16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
I haven't grown either of these tomatoes, but from the looks of the cages and support you have, you should be fine. The tomato plant should thicken the stems a bit more then usual to compensate for the additional weight. I'd wait for Dave to give the final word though ;)
I wouldn't call it the final word. :-) But I wouldn't remove any of those great fruit either. I recall other pics of your set-up and supports and I think it should be possible to tie off a sling support of the fruit truss if you think it is necessary. Yes? No?
They make a plastic truss stem support scroll down to arch support. Cheap and easy to use if you don't mind buying 5000 of them at a time but I find that just a small sling of tulle or other lightweight netting (some use pieces of old pantyhose) under the fruit cluster is even cheaper and works just as well.
Then pick some of the fruit in the cluster at blush (breaker stage) pick it and ripen indoors to remove some of the weight for the rest.
Hope this helps.
Dave
One of the hundreds of Diptera (common flies) one can find in the garden at any time. Looks a deer fly to me.
You asked what is wrong with tomato plant and the answer is some minimal flea leaf beetle damage. You won't ever see them and as I said they pose no threat to the plants. And possibly some herbicide damage that shows in the one photo. Otherwise, nothing else shows in the photos. If you are finding aphids on the undersides of the leaves then you need to squish them or hose them off with water or if you prefer, use some spray on them. But they are not what made the holes in the leaves.
Herbicide damage is common this time of year because so many are indiscriminately treating their yards with no regard for the neighbors. You will have to track down the source of the herbicide and try to find out which one was used. Or you can just monitor the plant and see if it recovers, many do with time. If not it will need to be replaced.
Dave
Aphids have sucking mouth parts used to suck the plant juices. Damage is usually shriveling of leaves.
Beetles have chewing mouth parts that make holes...looks like flea beetle damage where the holes are shown. I would remove critter by hand if possible (toss into bucket of soapy water).
Last picture looks like it could be a type of leaf miner which could be looking to lay its larva. These larva will make paths inside the leaf tissue destroying the tissue. (A leaf miner is a type of diptera [fly]). If you can catch it (in a net) and destroy it - that would be best. Damage is mostly cosmetic and early removal of affected leaf is best.
Interesting article but the "best"? Wow! That's a pretty big broad claim. Especially when it is apparently based on
>one study done in different years a decade or more apart,
>in several different countries in Europe,
>each with very different soils and growing conditions,
>different rates of application,
>compared to untreated control plants and plants only getting other forms of K carriers pre-planting,
>and used as a side dressing or fertigation component (not foliar spray) and the fertigation apparently also included additional N & P,
>with very different results from country to country.
Still, based on the article, it is probably safe to say that plants given additional supplemental feedings of nutrients in some form at specific times during the growing season will out-perform/produce plants given only a pre-planting feeding.
Beyond that the view gets a little hazy. ;)
Dave
try to check these two links: one about tomato fertilizer and the other about potassium nitrate:
Here is a link that might be useful: tomato fertilizer
Hmm, I just snap'em off whenever. I have been known to get over zealous with pruning, but I've never seen a plant respond badly...I doubt removing a few damaged leaves will hurt. On the other hand, leaving them alone may not hurt either if you're worried?
5/1/1 is definitely something I want to try, as I have read the rave reviews! But I got lazy and ended up using MG mix in one container (a big Rubbermaid tub) and another bagged mix (jungle something?) in another. Both are thriving, and both have roots growing throughout the tubs and into the ground through the drain holes. So far so good!
The twisting may just be an attempt to find better light, and the drooping may be related to the fact that they were outside and are now in (and overwatered). I think when you get them back into the hardening off process, they will perk back up.
I can't really see the "scald" well enough to tell if it is sunburn or something else. I've alwsys seen it as whitish patches on leaves, but perhaps I just didn't notice it on stems.
I see that your neck of the woods is supposed to have temps in the 70s for the next few days with some very cool nights, I say get them back outdoors and get them ready to planting. Warmer weather will come.
We've been cold, wet, and windy here too.
Betsy
Had trouble logging in. The plants did look better in the morning, and stayed looking good when I put them out under overcast skies this afternoon. I'll have to go slow with hardening off process again since it is supposed to be in the 80's (near 90) later in the week and they hadn't spent a full day in bright sun and heat before the cold and rain came. But they are all in garage and basement tonight, no more coming in the house under the lights!
Hope I can start planting them this weekend - a week behind schedule.
Going to start hardening off the peppers soon. In the meantime, I planted more lettuce, beets, and got my cukes and radishes in today, squash and beans tomorrow. Carrots are starting to germinate.
wrong forum! I didnt know there is a tomato pests and diseases forum .. Anyway, I found a similar situation discussed here .. older thread
One of the suggestions is that water on the leaves with bright sun .. I did spray water on that plant in the afternoon, assuming the trees would like the "rain feel". Of course when it rains, sun is not bright .. so this probably never happens during regular rain.
Can that be the explanation for this necrosis? And in that case, it should recover fine, right?
I don't buy the idea that sun on water droplets on the leaves will harm them in any way. That happens too often in nature for us to have no evidence of it in the wild. What I see on your plants doesn't look like a disease or malnutrition to me either. It is some kind of stress, possibly sunburn or insect damage. Sorry I don't have a more specific diagnosis.
I doubt is is the mulch although it does seem quite early to be putting the mulch down, especially if you have been having the cooler and wetter than normal weather most of us have. Like planting out, mulching will be delayed this year by at least a couple of weeks.
The most likely cause of the symptoms you describe is just the weather - overly cool, overly wet, retarded root development, slowed nutrient uptake, etc.
If on the other hand you live in one of the isolated spots in the country having normal weather then I'd pull the mulch back from the plants and let the soil dry out well. Then hope that neither your mulch nor your compost contained any herbicides. Check with the sources for both.
Dave
It has been in the mid-80's here, a couple of 90 days (high desert though, nights are 44-50 - could wide temp swings do that?). I don't think wet weather is an issue, we're at 0.5" for the month, probably all we'll see.
At what point do you recommend putting the mulch down? I didn't realize it shouldn't be put down right away. I was hoping to keep the weeds at bay (which are a HUGE problem for us), but I'll pull it back and see how they respond.
I have it saved in my faves,stil lactive last I knew, and have posted it here and elsewhere several times in the past few years,
Whoops, I just went to pull it from my faves, and you're right, gone with the wind.LOL
Yes, Paul used to post here a lot and did the uploading of many of the new at the time FAQ's that we did here several years ago as you can see from the credits given at the end of the various articles.
Carolyn
Hello!
Just to make sure I understand ... (and I did a search but still wasn't sure), is it correct that once the tomato has started to turn whatever color it is supposed to be when it's ripe, which is called "color break," you can pick it and it won't affect the flavor?
I am growing some new kinds and I don't know when to pick.
I haven't been doing this actually, I've been leaving them on a few more days.
But I want to make sure I understand. It is okay to pick the tomato once the color has *started* to develop?
Is there a way to tell if the calyx is closed? Does it look shriveled or something?
Thanks!!! This is kind of exciting!
To missingtheobvious, thank you for the link to the weather site. I had that bookmarked on my old computer, but when that died I couldn't find it again. I used to use it because the local weather station is a farm only a few miles from my house. It was so much more helpful than the general reports from TV news.
As Carolyn stated you can have leaves curl from various conditions and I witnissed leaves curling in front of my eyes at my farmers' market stand last Friday. The day was a cool 45*F with gusts of wind and all my plants didn't like it. Eggplant leaves were the first to curl, then I noticed basil leaves were turning blotchy. The result is that today we had to remove 150 plants from the original total of 430 that were displayed Friday. I did sell around 100 plants (even sales were poor due to weather) but I'm hoping they turned out OK. None of the plants are a total loss but with brown burn on the leaves they cannot be sold in the near future. Like responses on this site, customers see a freckle on a leaf and they don a face mask so they won't catch Late Blight.
The odd thing with mine is that the older, larger, plants were hardest hit and they are 95% heirloom plants. Many younger hybrids escaped without any damage. This is possibly due to the stand position and subjection to the biting wind.
Thank you :)
They are getting transplanted today, hopefully that will cheer them up.
"remain calm, all is well."
Just prune those suckers (pun intended) AND those yellow leaves off and everything will be both hunky AND dory.
Mazeltov