16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

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

I was thinking I might end up doing that if my plants give out soon. It stays hot here through September. I think mid July through the month of August would be hot enough to get the soil temps where they need to be. I also thought about prior to that spraying the soil with a very dilute bleach mixture.

I will be throwing away all tomato supports (just bamboo, so no money lost there), rotating crops (I have 2 beds that have never had tomatoes planted there) and religiously spraying copper or Daconil next year. I know Daconil is not organic, but copper seems to have its own dangers as well despite being "organic". I don't have any other place to move my garden, so I'm not sure if there is much else I can do. I will also be putting in some type of fence to keep the dogs out of that part of the yard. One of my dogs not only eats leaves, but also the half done compost I use for mulch. I can't turn my back on him for a minute without him getting into something! It's like having a perpetual 2 year old!!! Thus my concerns about safety issues. ;)

I can't make myself use copper or Daconil, etc. Your description of the experience is exactly what freaks me out!

It's possible I've just been lucky, but I've had good experiences spraying a mix of milk, kelp or fish emulsion with water, sometimes with Epsom salt, and dusting the leaves with rock powder (I use agrowinn/s but there are others).I think the rock powder and the milk are particularly helpful - I apply them often when I see foliage symptoms and during the most disease-prone season for me (spring/early summer). What I'm trying to accomplish is not so much to get rid of the disease, since I think these things are basically ubiquitous in the enironment, but more trying to strengthen the plants to resist. So far it's working for me - I usually start out the season with a whole host of fungal and bacterial symptoms and then the plants start taking off and grow out of them. You've got to start early, though - if a plant is really far gone, it's only minimally helpful but that's true for copper, etc., as well.

I have to admit I'm not a big believer in garden hygiene either - I think it's basically impossible to keep a bed free of pathogens that are otherwise everywhere in the environment surrounding it. I've sterilized my stakes and scrupulously removed diseased foliage and I've also not done that, and I don't see much difference. You just want to do what you can to get your plants growing. Growth seems to be key to outpacing disease.

I didn't realize you could search your own name. I usually save my posts in a folder in my browser favorites (named "Posts" ha!). I date 'em so I know which are most recent.

"It's also the only site where I read and post that does not allow you to mention another message site, or you can be banned, last I knew ,although I've tried to clarify that several times with no luck."

Ok, let's see if I get banned for mentioning another site...I've always been curious about this.

Another great discussion forum: T o m a t o v i l l e. Had to do the letter spacing to avoid the "spam" police.

If I don't post again soon, you'll know they got me.

I have volunteer tomato growing between onion rows . I let it grow to see what will happen, it's now with fruits and lots of flower. Before the onion start bulbing the onion where fertilize by 21-0-0 every 2 to 3 weeks . I also put eggplant next to it to see what will happen .Now the eggplant has flowers.

Thanks for the responses. I followed the instructions on how much nitrogen to put on the cukes and corn, but am afraid the amount may have been too much for the tomatoes. I read the FAQ on blossom drop and it says that calcium can sometimes reverse the effects of the nitrogen in the tomatoes. Has anyone used egg shells successfully?

My first thought was do you have moles? Sometimes they will tunnel right under the center of a big plant in my garden and bring it to its knees, especially in hot weather. Add that to the fact that when it is hot they are active further down in the soil so their tunnels can't be spotted easily and you can have a real head scratcher.

An errant mole took out one of my black cherry transplants early on this year, but that plant was a trooper, already sending out new roots the second day and it has recovered to be a robust vine a bit behind its peers but healthy.

Could you have accidentally included some black walnut wood in your Hugel? Could your tomato plant have got it's roots into an airspace or dry spot in your bed?