It sounds like you are having very hot weather.
IMO, just make sure they are watered(finger test)Also, mulch them well to preserve moisture longer and keep the roots coolers. I thing, eventually they will adjust to the weather and will stop drooping. The leaves, resting on the soil, normally will yellow and fall out.

Very hot weather or roots that are not long/deep enough would do that. Also, I would cut down any leaves that are touching soil and mulch heavily.

You can post a link to pictures by uploading your pictures to some image site like http://imageshack.us/ or many others.

Thanks for the replies. The weather has not been hot. I live in San Diego, the weather has been in the high 60's low 70's. I bought a Ph meter this afternoon, and the Ph meter reads almost 8, which is the highest the meter shows. I heard adding vinegar to the soil will bring the Ph down, but how much vinegar and how? I just watered all the plants today, do I water again with some vinegar in the water, or wait until the next time I need to water? I the expert at the nursery also recommended earthworm castings as a mulch. Is that legit? I have my pictures on flickr, I just haven't figured out how to link them so people see them.

Thanks again everyone!

Hello Java,

To be able to suggest what might be wrong with your plant, it would be helpful to know more about the environment it is in. So, here are the "usual" questions:

How long since you transplanted the tomatoes? Is the plant in the ground or in a container? I think from what you said they are in the ground, but I want to make sure I am understanding.

If in a container, what growing medium are you using? How large is the container? Is it self-watering or do you manually water it? Is the container in full sun, part sun or shade?

For both container plants and inground plants, it would be helpful to know these things as well: How often do you water? Have you checked the moisture of the growing medium or soil 3-5" below the surface? Is it dry, just right, or soggy? Are the plants near a wall or sidewalk?

You mentioned the addition of a fewrtilizer, how much did you use and how close to the stems of the plants? Were you experiencing the wilting before you fertilized? Also, if you go to E. B. Stone Tomato & Vegetable Food the description states "...helps to correct acidic soil conditions" which implies that the food is alkaline in nature, so the reading you are getting may be related to the pH of the fertilizer rather than the soil. Take several readings in areas that you have not fertilized. A pH of 8.0 is on the high side of what is optimal for tomatoes (6.5 to 7.5) but they can be grown in it.

Earthworm castings are neutral in pH. I wouldn't use vinegar to try to correct the soil pH. Did you know it can be used to kill weeds? You wouldn't want to kill your tomatoes.

Can you post pictures? To include a photo in your post, use the following code:
<img src="http://www.your_photo_host.com/yourphoto.jpg">;

Replace the Web address above with the URL of your image.

NOTE: If you use an image hosting service such as Photobucket, Flickr, etc, copy the image URL by right-clicking on the image, not by selecting the text in your browser's address bar. The image URL should end with .jpg or .gif Don't copy the Web page URL.

The more information you can give us, the better the chances that someone can give you an accurate diagnosis.

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: Solutions to Soil Problems (High pH)

Wow! Betsy Thanks for the info. The tomatoes are in containers big like 15 gallon ones. They are in a greenhouse portable 6x8 greenhouse we got from Lowes during the night (mostly to protect from rabbits, and squirrels). I water about 1x per week. I check the soil about 5 inches deep, and wait until it is dry. I have been told different ways to water. I've been told just water around the stem, and I have also been told to water a bit, then let the dirt expand and soak up what I have put in, then water until water starts to come out the drain holes. As for the wilting, yes, I was experiencing the wilting before I fertilized. It happens every day I take them out of the greenhouse. I take them out, because I didn't have room to put it where I would receive max sunlight. Right now the greenhouse doesn't get direct sunlight until around 10:30 am. I move all the plants in the greenhouse out around the side of the house around 7:30 am into direct sunlight. So the plants are getting about 12 hours of direct sunlight each day. I live in San Diego and the temps. have been in the high 60's low 70's during the day and low 50's at night. The plants have been in the containers for about 3 weeks. They did go through a little shock when I transplanted them, but nothing too severe. I called a master gardener through the local extension, and she said not to worry about it, that, "tomatoes tend to wilt during the day, as long as they perk back up, don't worry." However, the next time I talked to a master gardener they felt differently. Last night I added some ladybugs to the greenhouse because I found a few aphids on my pepper plants so, and it was overcast today, so I left all the plants in the greenhouse, and the tomato plants had perked back up, but I also noticed that a couple of the leaves seamed to be curling length wise, but the leaves aren't "resting" on the cage horizontal wires of the cage. I think that answers most of your questions. Should I worry about adjusting the pH, or wait it out? I did use the pH meter in every container, and in the larger containers, I placed it in a couple of different areas. All of the plants are between 7-8 pH.

Thank you so much for all your insight.

Jon

Hi Jon,

There are as many ways to grow tomatoes as there are gardeners, so I am not surprised you got two different answers from two different master gardeners.

What did you use to fill your containers? Sounds like you have a big job moving them every day. A lengthwise curl of the leaves on your plants indicates a stressed plant. I can be caused by over watering, or more rarely under watering, or any number of other factors.

I'm not sure what to tell you abut the wilting issue. You may want to check with the folks over in the container forum. I grow my garden in the ground, so if my plants are wilting, I need to water.

Personally, I'd wait out the pH issue, at least for a while. How often does your fertilizer say to feed the plants? BTW, people who are growing in containers usually use a liquid fertilizer. Plants that are grown in any kind of container will need feeding more often than plants that are grown in the ground because each time they are watered, the water run off carries away vital nutrients.

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening Forum

Betsy,

thanks for the info. I did just water the plants yesterday, so maybe some of the fertilizer is being absorbed... I don't know. The growing medium is: GreenAll soil booster, approx 50% and 20% compost soil, and 30% perlite. Moving the pots isn't that big of a deal, it takes a few minutes each day, and it helps wake me up and get my day going. I'm not sure about the E.B. Stone fertilizer, but that's what was recommended, so that's where i am at. I am using Neptunes fish and seaweed extract as a foiler spray as well, and the master gardners I didn't steer me away from the E.B. Stone. It's my first attempt, and a learning experience, hopefully I'll get some good veggies, and knowlege I can use next year. Thank you so much for your input.

Jon

I'm a pretty big guy (6'1"-225lbs) and would have problems moving a 15 gallon container full of moist soil. They must weigh 100+ lbs when just watered and awkward to boot. You must look like the Hulk ;)

lol. Thank you Taz. I needed that. When Jon said that though I just figured his soil does not retain much water and his plants are small. But yea, a 15 gallon pot with proper water retention should weigh 5-10 lb per gallon. It should weigh a lot after being watered.

Way to go Hulk Jon.

I'll fess up, the 15 gal. containers I have are on rollers. the rest are mostly 7 gal. and I have a few 10 gal. , But, Hey, I still gotta push them around...