16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
g'day mate, definitely a nutrient deficiency, and most probably nitrogen. it can be caused by lack of nutrients and/or under watering or over watering.
firstly, i assume your pots are big enough (> 20 litres) and that you used proper potting mix.
you should water it thoroughly until water comes out the bottom. how often depends on your weather, stick your finger in as deep as it can go....does it feel moist? that will give you your answer.
also, do u fertilise? you really should do this weekly, half strength all purpose fertiliser like thrive flower and fruit, or yates tomato fertiliser. skip organic stuff, it doesn't work that great in pots.
G'evening down there,
I "me too" anti's post. The nitrogen is not being replaced in these pictures. In the USA we would boost with MiracleGro or if we were in a rush something like Dyna-gro. The plants are sensitive both ways so be careful not to overcorrect or that will be just as bad. If you do it now, you can save all your plants using a soluble fertilizer and the Cherries should start up right where they left off pretty quickly.
PC
Well money is always a concern on heating as I watch propane use closely as I rarely run the heater during the day unless its rainy and cold. I am always trying to improve things to save on heating costs. This GH is positioned east-west and gets full sun, I have a single 52in exhaust fan I use when warm enough otherwise I keep it closed off. Internally I move air with 4 box fans from the ceiling. The tomatoes are on a suspension system in the center as the peak is 12ft and I have tomatoes to the top now. My biggest problem is with whiteflies attacking my peppers, I have traps out and spray daily. The tomatoes are doing well, good growth and still bearing new tomatoes.
If your tomato plants have stuff in the soil that's killing them, you can always do this (for tomato plants specifically): pull or dig the plant out (and as many of the roots as will come) and put the roots in water for two or three days (there's no reason it should die in the water, but it should grow out its roots some). Then repot in new soil. Keep the plant away from direct sun during this process (and for a short while afterward, maybe).
You also might consider rooting cuttings from your tomato plant. People say you can do it in soil. I root them in water, though, so far (just stick it in water and wait a couple weeks, and it should grow roots). If you add something crazy like diatomaceous earth or 24-8-16 fertilizer to the water it probably won't grow roots (and will likely die). However, the plants tend to lose nutrients after being in plain water so long. So, maybe an even, mild fertilizer would help (like 7-7-7). A tomato cutting I took last night and added 7-7-7 fertilizer to is still looking healthy. So, it won't immediately kill it, at the very least. Remind me to update this after a couple weeks to tell you if it worked better than plain water.
Some people say to add hydrogen peroxide to cuttings to help them root. I've tried this and it cleaned the cuttings, but it actually made them so they didn't grow roots in the portions of the plants that were under water. So, it seems kind of counterproductive. I haven't tried the food grade kind (the food grade kind is much safer, at least if you dilute it considerably due to its potency, considering the regular kind may have organophosphates, heavy metals or other chemicals in it). After I changed the water (and added no hydrogen peroxide), they grew roots (but not before).
[Hydrogen peroxide does seem to be great for helping seeds to germinate faster, though (soak the seeds for an hour in a diluted solution of it and water). I've tried that. I'd recommend the food grade kind there, too. If you use the regular kind, drain the solution and rinse the seeds before planting (so the chemicals don't pollute your soil).]
If you root tomato cuttings in soil, keep them out of direct sun. I think that's why my first attempt at that failed. Plants with disturbed (or no) roots seem to wilt quickly in direct sun.
This post was edited by Shule on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 23:51
Temperature stops fruit set and ripening if it gets too high, so you have to avoid the temps somehow.
My successful tomatoes have been tiny (Matt's Wild Cherry) or varieties from India (heirloom from one the SO's co-workers from India) or found thriving in Baja California.
One technique that works is to use short-season varieties developed for far north to get in the harvest before it turns hot, or for late-summer planting and an early fall harvest.
Another is to accept that the plants will sulk all summer with little activity and set fruit when it cools off in the autumn.
Black Krim. I've grown both Cherokee Purple and Black Krim and prefer the Krim.
I also always grow Anna Russian. Huge, heart-shaped fruit, dense flesh and good for canning. Last year, however, I think I got one fruit from two plants because the rabbits love them too. Every time one got close to ripe there'd be a huge bite out of it the next day.
Caryl
I wouldn't worry about it. You will probably have zillions of tomato volunteers springing up there next year, but since you don't plan to grow tommies there again, all you'd have to do is hoe the area or pull up the seedlings if you don't want them.
Linda
^^^^agree; if you can handle the smell, there shouldn;t be anything to make people sick in it. I'd save the cat litter for the kitty box and not use it on the tomatoes. If you want and the ground isn't hard, just hoe the mushy parts under now, or bring a wheelbarrow full of sand/soil from elsewhere and cover the especially offensive parts, or speed them on their way by dispersing them with the hose.
If you can't remove them though and the plants were diseased and something like gray mold sets in, that's too bad, maybe best just to chalk it up as an organic experiment and leave them to solarize, ferment/rot, the natural way.
PC
If you just want to plant a "SINGLE" row of tomatoes, I would say : Make is about 2ft wide. But for all-purpose planting 3ft to 4ft wide is common . With 3ft wide you can two staggered rows of tomatoes. (WWW...zig zag pattern)
With clay soil , I would recommend lots and lots of organic matter (compost, all kinds of manure, fine pine bark mulch). That should make a nice soil. I did exactly that with GA red clay soil, when I was in Atlanta.
Seysonn
@seysonn - thanks for that. I did a neem spray over the weekend - hoping for the best. will probably give it another round this weekend. I'm using 10ml of Neem oil in 1000 ML of water. Sound right?
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Are you using pure Neem Oil ?. Does it come with instruction ?
I have a concentrate, that has about 75% Neem + 25% other stuff. I mix about one Table Spoon in a Gallon : That is roughly 7 ml in 1000 ml.
Can you tell us where you are ? In USA? In Australia ? What are your temperatures? How many hours of sun your plant gets ? What is the variety ? AND can you post a picture of the whole plant ?What kind of soil you are using ? Does the container have good drain holes ?
Seysonn
jhamoud, this summer I had one plant who's leaves looked identical to yours in the first picture. However, the branches didn't fall off when green, but rather just turned dark and dried up like the leaves. I posted pictures and requested help diagnosing it. I was told it was Grey Mold. It did not have the fuzzy mold spores like in the pictures, so I wasn't sure that was the right diagnosis. But whatever it was, it spread to the plant next to it and both lost tons of leaves and branches despite spraying with a fungicide and religiously picking off the affected branches and leaves. It hit mid summer, so I still got a really good harvest before I pulled them in the fall. Wish I could help you further. Jennie
I'm not in your zone, but I believe you only have a 120 growing period. Theoretically we have a 6 month growing period here in the high desert, but I have better luck putting in a double crop of spring and fall tomatoes, so I'll be interested to see if you get any 'short season' recommendations.
Jan
Just got done removing the plants out of my no-till raised bed at work. The roots didn't venture far from the main stem, maybe 8" and root depth was down to 6". Studies have shown most of your microbes/spores in untilled soil are in the 3" to 6" depth range. So basically the roots won't wander far if the nutrients and microbes are close to home and they get adequate moisture.
So basically the roots won't wander far if the nutrients and microbes are close to home and they get adequate moisture.
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The purpose of the roots venturing is to find moisture and nutrients. If they can find it nearby, there be be no need/reason for them to run around. Also there won't be an urgency to grow more roots. So if the plants are watered and fed in a shallow fashion, that is how the root system would be, SHALLOW. But if you let them get thirsty between watering and water real deep, then they will have to go deeper, searching for moisture and food.
But I think also plants have some roots growth habit like top growth habit. But according to my analysis, a tomato plant can do fine in a 18 inch by 18 inch square surface area with a depth if about 18". That will constitute over 3 cubic feet of soil (about 20 gallons). The of course , managing the top growth is another issue.
Seysonn
Paul,
We plant another whole round of tomatoes in August here, in Aiken.
We get tomatoes til the end of November, beginning of Dec, sometimes later depending on the weather.
I also think you are not feeding your tomatoes plants, miracle grow and epson salts work wonders in this sandy soil.
If you have them in pots, it works on them too.
I don't plant Determinates, only the long producing plants the Indeterminates, and usually get tomatoes all summer, and go buy some new plants in August, and have them til winter.
Good Luck.
Thanks butterfly4u!
May I ask, which "red" indeterminate varieties do you plant in Aiken?
Paul