16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Carolyn thanks. I went and read your e-mail at the other place. I just bagged the plants and put them out for the trash.

So I could use some enlightenment on this subject. My tomato plants are almost 2 month old not seedlings. I have I abused them? After they popped all the bloom everywhere and small tomatoes appeared, I added Kool Bloom (2-45-28) to them...soil, and foliar feed them with Sea Magic mix fish emulsion. Now a day later find the dark coloring on my stems, mainly where the small stems come off the main stalk, and the small stems are splitting at the joint of the main stalk.I'm not a very experienced grower,but I don't think the splitting is from poor support and the color looks alot like the mixture of seaweed and fish emulsion...anyone give me some insight. I guess time will tell. If they all die I will be so disappointed, I have really over babied them,need to just be patient.I planted these kinda late May 25th so looking forward to tasty tomatoes.I have more I planted the middle of June that don't have this condition,so I think I'll just leave them alone and stick to water!

I know this is not about leaf spots but was the closest I could find. I have 7 week old tomatoes most about 4-5 ft. tall. I have lots of bloom.Two days ago I added Kool Bloom to them (2-45-28) Yesterday I noticed lots of new growth on the tops, the tops going all curly and winding all over.Today I notice dark spots and long black streaks on my stalks, mainly where the small stalks grow from the main stalk and on the main stalk too and the smaller stall are splitting from the main stalk.Leafs are a little soft and droopy on the tops, I'm afraid I may have O D them.I guess I'll just have to wait and see,but if anyone can give me some insight to me ,maybe before I go out and find them dead, (man that hurts to think)I could use some encouragement!!

So focused on the added Kool Bloom that I didn't mention that I also spayed them down with Sea Magic mixed with Alaska fish emulsion.The white stuff on the leaves is where I dusted them down with Viper (like Sevin dust), then that evening it rained.I never watered or put anything on them in the heat of the day. Very early morning or late afternoon.

no those are cherokee purples / and the yellow ones are mislabeled plants from ace hardware / was supose to be mortgage lifters/ the only blacks i planted were black prince got 2 so far off it but there very good tasting

Well JT, they are surely nice looking and look as if they will taste good. I bet you have already eaten some!

I planted Black Krim this year, but don't think I will plant them again. They taste really good but mine is not a great producer. I also think they have about three times the seeds but smaller.

David

I'd agree with what Carolyn said, Dave wasn't putting you down. And what he said is very true. He also wished you good luck and to have fun in learning experience.
Not sure why you (IMO) overreacted about all this. Don't let this heat get the best of you.

Cheers,
Djole

I was working with some tomatoes and accidently broke off a healthy looking branch from a Celebrity tomato. I thought what the heck, I dug a hole and planted the tomato branch and watered it well. I had no idea if it would root or not but it did and is now bearing fruit! A couple of tomatoes plants died so I cut a few more branches from a healthy plant and they "took" as well--no coddling or anything, except to water every day we didn't have rain.

How deep is the soil they are planted in? If it is as shallow as it looks you will likely need to water every day. Be sure to pick any that are at breaker stage before watering.

Dave

Soil is straight into the earth...grass used to be there

its mislabeled,,,,feel better now ? lol

dickie... you're on a roll today.

bggarric-
Welcome to tomato growing! Your orange one will be ripening soon!

You said you trimmed plant - some fruit can get sunscald if removed leaves reveal them to too much sunlight. You could create some light shade for it until it grows new leaves to cover fruit. Perhaps, a lightweight curtain (fabric shower curtains work great), rope, clothespins, etc. Don't touch the plant itself though. Might look a bit funky, but in your climate should grow quickly.

You asked what to do budget friendly - just keep watering, lightly fertilizing, and watch for insects that might be crawling & chewing. I prefer to tie stems even in cages like yours to keep plant supported and spread a bit to fill the cage. Also helps as it grows taller than cage and flops over to keep growing. If tied doesn't crack stems. Use what you have to make strips of soft material (old tshirts, nylon pantyhose).

~~Enjoy your 1st season of tomato growing~~

Agree, not leaf miners....they leave trails that twist and turn like a wild tiny river in your leaves (their tunnels). Remove leaves only if diseased as they provide needed shade as your toms start to ripen. A few bug holes or hail holes in leaves just add to the charm of a plant in July.

I am so sorry! I didnt mean to imply that I thought someone gave me misinformation about the heat damage, more just as additional information that some or all of it still could be from heat damage, and I wasnt clear how to tell that from the other alternatives, so I put it out there for consideration. I am deeply grateful for the learning and guidance I've gotten on here. I'd have killed everything months ago if it werent for these forums!

Okay, went out there and cut off every part with damage showing whatsoever, but it was a pretty dramatic "hair cut" in some cases. I had a bottle of Serenade organic spray on hand and went to town with that, spraying all the surfaces. I'll head out to a garden store tonight after work and see what else I can pick up.

Fingers crossed! Ugh, I'm so discouraged that between the rabbits and this now, more than half of my garden has been decimated. I hope I can save at least some of the tomato plants!

I'm so discouraged that between the rabbits and this now, more than half of my garden has been decimated.

I know it can get discouraging when our expectations exceed our success but don't let it get you down as it is all a part of gardening. But so is optimism each year.

Just think of all you have learned and so can fix or prevent for next year. No matter how many years we have been gardening we are all still learning each year.

Rabbits can be fenced out and while we can't control the weather we can prevent or at least discourage many of the common diseases by using fungicides early on. Especially when the weather patterns indicate they will be a problem. Way back in late February-early March when the unusual and weird weather patterns began in much of the country we were warned that fungus problems would likely be an issue this season. And sure enough they have been for many of us.

So chin up! You aren't alone. And we all hope next year will be better. :)

Dave

Hey everyone. The fact that I'm NOT seeing them everywhere is what's gotten me nervous that it may be something else. Maybe mine are just sneaky? I just went out this evening and squished two, but that's all that I saw.

Would you suggest pyrethrin for stink bugs? Or just a search and destroy approach?

For as few as your seeing, search and destroy seems right. But the spots on the tomatoes, if it is stink bugs, looks like more than just a few. As you know, every place they stick their needle and suck out the juice leaves a little white spot. Normally on my tomatoes there are larger white spots where a bug will work over an area for a while. The speckled nature of your tomatoes makes me think it's not stink bugs. I would definitely spray with Sevin or at least some type of bug spray anyway.

Thanks,

I just filled a 4" pot with spoil and transplanted the plant there. We'll see what happens. ;P

Really looks like a pepper. Is that a possibility?

Definitely have hubby cut some more bamboo to use as
stakes. Then you could tie them together for better
structural integrity. Tie the vines to the stakes.

Same principal I use for my PVC cages. But if you have
lots of bamboo that size, I'd use those.

Here's a tip to pound those stakes into the ground. Get
a piece of pipe big enough to go over the stakes. Put
a cap on one end. Then slide the open end over the bamboo
and pound away. Mark them so you know when you've a foot
or so into the ground. Works like a charm with my PVC.

I'd also cut the bottom of the bamboo on an angle (say 45 degrees or so). That will help it penetrate the roots.

Below is a link to my PVC cage page, just in case you're
interested. They work wonderfully in a small urban garden
like yours appears to be.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Matkey tomato cage

dave, you mentioned crw cages. what are these?

Just search 'CRW cages' here for all sorts of discussions in pictures of them. Basically, cages made from rolls of concrete reinforcing wire.

If you Google them you can see all the pictures of them many of us have posted here and find all kind of info on how to make them.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: CRW cage pictures

Mine have the same specks, too. From talking to others, it has been a problem this year in southern California, but I haven't heard exactly what it is.

Here is a link that might be useful: tomato problem solver

Sounds like a fluke that copper seems to be slowing down whatever is ailing my maters! I think I originally bought it for bacterial speck. Question came up on another forum re copper fungicide and I have heard before that copper kills bacteria, so not to use it with, say Serenade. So, does it actually kill bacteria or does it work (supposedly) more as protecting unaffected leaves?

Thanks for the feed back - I knew there wasn't going to be a pat answer. I was just curious what peoples expectations were. I am going to try to track mine this year. Checking the plants closely today I think every type I am growing has at least one obvious tomato on it. Early Girl, Purple Russian and Genovese Roma (which I expected to be a plum shaped tomato - but it isnt) are way ahead of the rest.

Corrine 1, My growing season is a similar length, but we get hotter than you in July - hot enough 2 weeks ago that I know some of my fruit aborted.

300lbs. of tomatoes is way more than I expect from all 16 of my plants!

Last year I had 15 tomato plants -- some in containers, some in raised beds -- a mix of sizes and varieties. I harvested 200 pounds of tomatoes.