16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Tomatoes are extremely resilient, you can even graft a tomato type onto a disease resistant root stock like they do with fruit trees. just bandage it and leave it be for a few days, it will heal.
Here is a link that might be useful: My corner of the world
I am having a similar "issue" allthough it's not much of an issue because I planted about 100 more seedlings than I can use. I am giving the rest away to friends and our community gardens. BUT...
All were started in the same flat, 2 of 7 rows did terrible in the flats, while 5 of 7 looked exactly how I wanted them to look. I potted up into the solo cups with pro-mix, scotts potting mix and Miracle grow potting mix all mixed together in a large tote.
They were in my south and west facing sunroom getting good light with a rotation under my 4 T8 bulb setup. Each day I would put about 30 under the lights and rotate them every day. It was the best I could do for this year.
I started putting them out about 2 weeks ago and the wether has been favorable, other than more rain than I would like. But, they spruce up quickly after each rain and have even made it through a couple good dounpours. They have also made it through 2 days in a row of 75-80 temps and not a cloud in the sky full sun.
My biggest few plants have nice thick stems, 3 sets of true leaves and are about 4-5 inches taller than the top of the solo cup which was filled about 3/4 of the way. Then the majority are about 2-3 inches over the top with thier second full set of true leaves.
Then about 10 are 0-1 inch above the top of the cup with only one set of true leaves. The suprising thing for me is that my daughter started some of my marglobe seed about a month ago, a full month after I started my flats, she bought one of those peat pellet starter domes. All of her plants are as tall and have better looking canopy than all but the best of my other plants. They never went under the shop lights though, only the first 2 weeks in the sunroom (including the first 5 days of germination) and then also spent the past 2 weeks in the elements.
I am not too worried about any of them though, save maybe the 10 that are really small. I just recently planted out 18 Romanesco broccoli plants which also had varying degrees of size and healthy look about them. They have been in the ground about 3 days and they all look almost identical now, they have all double to tripled in size since I put them in. The smaller ones tripling to catch up to the larger ones which may have doubled.
Now if I hade them in the ground and they had not moved in some time, I would in fact be a little worried. 3 weeks is certainly too long for a healthy tomato plant to not grow at all. I would personally dig one up carefully, find the root mass and massage it loose, then I would re-plant just to be sure it isn't rootbound. Also what is your soil like? Are you planting into clay? I don't have clay but have read where if you dig a planting hole and amend just the hole, the clay can be so much more dense that the roots could just swirl awound inside the planting hole taking the path of least resistance, essentially giving you a potted plant.
You can have, what I call, a bad spot/s in the soil for reason/s you will never know or are worth fussing with.
I have had plants do that and I either use a shovel to dig out the plant with a "root ball".
Then I put new bagged soil apprx. a foot deep and a foot around and put the tomato back in the ground with a foliar feed that has root boost in it.
I have only had one plant in the past ten years that was hell bent on dying.
No problems! Just let the plant do its thing. You've lost some time, but the plant will be fine -- remember that the root system was able to support the larger, before-accident size of the plant: that large root system will have no difficulty supporting quick growth on the now-smaller plant.
Once you find the broken stem, it would be a good idea to remove any fruit and flowers, as the new plant needs to devote all its energy to growing a root system. And you might want to shade it from mid-day sun for a few days.
I grow in SWC also, and I know Dave has several too. I agree entirely. 10-10-10 is fairly potent and 5 gallons is a small enviornment. I would think 1/2 cup, maybe a bit more would be sufficent. Your plants have that "steroid" look. You can learn a lot by reading Daves posts. =)
Watch out for fish emulsion. I planted out tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and okra yesterday and used a cup of diluted Neptune's Harvest fish emulsion and seaweed to water in each plant. This morning I found some okra and pepper plants completely uprooted, probably by a raccoon looking for fish. And, by the way, bumper crop and Miracle Gro both have a lot of fertilizer in them.
Much depends on the soil prep. that the plants are going into. If you have "Loaded" the soil to the highest safe nutrient levels then adding more could do more harm than good. However if you have gone easy on broadcast fertilizers than placing more fertilizer at the root zone will often give the transplant a boost.
I plant at high density in soil in two greenhouses and usually work considerable amounts of fertilizer into the soil prior to planting. I never add additional fertilizer to those plants. In the field I sparingly broadcast and work in fertilizer and then when I plant (with a water- wheel planter) I dissolve a pound of Miracle Gro fertilizer in each 150 gallon tank of transplant water, enough for about 400 plants.
Many tomato growers fail to supplement plants later in the growing season when plants need it most. With Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus and minor nutrients I try to incorporate in soil prior to planting, especially with P since Phosphorus(P) is not very mobile in the soil. Plants almost always respond to later Nitrogen and Potassium supplementation beginning at about the first harvest.
You didn't mention the size of the plant,fruit load or location of the damage but in most cases you can just readjust the plant with a little support and it will heal itself in a short time. When you note that 2 stalks are damaged are you referring to 2 branches and if so how many are there on the plant totally. I cut/snap lateral branches from my plants daily to limit to one stem per plant with no harm to the plants. For a severe stem "Kink" low on the main stem of a plant I would attrempt to dig a trench adjacent to where the stem meets the soil and bury that section of the stem.
This might seem like a critical situation but what I think you are experiencing is normal weather trama to the plant that it will adjust to and self-correct with just minor training on your part. If the main stem snaps low to the ground you might consider replanting, otherwise the plant will adapt and grow out ot the damage.
Carefully tie them to a stake. It's like splinting a broken bone, only you don't want to tie the stem tightly to the stake. Using some soft material make a figure eight with the stem in one part and the stake in the other part. Tie above and below the bend so it is straight. If it's going to work the part above the bend should perk up in a few days. If it's too damaged to heal, you might as well prune back to healthy tissue and hope the suckers will take over.
Meanwhile, I'm wondering what your conditions are in zone 3a that made you plant your tomatoes outside and vulnerable to wind. They need temps reliably above 50. We are still having some nights that dip into the 40s in zone 6.
Agree that most likely you did root damage and are seeing the results. For future reference never replace stakes on established plants. Add to the stake instead or put in the correct length at the planting.
As already said, no feeding, no extra watering, just wait and see. If it doesn't recover just lop off the damaged parts and hopefully the roots that were not damaged will generate new growth.
Lesson learned. :)
Dave
Thanks all!
I'm happy to say that the little fella has perked up since receiving some water. Perhaps it was just thirsty after all. Or root damaged and thirsty. In any case, lesson well learnt. Monitor water situation even more carefully esp when they are fruiting, and do not remove stake! In my defense, I had no idea at all it was going to be this big. I thought it would be a nice neat little determinate plant. But no, it's now growing taller than me, definitely indeterminate!
Thanks again :)
Experienced gardeners who remove suckers from tomato plants are generally training indeterminate varieties to a single stem supported by a stake or suspended string. This allows for good air circulation where humidity is a problem, and allows some people to grow more varieties in a smaller area. The fruit is more visible, and sometimes these gardeners also thin their fruits for bigger or more perfect individual fruits.
If you are planting in big cages, you can leave suckers (those which won't lead to fruit lying on the ground) on indeterminate varieties. Especially if the air is dry and the sun is strong where you live, good leaf cover is an advantage in protecting fruits from sun scald.
Did you leave the bottom on the kiddie pool in which you planted your tomatoes? How do you plan to support your plants? Are they determinate or indeterminate varieties? Pruning determinate varieties to a single stem will lead to much less fruit, as they do not make new flower buds throughout the season as a single stem grows taller.
I also use 1gph emitters on my tomato plants. I use sliver plastic mulch film and only water at MOST every 5-7 days for about 1 -1 1/2 hour. A LOT of people had horrible harvests in last year's heat because they watered too much. We had one of the best harvests ever in part I think to a consistent, deep watering schedule.
If your plants look wilty during the heat of the day, that's just their normal response to conserve water. If they perk up in the evening and look good in the mornings, they do not need water.
Thanks everyone, this information really helps. Just to be clear, I haven't actually started watering yet, I just set up the schedule. I will reduce it down to once a week and see how things go. My rows are actually only 10' long. I have 20 of them. I actually had a great harvest last year though we got a late start. My watering was erratic.
I didn't know about the dowel method for checking moisture levels and will look into that to keep an eye on things. Thanks all!
Thanks for the input. I sprayed with a copper fungicide made by Bonide, it seems to have slowed it down. Unfortunately now I seem to have bigger problems. All of my plants are exhibiting twisted and gnarled new growth indicative of herbicide damage. :( None of my immediate neighbors have sprayed anything, and after reading about Aminopyralid I'm beginning to wonder about the straw I mulched all of them with. Really really hoping it's not that! I am hoping they put on some normal growth soon, but so far it all looks bad. I am thinking I should probably pull them all up and start over while I still can. Between the fungal/bacterial problem and now the herbicide damage, all of the plants look weak and stunted, and they are really not taking off growth wise like they should in this weather (high 80's low 90's days, mid-upper 50's night). Although if the damage is from Aminopyralid leached into the soil I guess I'm toasted for a few years. :(
There could be a number of problems with the soil and possibly what you added to it. Review your source of information again for preparing your planting area and what you did. Consult a master gardener diagnostic clinic in your county. You can bring in photos, a leaf sample, etc. and talk to one of them. Usually, they're at stores or farmer's market regularly during the growing season. Search online or call your county cooperative extension office to find the schedule.
Try testing for herbicide by growing peas in 2 pots. One with clean potting soil and the other with the mulch in question. I had the same fear after reading a book in spring after using horse manure + bedding in the fall for our 1st time and ours turned out free of it.
If the herbicide is in the soil pulling up your plants and replanting won't solve the problem. The article should help you with that question.
Here is a link that might be useful: explains how to test for herbicide
In "theory", the water should wick from the reservoir as needed (much like an earthbox). I noticed that some roots have made it into the reservoir. Should I allow the reservoir to go entirely dry before refilling? Has anyone had the same problem using 'moisture control' potting soil?
Has anyone had the same problem using 'moisture control' potting soil?
Yes, many have reported on problems with it. It keeps the plants too wet unless used in exceptionally large containers (like bigger than 35 gallons). And Raybo has posted about problems with it here in his 31 gallon Earthtainer set-ups.
It is one of those things that sounds good in theory but not so good in practice sometimes.
If that is what you used then you'll have to reduce/monitor the watering much more closely.
Some have started incorporating perforated landscape fabric into the bottoms of their SWC just so the roots can't get directly to the water. I haven't tried it personally since I haven't had any problem with it in my Earthboxes but then I use a timed auto-drip system on mine so the water chamber doesn't sit full of water all the time.
Dave