Tomato Issues

15 years ago

Good day,

I'll start by saying that I am posting for my neighbor and will provide as much details as I can...

Here are his very sad looking tomato plants. The leaves feel hard and kind of dry and definite curl going on. He gets blooms but they drop off. Our temps have dropped below 80s in the evening over the past two weeks, but they are still dropping.

Any ideas what is going on here and how/if they may be fixed?

I think he has only been gardening in this spot for two seasons now and he did have some success last year, I recall him showing me tomatoes on the vines. He's planting in the native soil, very slightly raised bed.

There is an established fig tree to the back of these plants. The fig seems to be showing some rust from all the rain we've had. The palm rats and birds were picking the tree clean though and I'm not sure, but I think he used some poison. There is a cantaloupe vine running along the base of them with at least one fruit developing.

They get a decent amount of morning/early afternoon sun as they are on the front side of his house (Southeast exposure).

They may also be getting hit with some of the "grey water" from the sprinkler system (which definitely troubles me).

I have no clue if he is adding anything to the soil.. I know I see him out on the side of the house tilling the weeds under in between plantings. He's made mention after seeing my use of UCGs that he adds his espresso grounds to plants now and then. I asked if he adds lime or anything between seasons and he does not and thinks he will before next season. I suggested the whole legume row cover deal, which he is also considering, but said that he has not been able to successfully grow beans in at least 6 years. But that's long term fix stuff.

His seeds are definitely majority heirlooms that I think he may have even brought with him from Italy and has been saving and replanting each season - the tomatoes from the side of his house were some of the best I have ever tasted. Definite flavorgasm!

He has been very successful with tomato plants along the side of the house over many years, but production has dropped off in the past two years and I think the plants at the end of last season looked like these come summer.

Thanks for any help you may offer,

Chrissy on behalf of my neighbor Vinnie

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Comments (4)

whgille
15 years ago
Hi Chrissy

There are probably a lot of causes for the tomatoes to be in decline. When the soil is new, tomatoes do well. The more organic material the better. In order to flourish they must have a good diet of nutrients.
It is better in Florida to isolate the tomatoes to a spot or a container because of bugs and fungal diseases. I see some vines growing around it.
If Vinnie likes to plant in the ground, it will help that he gets a soil test and add what is needed, if he does containers the problem is solved, again he need a good foundation for his plantings, good soil with the right nutrients.
The seeds are probably very good, tomato seeds remain viable for a long time.
Some cities free compost are very good he maybe should look into that option. Add some black cow and fertilizer.

Silvia
tinael01
15 years ago
If there is an extension office close buy, snip a branch and bring it in. They'll put it under a microscope to look for little buggies like the chilli thrips I have - can't see them with the naked eye - or other problems. They are great! I wouldn't have known what my problem was without them. Syliva's formula....spinosad and serenade once a week would help a bug or fungus problem.
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sunnystate25
15 years ago
I had something like this last season. No matter what I did and spayed, it didn't get better. After long long research I found a few pictures in google looking exactly like mine and the article said it was something like tomato leaf curl or roll virus. Transmitted by all kind of flies. Infected plants never produce well and could be a source of infection for others. It was recommended to pull them out. I kept 2 of them to see what they will do. They looked bad and gave maybe 1-3 tomatoes.
Now I do preventative spaying spinosad every week!
Yme405
Original Author
15 years ago
I will pass along the information. I told him I would ask the wonderful folks on here and let him know if I heard back. He's 70+ and has no desire to be on the internet when he could be gardening, making wine or playing boccie!

But now here's my big concern! Should I be worried that whatever is going on over there... about 75ft away... will hurt my little guys?????

If you look through the peas in my plot, you can see Vinnie off to the right working in his side garden, and the tomato plants I posted up about are off to the left, just around the corner from those trash cans.

My guys are still babies!