16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

A Squirrel broke a main branch on one of my plants about 2/3rds in half, just 1/3rd of the branch supplying water to it.
It has managed to stay alive with fruit on it for about 3-4 weeks now, the heat hits it hard and it wilts but comes right back over night.

Just last night I had 2 of the best remaining branches on my other plant snapped in half by a damn raccoon.
They were too far gone so I just ripped them off the plant.

So to answer your question it can survive as long as there is at least 1/3rd of the branch left supplying water.

A Squirrel broke a main branch on one of my plants about 2/3rds in half, just 1/3rd of the branch supplying water to it.
Train A, traveling 70 miles per hour (mph), leaves Westford heading toward Eastford, 260 miles away. At the same time Train B, traveling 60 mph, leaves Eastford heading toward Westford.....

Sorry, that's just what came to mind. I mean no offense.

You might want to prune the dead leaves out. If it is a pest problem, there are eco-friendly solutions. Has there been a drought in your area?

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Vegetable Garden Site

It's blight. Spray with Daconil.

Hello winchesterva,

To be able to suggest what might be wrong with your plant, it would be helpful to know more about the environment it is in.

How often do you water and how much? Have you checked the moisture of the soil 3-5" below the surface before watering? Is it dry, just right, or soggy? Are you feeding the plant? How often? What are the NPK values of any fertilizers you are using to feed it? What has the weather been like in your area?

Everything certainly looks wet in your pictures. I can't say for sure, but the leaf yellowing looks like the classic symptoms of overwatering. I noticed what I think is a drip line in the 3rd photo, have you checked the output of the drippers/emmitters at that plant. Sometimes they clog and don't put out the expected amounnt of water (it seems like I come close to losing a plant or three to lack of water every year, I just replace the dripper). Sometimes the hose begins to leak around the dripper causing it to over water and I've even had a hose chewed open by a thirsty critter, probably a mouse.

Betsy

Hey Betsy,

Thank you for your response. I'm certain it is not overwatering, I have been watering once a week since we have not had any rain (fortunately yesterday we got about 3/4 of an inch!!!!). That is not a drip line, it is a watering system that has spouts about every third tomato plant that sprays a light mist at the base of the plant. Additionally, it is the only tomato plant out of 17 that is doing this.

The soil has been heavily amended with manure and compost (at the start of the season) and since planting I have fertilized them with MG once and sprayed and watered with compost tea once.

I read online this could be a nutrient problem:

http://5e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=t&id=289

"Nitrogen. The chlorotic symptoms (see Web Figure 5.1.D) shown by this leaf resulted from nitrogen deficiency. A light red cast can also be seen on the veins and petioles. Under nitrogen deficiency, the older mature leaves gradually change from their normal characteristic green appearance to a much paler green. As the deficiency progresses these older leaves become uniformly yellow (chlorotic). Leaves approach a yellowish white color under extreme deficiency. The young leaves at the top of the plant maintain a green but paler color and tend to become smaller in size. Branching is reduced in nitrogen deficient plants resulting in short, spindly plants. The yellowing in nitrogen deficiency is uniform over the entire leaf including the veins. However in some instances, an interveinal necrosis replaces the chlorosis commonly found in many plants. In some plants the underside of the leaves and/or the petioles and midribs develop traces of a reddish or purple color. In some plants this coloration can be quite bright. As the deficiency progresses, the older leaves also show more of a tendency to wilt under mild water stress and become senescent much earlier than usual. Recovery of deficient plants to applied nitrogen is immediate (days) and spectacular."

So, I will try using a fertilizer that can supply a heavier dose of nitrogen and see what happens, at this point I don't think I have anything to lose.

BTW, these Sungolds are awesome!

I wil take any additional thoughts you have on this!!

Thanks,
Mary

My yellow pear tomato did the same exact thing. Meanwhile the 2 Celebrity plants next to it are giving me some of the biggest best tomatoes I have ever grown. This despite drought and severe heat here for the last month. I can't figure it out. I agree with edweather, yank it up and get rid of it.

First of all, your other plants look ok, although they look a little under-supported. Your cages might have to go higher to get the kind of production you are looking for.

Second, what are you fertilizing with, and on what kind of a schedule? And how often are you watering?

I have mulched my tomatoes for the first time this year with hay, and I have never had better tomatoes. I put in two jobes fertilizer spikes per plant this spring, and I have been watering only 1 inch per week. With the mulch I am not losing as much moisture to surface evaporation, and I think that the water is staying more even throughout the soil profile.

The whole key to tomatoes is consistency. A lot of the things about gardening we can't control, but some of the things we can. If it has been raining a lot and has just let up, water a few days after it dries to keep the soil levels more even, and ween the tomatoes off of heavy rainfall, unless more is expected.

Try and add mulch to keep the soil temperature levels more even, bare dirt spikes in temperature at the heat of the day, and bakes like you wouldn't believe, taking precious moisture with it.

With those two factors under my control, and one of the worst droughts in 50 years here in Illinois, I have had one of my best tomato crops. Tonight alone I brought in two five gallon buckets of tomatoes (from 15 plants), and this was my 3rd picking. I have really been impressed with the performance of the fertilizer spikes.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

Plants look really healthy. containers appear to be small.

Yes, they are small containers for the size of the plants that are in them....there are 2 Big Beef in one and one Big Boy in the other. They came with 2 plants in each pot, I wish I have taken one of the Big Beef out also. I planted the other Big Boy in my perennial bed and it's doing pretty well, doesn't get as much sun but there's not too much I can do about that, it was the only space I had and I wanted to see if my soil was good enough to start growing more tomatoes in that garden.

I will try the Florida Weave, the plants are now tied to my deck but are getting larger every day. Thank you all for the input, I really appreciate it.

Linda

Here are some pictures of the plant I was concerned about:

I've also noticed the leaves on most all of my toms are getting a leathery texture and curling a bit. This is my first time growing tomatoes so I have no idea if this is normal. These are pictures of my sweet millions and cherokee purple, they seem to be growing like weeds but I'm a bit obsessed. Thanks for any input!



Those were the sweet millions, then again on my CHerokee Purple I see the leaves getting leathery and kind of curling.

oh and here is one more picture of the upper leaves on the German Lunchbox. The one with the yellowing leaves I'm concerned about. It seems like the upper leaves are slightly splotchy as well

Again, thanks for any input!

The information I obtain by Googling is that this variety is referred to both as Piccolino and Piccolo and is an F1 hybrid bred by DeRuiter seeds which I think is in the Netherlands.

I linked below to one site in the UK which ID's it as an F1 and there other references to it being an F1 hybrid via Google.

So are you saying that your daughter brought you actual fruits, in which case saving seeds from those fruits would be the F2 saved seeds and would not, when sown and grown out, give you the same fruits that she brought you.

Or are you saying that she brought you seeds of Piccolo F1 and you raised the F1 plants and now want to save seeds from those F1 fruits ?

In either case one doesn't usually save F2 seeds from hybrids b'c they won't give you back the same as the F1.

Nothing wrong with those F2 seeds, they would germinate just fine, but being F2 seeds, as I've noted, you won't get back what the true F1 plants and fruits look and taste like.

So while I could direct you to some great sites having to do with processing seeds I can't see the sense in doing that b'c this variety is F1.

This variety is also offered by many hydroponic places,as the F1, of which one is in Colorado, but I suppose the prices there are high since it's usually commercial hydroponic growers who need lots of seeds and F1 seeds are almost always higher in price than are OP ( open pollinated) seeds.

Am I making sense here, I sure hope so. ( smile)

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Piccolino/Piccolo F1 tomato seeds

My preferred method:

1) Eat, spit, dry

Works every time.

They do everything different in Tx. Ever been to Hippy Hollow State Park? Lake Travis?

Yes I have been to Hippy Hollow , but not since they made it into a park and started to charge money for it. ( Not since the Hippies are gone). TOO CROWDED, too many gawkers in boats.. Lake travis is 50 feet down and awful for swimming these last couple of years because of the drought. I live about 10 miles from Lake Travis.

I am chopping my indeterminate tomatoes down and I will get another crop in the fall. The nights are now to hot for toms to set.

I am using Black Gold potting soil. I will start checking the soil with a moisture meter..hopefully that will help.

That could be your problem if indeed you have a problem.

Should always use "Potting Mix" not "Soil"
The mix drains WAY better.

Bingo Tomahtohs, that's it exactly! With all due respect to Dave and Carolyn- and I mean that sincerely as I've learned so much from their posts on this site- I think they possibly may be unaware of this particular tomato plant phenomenon. I'll keep this thread alive if I discover anything worth posting as my anal retentive nature will not let it die without a reasonable explanation.

OK, here we go again. LOL

Complete self pollenization of a tomato ovary, or also accomplished by cross pollination , whatever, as long as all ovules in the tomato ovary are fertilized, then the small green nub called the ovary starts enlarging and about after a week or so you can see it start to enlarge and then it goes on to form a mature fruit.

If not all ovules in the ovary are fertilized by pollen, then that green nub does not enlarge and after a while turns a darker color and then RIP.

There's really no hibernation, as some have been calling it, it's just that the length of time after all ovules in the ovary have been fertilized is variable until the ovary starts enlarging and that's the confusing issue here.

And yes, from seeds taken from a single fruit there can be self pollenized ones that when sown give rise to the correct variety and seeds that are the result of cross pollination and yes, it's been found that up to four different kinds of seeds can be found within a single fruit due to self and cross pollination.

Temps and humidity have to be favorable for pollination to even occur in the first place but once that's happened then further weather related events are not going to wake up a tomato ovary out of "hibernation" and cause it to enlarge, etc.

Does that help? I sure hope so. ( smile)

Carolyn