16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

I can't tell for sure from just one leaf. Take a picture of the plant and post it pls. Just fyi, it looks to me like Tomato Spotted Wilt virus, but need to see an entire plant to be sure.

DarJones

Jean, definitely not aphids.

Fusion, I'm hoping its not spotted wilt virus! I looked up photos and it certainly looks like it! I'm going to take samples to my extension office soon. I didnt take a photo of the entire plant because only small sections are showing symptoms that you can't see unless closely examining.

I live up north, and I just transplanted my tomatoes in the garden this past weekend.

As you live in a much warmer area with a longer growing season, you should be just fine.

Plant it deeply, mulch it, and water as needed.

In fact, smaller plants seem to do better for me, and Sungold grows like crazy.

Loomis, the original poster was concerned about the summer heat wave she gets in her area. Their summer heat often causes vegetable production to shut down, especially tomatoes, for a good two months out of their summer. The plants can also get beaten up and wilty, and need to be watered tons despite producing no fruit, not a good thing in a dry state.

Some of these hot climate states actually have 2 short growing seasons. First one goes from early spring to early summer, the second starts in very late summer to late fall.

This post was edited by sjetski on Tue, May 21, 13 at 22:33

I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers.

Oh you didn't. Not at all. Sorry if it came across that way. I just didn't want to confuse the issues - or make it even more confusing than I already had.

So my try at clarifying it likely only did what I was trying not to do. Typical for me. Apologies.

Dave

Generally when I plant tomatoes, I strip off the bottom leaves, dig a deep hole and add pulverized eggshells or bone meal at the bottom of the hole. Tomatoes love calcium and the eggshells provide this and help to prevent blossom end rot.

Planting the tomatoes deeply will allow roots to form along the buried stem and will lessen the need for watering.

Perhaps the stress of transplanting may make the leaves yellow for a short while, but they should soon become robust again.

If not give them a shot of an organic fertilizer such as liquid fish emulsion or some similar product.

Have patience while they adjust to their new environment and they should do well.

Comparing different varieties for growth rates is very mis-leading and basically pointless. Just as the fruit produced is different so are the growth patterns.

The size of the plant is determined by its genetics in addition to the growing conditions. So IF you insure they are both given the same growing conditions then it is the genetics of the variety that make the difference. CP never reaches 9 feet, maybe 6 feet. It is normally a smaller plant than BW even at full growth.

Dave

well i live in your neck of the woods and my cherokee purple plant has done the same thing. it and mr stripey are the weakest looking varieties in my garden.

As a Biologist, I do not understand the need of Organic Gardeners to use ONLY Organic fertilizer. While it makes sense to use organic compost, plants can use ONLY inorganic materials for nutrients. Any organic material must be broken down to inorganic materials before the plants can use it. The refusal of many to use inorganic fertilizer in the first place does not make any sense.

I agree with Bugdoc,

To me the "Organic Issue" is mor of an environmental issue than botany and biology, food and heath. Here I am only referring to fertilizers, not hormones fed into chicken , cows amd pigs.

The environmental side issue of inorganic ferti;lizedrs is claimed to be that they leach and get into streams and ground water. I am not in position to make an assessment of this but I thing the biggest hazard come from the chemical industry than my tiny garden spot, using less than one pound of , say ,phosphorous a year. How much of it is going to get int the ground water ?

I am not knocking the environmentalist. they are entitled to their lif style just like religious belief. But I think that use of inorganic fertilizers in agriculture, has made a big contribution to feeding the hungry in the world. And as far as the cabbage is concerned, it does not matter where that nitrogen atom (or its compound) comes from.

But I am concerned with the chemicals that are used as sprays on fruits and vegetables, to some extent. This is the area that I like to be organicd.

With the established garden, probably you can just plant and let its roots grab the soil first and then fertilize as neede.
But with a new raised bed or flat bed.. that has just been filled with purchased material(soil, compost..) it would be safe to fertilize lightly at transplant time.(my case this year). I do not fully understand the merrits of BOTTOM OF HOLE fertilizing. I figure the surface fertilizing eventually will go down anyway. But with the B-of-H methos, it might get leached before the plant gets to it. This of course will depend on the amount of watering( an/or rain fall)

I do not fully understand the merrits of BOTTOM OF HOLE fertilizing.

Just as with all the "magical cures" for BER that many insist on using, it is more for the gardener's benefit than for the plants.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-)

Dave

Dave,

Yes, some of it does. Other leaves turned uniformly dark
yellow. And overnight. The day before they looked
perfectly healthy, then overnight - bright yellow orange.
I have no pictures of this because I treated with fungicide
right away and stripped off the most affected leaves.

Also, I think significant the fact that I had another shelf of
plants three feet below these ones that appeared to be
unaffected. One day later though I see the first signs of
the same thing. They have gotten "fungicided" this
morning.

Then of course there is the "yellow printer ink" running off.

Maybe it will never be identified but I will probably know
the end result pretty soon. The fungicide - copper soap
and spreader-sticker seems to be helping.

Thanks again for all your help.

Here's my latest scenario;

1) I think it's pretty definitely a fungus. Which one is uncertain
but according to Dave's reference it could be powdery
mildew or something similar.

2) The indoor location is unusual for that but not impossible.
The area is a back basement. It is not wet and there have
been no other occurrences of mold or mildew. That doesn't
mean it can't happen, especially with the enticing object of
tomato plants, soil and water in a confined area.

3) There is a duct with a register nearby but not very well
located. Consequently, with respect to air circulation,
it is a bit of a dead end. Add moisture and a steady
temperature in the low 70s and it looks as if I may have
created the ideal incubator for some sort of mildew organism.

4) I have used some external soil in there for repotting and
so on. As well, I have entered the area several times a day,
sometimes after working outside in the garden. So, spores
could have come in on clothing or skin.

5) The original occurrence was confined to a single shelf
with an area about 2' by 4'. a dozen plants there might
make an ideal breeding ground for a mildew.

6) The confined area and minimal circulation would have
allowed for a normal pathogen life cycle followed by a
sudden "bloom" of infection and spores. this could account
for the extreme and sudden (overnight) yellowing (oranging)
(sic.) of some leaves while a few others have a more
characterisitc appearance of infection.

Hi Dave, i fed them Tomato tone. That is usually the only thing i use. Do you recommend anything else? They have been planted for 1 week. The banana peppers have brown spots on the leaves, but the new growth does look good.
Of the 15 tomato plants i have, only 3 of them look to be crappy looking, all the other 12 look great, so that is why the concern.

For some reason when i catch those brown bacterial spots on my peppers, i have trouble beating them back, and i've used every chemical under the sun. Some work better, some don't. It isn't the worst thing they can catch, but it is contagious btw.

For more generic plant varieties, i would just yank them out, then buy more and plant those instead, it's early enough in the season. If it's a rare type of plant, then i'll baby it and spray it down with one or two different solutions.

Those May temperature fluctuations + cold rain will get you every time. This is why i prefer to plant out later than normal, instead of trying to beat mother nature ;)

Keep the leaves as dry as you can, but seriously consider yanking a few of the worst, and replant.

will post a picture when I get one--growing them indoors with aeroponics--have other pants without the brown fuzz

Try posting in Hydroponic Forum.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/hydro/

Here is a link that might be useful: Hydroponic Forum.

Perfect info from Betsy. Question - why do you feel you need to prune any of them? The need to prune indeterminates is dictated by your support system and the plant spacing you use.

Dave

Another reason, in addition to what Dave said, is the seasonal limitation. In zone 5, 4.. the plant would not have enough time to rais all the kidds that it wants so greedily.
from the blossom to ripe tomato it takes 3 to 4 weeks.(?). As a gardner with seasonal limitation I want to get fruits not so much lush green foliage. I need just enough green to support the fruits formation . Here in the Pacific NW, some gardener will pinch off all new growth at the end of summer, Becaust any tomato set after that will not have a chance to become ripe. This is analogous to planned parenthood.LOL

Both leaf curl and blossom drop could be the temperatures, it always is for me. On the watering, it's definitely too much. We obviously live in very different climates, and I use raised beds where I control the soil, but I haven't watered yet and have 3 ft tall healthy plants.

"I've been deep watering / flooding with a bubbler about twice a week, and spraying water until it pools up a bit, on the rest of the days."

Sounds like way too much water to me too. That could account for the leaf roll, it is a response to physiological stress. As Ohiofem said, you should let the soil dry out between waterings.

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 soil 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 moderately 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.

As for the blossoms dropping, you had some temps that are in the range that cause blossoms to drop. When the temps are moderated, you will get more blossoms that will set fruit.

I hope that helps.

Betsy