16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
White tissue changes are usually from over-exposure or heat. Most likely source indoors is your lights. As already asked, what type of lights and how close? And normally recommended is a fan as well to reduce air temps.
Dave
Duplicate post. Linked the original below since you couldn't find it.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Original post
I would buy something with higher N untill the plants are a little more mature.
In my 10 gallon containers with miracle grow potting soil I used miracle grow tomato food 18-18-21 once a week untill they started blooming now im using Green Light Super BLoom 12-55-6 but will be cycling it with the miracle grow to maintain K
Just make sure when you water, you water enough that you see water coming out from the drainage. Dont want anything like SALT building up in your containers.
I was using 14-11-25 last season for my container toms and peppers. Last year season started in april, finished in october, i was using only the mentioned fert and had abundance of fruit (started feeding when the first truss appeared). Ofcourse if you want that *little bit extra* you can always try to adjust ferts with different stages of growth but a simple balanced fert with a higher K will usually do the trick for the whole season. In late september, as it got cold, i did get some signs of phosphorous deficiency (purple veins), but at the time it had more to do with the temp of soil in container then with the actual phosphorous lacking.
Also, i've used that same fert for toms in the ground in garden and they didn't complain either :)
Sorry about your tomatoes. They look grim.
Need considerable info to even attempt to resolve your challenges.
How big a container are they in? Length by width by depth?
And how many in each container?
Are you fertilizing?
If so, with what? what strength? and how often?
As for watering, I trust looking at the potting mix (or soil, when in the garden) and feeling.
How deep is it moist?
Does water run out the bottom when you water?
How often do you water?
Seems like whats happening is they were are low on nutrients, started showing the signs(mainly yellow leaves from not having enough nitrogen) especially now that its blooming it uses more. You noticed and were hoping it was just lacking water and added even more which if anything probably made matters worse by keeping the roots from absorbing what little if any nutrients are left if any from the miracle grow soil.
Of course this just speculation and my theory of whats going on, considering Im assuming that they have not been feed besides what nutrients were in the potting soil. If there were the case I would let the soil get back to how you had it and FEED it!!
Ok. No problem. I should be a pro at this by now since I have had so many problems this season. It just seems never ending. But on the bright side I do have successfully pollinated peppers and I believe my FIRST TOMATO!!! starting to grow. Sorry, I'm really excited about that, it's a Big Rainbow Tomato. I'll get pics of it tomorrow too so I can make sure it is healthy.
Anyway, the following pictures I have attached are not of the originally wilting plants I mentioned. These pictures are of the other tomatoes I planted on 5/8 in a raised bed across the yard from the other tomato plants. So far in this bed I have had to pull one tomato due to something burrowing into the stem and eating it hollow (never figured out what it was but found the entry hole right below the first stem, so ruled out disease). Also found a small black catapiller with I believe 2 green stripes on the sides eating one of my plants. I was surprised it wasn't a hornworm as I have spotted them already as well. Otherwise these problems have just arised in the last 3-4 days probably. I also have leaves that are not pictured that have a "shot hole" like appearance. I thinking that may be from flea beetles as the eggplants have the same "shot hole" spots, but haven't seen the flea beetles yet, so not 100% confident about that. These plants have not been fertilized yet as they were just planted 2 weeks ago and most of the have the yellow-green color you see on the single leaves. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
Also, the pictures of the beds were taken 5/9 so everything has grown a couple inches since these pics.
Here is a link that might be useful: Plants and problem leaves Pics
"This is a Black Krim. It's unusual as it appears two seeds grew together and one is potato leafed while the other is regular. Regular leaf is much more adept at setting fruit in this case."
Are you telling us that you have a single main stem with both Regular and Potato leaf types growing from it? If you had two seeds stuck or fused together, I would think you would have two main stems. I've seen that happen. If you do have just a single main stem, is there just one branch (lateral or sucker) that has the potato leaf form? If so you have a "sport" or spontaneous mutation.
If you have multiple branches with the potato leaf form, then I am truly puzzled.
Please note any fruit differences and let me be the first to say I'd like some seeds from both the "normal" (Regular Leaf) and the "sport" (Potato Leaf) branches. I'd be happy to send you a SASE.
Betsy
(You can click on the "My Page" link by my user name then click on the "Send me an email" link and let me know.)
THE link to Tania's page indicates that that variety was introduced to the US as Carrot-like, which I mentioned above and isn't that different from Silvery Fir Tree as Tania also mentioned.
Where did you get the seeds from that you've been growing Carrot-Like for so many years?
I can think of very few places where seeds are available, or were, or are now, see Tania's page for the now part. ( smile)
Carolyn
Healthy plants, lots of tomatoes but they all get the bad spot that rots the whole tomato. What is going on ??
That could be many different things. Tomatoes don't get the disease that roses get called "Black Spot" but there are many different things that can cause a 'black spot' on a tomato - some of them serious, many of then nothing serious at all.
Can you provide a picture of what you are talking about? More details and description?
There are lots of photo tomato problems solving websites with pics to help you identify exactly what you might be seeing. I linked one of them below.
As for giving away extra plants, I do it and so do many others here. Same goes for giving away tomatoes.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: TAMU Tomato Problem Solver
Betsy, I think you need to distinguish between black spots on the foliage of which the most common are Bacterial Spot and Bacterial Speck, as opposed to BER ( blossom end rot), which is almost always found at the bottom of the fruits, the blossom end.
BER usually doesn't cause the whole fruit to rot, just the blossom end but there's also a condition called internal BER where there's no indication of anything wrong with a fruit until you cut it open and it's all black inside. But internal BER is the rare form of BER.
BER and the common foliage diseases have been around forever and ever, so I'm not sure why you suggest that either BER or the bacterial foliage diseases seem somewhat new to you ( "black spots")and by implication, perhaps some of your friends.
The TAMU Problem Solver that Dave linked to is a good one and I'll link to another one I think is good, which is the Cornell one, below.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Problem Solver
Should do fine. It has for me and I have the same heat issues as you do just not as much drought problems. I checked all the previous discussions here about that variety and there are several zone 7 growers who report good results with it.
Most any variety does well in Texas or any part of the south as long as we plant them early enough and can keep them adequately watered because we have such a long growing season. Of course none of them will set fruit in the worst of the heat no matter where you live.
Dave
Well, I have a trick regarding heat that works for me. Right now I grow in containers. I move the plants out for morning sun and then put them under cover when I go back to work after lunch. when I get home I put them back out, getting about 8 hours of sun a day and avoiding the afternoon highs.
Next year I'll be switching to EarthBoxes, which should allow me to do the same since they are wheeled.
Is the ground around them well mulched so all the dirt isn't splashing all over them? If so then as long as the soil drains well so the roots don't rot they should be fine. Maybe a little bedraggled looking for a few days but they will bounce back.
Dave
It has to be an issue with water or specific spots. Just recently my container plants showed stress (waited too long to water) across multiple varieties of heirlooms and hybrids. My raised bed toms are all monsters, mixed hybrids and heirlooms. Now if we were talking production, I think the hybrid vs heirloom my ply in, but more importantly the variety.
As others have said, there is nothing particularly different with growing hybrids or heirlooms. Heirlooms and Hybrids can both present resistance to certain types of plant pathogens, but hybrids do have "hybrid vigor" and can sometimes tolerate a little more stressful conditions - the difference has not yet been particularly noticeable based on the heirlooms I grow.
That being said, what else is different about your plants? Did you grow them all from seed? If not, were they all purchased from the same supplier? Were they all the same size and of similar health at planting time?
I really like the smell of the cherry tomatoes. The Sungold leaves have a sweet smell about them.
Just an FYI, these plants were put out on March 19th.
Ernie: The wind pollinates the tomatoes by moving the flowers and that gets the pollen to fall. If it isn't windy or I have the building closed up for some reason, I will walk through the building and shake the trellis posts.
Dave: Lose the girls, heck sometimes I get lost!
Jay
Hmmm loopers on tomato plants? They must have gotten lost on their way to the cole crops. :)
I'd suggest that in fact they may be very young tomato hornworms as they look almost identical when very small and it is hornworm hatching time.
Dipel is usually sufficient and yes, assuming they are hornworms, then dusting all the plants would be a good move.
Dave
They're loopers for sure. I've watched their locomotion and they have the "inch worm" movement, which I do not believe hornworms have. Regardless, I'm going to dust all the plants. Thanks for chiming in!!!