in quick fixes.

The last pic is great. It is just some minor flea beetle damage and some environmental damage from sunscald.

However there will be problems developing since you are using mushroom compost in a container - never recommended - rather than soil-less potting mix. Bacterial and fungal diseases, drainage problems, and nutrient issues are all possible.

There is no soil micro herd in that bucket to convert the compost nutrients to a usable form by the plants. So synthetic supplement feedings will be needed weekly.

Plus the compost will drain quickly so very careful monitoring of the soil moisture level will be required with 2x daily watering needed as the weather gets hot.

Honestly, if she has a place where she can transplant that plant into the ground or into a much bigger container with a proper mix in it the plant will have a 10x better chance of surviving and producing and with far less work.

Just some thoughts to consider. Also suggest some research over on the Container Gardening forum here for more info on container soils, feeding, and watering.

Dave

I second the idea that you need a bigger container. That looks like a 5 gallon bucket - I'd suggest something at least 3 times as large. Give it some room - that plant looks like it's ready to grow!

Leaf curl from stress of some sort. Usually doesn't affect the growth of the plant. You should be ok.

Thanks guys. No, I don't have a pic. The leaves look a bit better today. Maybe they just reacted to the blast of cold water and fertilizer last night after a hot sunny day.

I've read that the plants are supposed to be watered some BEFORE getting fertilized? I did not do that.

If you added Tomato Tone a day or two ago, it is unlikely it is the cause of your problem. Organic fertilizers take time to break down to a point that they can be absorbed by the plant.

Agree w/ above. Not the TT. I'm guessing your plant will recover. I'd leave the fertilizer, maybe just spread it around a little so it's not too concentrated. Containered plants need lots of fertilizer especially with all the rain lately. 10 bad leaves on 4 of 30 plants sounds manageable.

Okay, I don't have any cracking yet, but, Noteybook, I believe that that black spot may be Blossom End Rot (sometimes referred to as BER). You can google for more information, but, IIRC, it's physiological and common with many first fruits.

I seemed to have solved my fertilizer quandary though! I had thought ALL fertilizers required mixing in water and then watering (I think people call this "fertigating," but I went to Lowe's and picked up Vegetable Tone and followed the instructions, save the watering. As it is going to rain more in a few hours, I figured I'd sprinkle along the drip lines now, and if it's still dry and visible in the morning, touch up water a bit then.

The threat of hail is half of why I moved them under the raised deck! Bummed that I lost some blossoms cuz of the rain. :/

Although I am not a container gardener, but I think that loss of nutrients is an issue here, especially when associated with excessive watering(manual or rain). I think it has to do with SOIL LESS medium. The so-called DIRT(native soil) is better in trapping and holding the nutrients. Plus, garden beds do not drain too fast and because of that soil act like kind of a filter to hold back the nutrients, where as with the soil less medium it leaches out easily.

For the first time in my life I saved a few seeds(after emailing Bonnie to make sure it really is OP) and will try them closer to Fall or next Spring. It's really sick now though. I had a huge flush(?) and hope to get another one before they turn into dripping balls of goo, which a few have. I have a Brandywine right beside it that's probably 8 foot. It's looking bad now too but has given me several nice tomatoes so far. All my tomatoes are sick now. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

I've called it a tree too. I was half joking when I put the extra cage on top of the first. Never really thought it would make it to(past) the top, at least not without pruning.

I found a new grow system called Life Flow. It is half hydroponics and half container. It seems to grow tomatoes in high heat. The large tank supplies cooler water to the roots. A solar panel maintains flow. It is over 90 and I still have flowers and new fruit. www.simgar.com

Have you been fertilizing regularly? We've also had tremendous rain in the past few days, and I think all that water can wash out the nutrients in you containers. plants in containers particularly need fertilizer almost with every watering. Yellowing leaves could be a sign of just being water logged, but unless you have a water catcher under the pot, that is unlikely. A more likely cause (I think) is that all the nitrogen and other nutrients, have been washed out by the rain.

As for the curling, that's (said to be) just a general sign of stress. It happens almost every season to me late in the summer, but it doesn't seem to have any adverse effect on yield or health of the plant.

We're always fighting something when it comes to gardening, aren't we? :)

I fed them molasses once lol.I tried to keep this grow organic but I guess i'm going to wave the white flag most likely & get some miracle grow tomato fert 18-18-21.Even though it ruins the soil,has a ton of salts,& states "Disposal:we recommend contacting your local refuse company to inquire about a Household Hazardous waste pick-up."

Agree with Ed - herbicide damage. It can be the drift from spraying by you or a neighbor up to 1/2 a mile away. Tomato plants are exceptionally susceptible to it.

It can also be brought in to the garden in mulch or compost added to the soil.

Search 'herbicide damage' here for many discussions about it.

Dave

thanks, I will try cutting out some damaged branches hope for new growth, will update after I start picking nice juicy tomatoes :)

Not necessarily overwatered.

Edema is caused by environmental conditions of moderate temperatures, fully moist soil (or potting mix), and relatively high humidity.

Not damaging.

Thank you very much for your answers! I'm so glad it is not damaging.

sunshine9 i'm in the same boat.I'm getting a soil test kit.From what I read,tomatoes don't like much Nitrogen,first # youll see on NPK fertilizer products.
I'm thinking about buying some sufate of potash(0-0-51) or K-Mag (Langbeinite)-(0-0-22) & fish bone meal(4-22-0).Not saying hey you should get this too,just saying i might try it out.

Never ordered from this site but looks like they have a good amount of options & prices don't look bad.I'm sure the S&H will be high though if you buy enough.

Here is a link that might be useful: soilminerals.com

Keep it simple ,get some Miracle Grow for tomatoes ,mix as directed , feed plants, there done ,don't need fancy .

Dave,
Thanks for your reply. I have read a number of threads here and don't see agreement on the prune issue. Most of my plants have strong new leads from the bottom. I would like to encourage more, if possible.

Yes, cages are not the perfect structure for tomatoes. However, they have worked OK for me for many years. My new garden is producing larger plants, and a new problem. Last year I pounded in two 6' steel fence posts at the ends of the cage row and ran a line through and above the cages. A make-shift trellis. Most of the alternatives I've seen here are quite elaborate. Maybe overkill for the small garden.

Sorry but you didn't ask about pruning, you asked about topping (pinching at the top) the plants rather than letting them drape back down over the cages.

I wonder if pinching the leads at the top is advisable? Will this encourage new leads from the lower part of the plant? I worry that if I let them go and they flop over the top that the cage will eventually come down.

That is why I linked you to the other discussion because that specific question is discussed in detail there. As I said in that thread:

"No. That's not the nature of vining plants. New growth, new production will always be at the top end of the vine and circulation is gradually reduced and then cut off from the lower branches. Which is why topping indeterminates isn't recommended unless you don't care if you lose all that production, Instead as most of us do, just support it to 6' and then let all the new growth drape back down over the support and continue to grow. The vines do fine and you get more tomatoes."

Pruning plants - the removal of new lateral branches (aka suckers) as the plant grows - is something else. While pruning is debated, there is a very clear consensus against it here as well as in the FAQ here on pruning. And of course if one has already pruned their plants and then try to top it they are really out of luck when it comes to production.

But it is your plant and your choice so why not try it on a couple of them and see for yourself what happens.

As to the cages being over kill or quite elaborate - that's debatable. :) I don't know what posts/pics you have seen but nothing is simpler than a Florida weave or a few CRW cages. But again it is your choice as only you best know your situation.

Dave

Sounds good. Just curious, how much mix is in the grow bag, looks to have compacted a bit? Are you staking, and is that the stake in the bag? If it is, I don't think the one stake in the bag is enough, you might want to consider adding a stake or two outside the bag, or add a cage over the whole thing.

It is about 3/4's full, it looks different because it is on a slope. I plan on adding a bit more to them when I make my next batch. It didnt shrink too much but the other (Timberline did, but I only have 1 in there). Also they are producing well now each one has about 10-15 golfball to racquet ball size tommaters and the 4th of july plant is starting to blush with a few.

As for the stakes they are the 1 inch 6 footers (rubber green around the metal). I have a few more but when it get's the final landing spot, I will ad probably 2 more. Out of the 4 in containers I have 3 also in ground (1 (4th of july), 1 more ramapo & Black Krim) and behind them where it gets more light later in the summer I just added 2 Kellogg Beafstakes in 16 gal rubermaid containers..not shown here in the pic).

The whole problem is that we have a huge pine tree that is tall as our house and taking up some of the sunlight. Also I am putting about 15 (5 Gallon) Hot peppers if I can find room when I get the containers this upcoming week..

So I guess what I am trying to say is that I am going to change the setup next week and make more mix (I need it anyway for them Peppers). I could probably even do a Florida weave with all the tomatoes possibly?

The downside of my yard is that slope and it becomes heavily water logged 1/4 way down the yard (But I think putting the black mulch with containers sitting on it may solve my growing space as you can see in the photo.

(Remember that Black mulch I bought and thought it was Pine Fines Ed lol...Well anyway I think I found a good use for it and that was to level it for the containers.) :)

Sorry for rambling and thanks so much for the great help along with everyone else.

- Mr Beno