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brendang_gw

Worried about tomatoes

16 years ago

Hello,

Can you all take a look at these pictures? The tomatoes i have in ground are not fruiting yet but the foliage is a deep green color. The tomatoes that are in containers have large fruit already but the thing thats worrying me is that the plants seem to be a lighter shade of green and a few of the container tomatoes have dark patches on a couple of the leaves. Ive attached a photo. Is this normal for plants that are putting a lot of energy into their fruit? I should mention that both in ground and container tomatoes are Brandywine and the week before last there was a lot of ran and little sun.

Would appreciate any help.

Brendan

http://img35.imageshack.us/f/dscn0200xv.jpg/

http://img72.imageshack.us/f/dscn0198f.jpg/

http://img710.imageshack.us/f/dscn0199t.jpg/

Comments (8)

  • 16 years ago

    Please click on the little photos to enlarge them

  • 16 years ago

    Hi Brendang,

    Here are you pictures. (If you call them little, I'd cartainly hate to see a big one! I reduced these for you.)

    {{gwi:1345913}}

    {{gwi:1345914}}

    {{gwi:1345915}}

    Just what are you worried about? The pots they are in are look pretty small and I see some leaves that look like they are drooping because they need water. The leaf that has the spots on it may be dying because of problems with watering. I don't see anything on the TAMU site that looks like that. But I do wear bifocals and the monitor is at the wrong range.....

    Betsy

    Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Problem Solver (Photos for Diagnostics)

  • 16 years ago

    Sorry, I got the proportion wrong. I did the conversion manually. I can fix it if anyone wants me to.

    Betsy

  • 16 years ago

    Thanks Betsy. I transplanted them into 7 gallon pots about a months ago. The soil had lots of loam and peat moss and manure. Is there any way that they could have depleted that already? Debating whether i should put some organic fertilizer on my girls.
    Thanks again.

  • 16 years ago

    Ok, 7 gallons should be big enough. You said "The soil had lots of loam and peat moss and manure." Did you mean garden soil? It is highly recommended that you use soiless potting mix in containers. "Dirt" does not drain well in containers and that could be part of the problem. The other is that nutrients are washed away in pots.

    How often do you water? Have you checked the potting medium 3" - 4" inches down to see if it is wet, just right or too dry before watering?

    I'd recommend getting a moisture meter. They don't cost much and they can give you a real good idea of the water usage pattern for your plants.

    And you may want to check over in the container gardening forum.

    Betsy

  • 16 years ago

    Betsy,
    The peat moss i used has vermiculite and perlite and i mixed that with triple mix and manure. We've been getting so much rain here lately that i havent watered in at least a month. I think they are way too soggy. I put a little bit of this organic fertilizer on them yesterday thinking that they way be hungry.
    http://www.perfectlynatural.com/lawn/consumer/products-specialty-tomato.php
    Will advise if/when they perk up.
    Thanks Betsy

  • 16 years ago

    Does your container have drain holes? If not I would drill several in the sides about 2" from the bottom. That will keep the roots from being waterlogged with a little reserve in the bottom.

  • 16 years ago

    QUOTE:
    "Debating whether i should put some organic fertilizer on my girls"

    Your plants looks so healthy to me but go ahead put some organic fertilizer on them it breaks down slowly and won't harm them we're not talking buckets of fertilizer here right and a small amount will make papa feel better :)