16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

Environmental stress, even though for a brief time.

Ran short of water -- perhaps excess heat but not direct light; perhaps more breezy than usual; perhaps a combo.

The key diagnostic point is that the damage is in the areas at the end of the water supply -- between the veins.

thanks for the help! I will keep ya updated with new pics and see if the condition improves/declines.

If you've ever bought potted plants and had them shipped, you'll know the various firms use a variety of packaging methods that range from wonderfully protective and effective ... to infinitely worse than you could imagine in your most horrific nightmares.

I keep a list of vendors, and one of the columns is "Don't Ever Buy Again!"

Here's how Selected Plants packs their seedlings. It's a good example of how to deal with the various issues involved in shipping delicate plants. I've never had tomato seedlings shipped to me, but this page certainly inspires confidence. Scroll down until you get to the photos:
http://www.selectedplants.com/ordering.htm

Yes, I know how Darrel packs his plants and it took him a few ways of doing it before he settled on what you see.

And not only is his packing great, but he offers a huge number of varieties and his plant costs and shipping costs are much more reasonable than lots of other places out there.

And I'm just noting that it makes a difference if someone is shipping to friends versus Darrel and others who are in business and folks are paying for the plants and shipping.

I've offered to pay for plants shipped to me in the past but my offer has always been turned down since they say something like...... what are tomato friends for. ( smile)

Carolyn

Clickable link to Raistlyn's photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57048076@N06/7163853410/in/photostream

No need to despair: the top one looks good! Once a flower is pollinated, it's normal for the petals to fall, as they're no longer needed. Inside the green sepals is a teeny baby tomato, which won't seem to do much for several days. See this timeline for what happens when (note that there are 8 days between when the blossom opens and when he shows the visible tomato forming):
http://www.tomatosite.com/index.php?NT=Cultivation&RE=Truss_Timeline

When "blossom drop" occurs due to lack of pollination, the entire flower falls off: yellow petals, green sepals, and about 1 cm. of the green stem. [There's a natural joint in the stem where this occurs. If you try to peek inside the sepals to see the baby tomato, the joint will sometimes break accidentally, so be gentle.]

Lucky you to have such an obvious zone as Geneva! The USDA updated our zone map earlier this year and it took me quite a while to determine that I'm probably a mile or two on the cooler 7a side of the line.

Oh thank you for th� info and encouragement!

when I see photos of tomato fruit developing, the cone shaped part of the flower kinda stays there even while the petals fall off. Mine has lost everything except the sepals, but certainly doesnt look like blossom drop hmmmm confusing! When I peeked inside just now *i think* I saw a teeny weeny green pin head inside! Could that be.... .??

Also according to the link you sent, it seems the flowers are open for quite a few days before falling off. I think mine have barely been open for 2 days ! I wasn't afraid of lack of pollination actually as I have been shaking them everyday, but more blossom drop due to unsuitable temperatures.

I'd be very skeptical about anything that adds sodium to water, as most plants abhor it. This is why you don't use softened water to water plants. Sodium blocks uptake of other nutrients.

Link below is to all kinds of info on it - everything anyone could possibly want to know about it and then some. Note what is used is diluted sea water in the studies done (which also just happens to be nutrient rich). Got access to sea water? Otherwise do so at your own risk.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Salt water irrigation yields

The stem was very weak and thin just above soil line. It also felt kind of soggy right there. Don't really know what this means. Yes, I have a dog, but he seems to prefer to 'water' my hydrangeas.

I think it was probably damping-off. You can read about it at sites like these:
http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/qt/Damping-Off.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_9361_prevent-damping-seedlings.html
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page13.html

And here's the old thread that has the photos of a young plant with a narrowed stem:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0416271013922.html

If you didn't start the plants from seed yourself, you can blame the grower.

"dryed shrivelled green leaves" is usually either a nutrient issue or a pest issue. Any sign of pests? Look for spider mite webs or aphids. What and how much have you fed it? Is it in a container? If so are you sure it isn't root bound?

Need more info please.

Dave

No spider mites or aphids. It's growing in a raised bed in a mulched bag of Miracle Gro organic potting soil with extra soil around it. The main stalk is not showing dry leaves, only the side growth with fruit attached is.

If the conditions in your sun room are not much different than being outdoors, then I guess it's possible for them to adjust a little faster. I can't say, since I don't have a sun room, heh.

I've never seen it personally, but the difference between my semi-shaded back porch and my garden is vast. My garden gets full sun from sun up to sun down, no shade, no protection from wind by trees or shrubs or anything. If I don't gradually harden them over at least a week or two, then I expect to see burnt plants when they hit the garden.

I notice you are in zone 5b. I am on the border of 5b and 6a and started hardening off my tomatoes 3 days ago and my peppers (which are two weeks older) a week ago. They are doing well with a gradual increase in time under the sun and some rain. But we have a forecast of night temperatures in the mid-40s over the next three nights. I plan to bring my plants in for those nights. Temps under 50 can cause a real set back in summer vegetables.

Can they survive? Sure. Just make sure they are well hardened off before transplanting or if you have a way of shading and protecting them in the garden then plant them now.

Dave

Absolutely. See below for a rather extreme example. This plant will be just fine although it is not appreciating the cold/wet weather this week. Tomatoes are very resilient plants.
http://worldtomatoes.blogspot.com/2012/05/planting-day-1.html

everything I read here seems to contradict what I've read before

Hmmmm, since most of what we talk about here is fairly common knowledge, that makes me want to ask where you have been reading before?

But then sometimes what seems like a contradiction is really just a misunderstanding.

Dave

It seems like pruning suckers is a practice that is pretty commonly recommended for indeterminate vines.. Another example is a post i was reading the other day about BER not being caused by a calcium deficiency in the soil, but instead by the way calcium circulates through the plant. I was just trying to say I've learned a lot here. This is my first season to grow tomatoes (or anything really), and from seed, so I'm just a little green, my bad.

I guess it depends on where you live. Our local nursery sells heirlooms at around $1.50 a plant whereas Lowes/HD are over twice as much. They may be a little bit smaller, but tomato plants catch up really fast.

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden

My local nursery only offered one heirloom - Cherokee purple...not that I'm complaining. Was happy to find several heirloom varieties at HD, even though the price tag was higher. I picked up:

green zebra
black krim
mortgage lifter

No, not aphids and foliage diseases are spread via wind and rain, for all new foliage diseases, and only if you had the same problem in a previous year could there be splashback infection with spores/bacteria that had fallen to the ground.

With your new picture I don't see what I saw before. I now see lots of leaves with dark edges and that can be due to either fertilizer burn, too much fertilizer, or too much water.

What do you think in terms of fertilizer used as well as too much water?

What about the rest of your tomato plants? How are they doing? And did you raise them from seed or purchase plants?

Carolyn

The rest of them have similar leaves with dark edges. Most were purchased plants (Bonnie is the maker)

Fertilizer : Tomato / Vegetable food once per month. (made specifically for tomato's)

Water : Once per day right now as it's been 75+ each day. Might be excessive even in dry conditions.

Thanks