How big is your pot? I have tomatoes in containers and find that I water them a minimum of once a day. When it gets hot sometimes twice a day.

Also, could it be a wilt disease like fusarium? I have one in a pot that I think its roots probably grew out of the bottom. The pot is on the outside of my garden which does have fusarium in it and I am assume the slow death of this plant (which can no longer be perked up with a good watering) is because it now has fusarium wilt.

I believe, from what I've read, that most of those dieseases have some degree of necrosis or some other symptom. My plant looks extremely healthy and is in a large enough pot.

I watered again this morning, but that has not helped. I just moved the plant into a shady area to see how it reacts. I'll repost if anything happens.

In my experience they wilt and perk up for a week or two. Next they wilt and do not perk up. Finally the wilted branches do die. It does not happen all at once to my plants. However, since you are growing in containers under watering would be my first guess.

How to you gauge when to water? I've always checked the soil down deep to check for wetness. On occasion, I've used the plant itself as a quage--that is, looking for a bit of wilt before watering. However, nothing I do would seem to be a good indicator, if underwatering is the underlying issue. I know they like a deep watering, but I'm not sure how long to let them dry out. Any advice?

One possibility is too fine or retentive soil such as using seedling soil or poor quality or old potting soil. Can cause uptake issues by poor aeration or salt issues. The 5-1-1 mix discussed on the container forums resolves these issues.

My take on info provided is inadequate water. No way my pots can go more than 2-3 days in height of summer without water. Especially since there is no response on size of pot, that's my WAG based on scant info provided.

Dan

How do you all gauge when to water?

For toms in pots, when the soil is not quite dry.

Dan

Dan, what about watering pole beans? I have a few, and have likely over-watered them during the early stages. They seem stunted and a bit pale. The new growth seems a bit greener, and some are starting to climb. They, too, are in pots.

get a wooden dowel stick it in the soil when it feels almost dry then water. same for beans etc.

terrybull, how far down do you stick the dowel? Sorry if that's a dumb question. Thanks!

at least 3/4 of the pot.