The branch is so far gone it's hard to tell what happened. Is that the only branch? yellowing is commonly caused by overwatering. Assume the buckets have drain holes in them.

Thank you edweather for your response. I will upload some more photos so you can see what is going on. The buckets have lots of drain holes at the bottom that I created with a 1/4" drill bit. I forgot to line the bottom with rocks to allow a good drainage (this is my first time growing anything).

Here is another image of one of the plant leaves yellowing

Here is an image of the leaf starting to get spots on it. Note: these are also growing near a pine tree, so I don't know if that could cause any problems...

On this image you can see that some of the flowers are coming in just great and the plant is very green. But on this same plant, some of the leaves and branches are dying and just look terrible.

Here is the last image I took. Basically the flowers look like they are dying? maybe?

Well the flowers will die and the petals will fall away, and then the tomato will form, so don't worry about that. A common cause of yellowing leaves is overwatering. You say that you are using a "soil" as a mix. Check the bag for the ingredients. Container mixes should be soilless. If you are using a soil, the containers might be getting waterlogged causing the yellowing. How much sun are they getting per day? They look a little leggy. Other than that, some of your top growth looks good and by the looks of those blossoms you should have tomatoes forming soon.

Thank you edweather. I am using Kellogg 1.5 cu ft Patio Plus All Natural Outdoor Potting Soil. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=195114-11628-681&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=1056391&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=rel&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

I bought it at Lowe's the guy told me it would be good.

I have 4 plants (2 shady lady's, 2 sweet 100), but they could definitely use more sun. I think I will set up my laptop with a camera on my coffee table to record where the hits every hour and then see where I can reposition my tomatoes to get the most hours in the sun.

So the flowers that were dying, do you think those will become tomatoes?

Also, when you say leggy, what exactly does that mean, just stretched out trying to get some sun?

Thank you for all of your help and advice.

"I forgot to line the bottom with rocks to allow a good drainage (this is my first time growing anything)."

Good! Container grown plants don't need drainage substrate in the bottom, and in fact, don't want it. In every growing medium, in the ground, and in potted plantings, there is a level at which the soil's "wicking" ability to suck water upward (think about a paper towel dipped in water) balances the downward gravitational pull. This is called the perched water table. Below the perched water table, the soil is saturated with water, which can suffocate plant roots and encourage root rot. Above this level is usable soil. By adding a gravel substrate, instead of increasing drainage, you're actually moving the perched water table UP in the container, so the plant has even less room to grow. In other words, skip the rocks.

Article that explains perched water tables (Link corrected)

As for whether or not your growing medium is appropriate for containers.... maybe. Your leaves look like the typical overwatered tomato plant, one that has roots that are water logged or drowning. There just isn't enough information about the product on Lowe's site to say for sure, but I did find other sites that list the product as OMRI certified, but that still doesn't tell us how the stuff acts in the bottom of a large container. You might ask over in the Container Gardening Forum, surely someone has used it and can give some feedback on the results. I searched but didn't find any information on it, so you probably need to ask.

"Also, when you say leggy, what exactly does that mean, just stretched out trying to get some sun?" Yes, that is exactly what that means. The "cure" is ample sunlight. Eight hours or more per day is best, although they can get by on six hours.

Betsy

Note: Corrected Link for Article on perched water tables

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

This post was edited by bets on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 10:32

Very good information from Betsy, and yes, if the plant grows ok those flowers should become tomatoes.

Good! Container grown plants don't need drainage substrate in the bottom, and in fact, don't want it. In every growing medium (Bets)
..............................................
I do not understand this . Do they need it on the sidewall?How high ?
Another thing : The amount of gravel or rocks is not normally very high. It is generally packed just around the drainage holes to prevent clogging and wash out of soil.
In my Opinion, any stagnation of water at the bottom may/can cause rotting and infection and breeding place for bacteria.

@ seysonn,

Gravel is not needed, at all. If your holes are large enough for your growing medium to drain out, you can cover them with a single piece of broken pottery or a piece of weed cloth or something similar.

"In my Opinion, any stagnation of water at the bottom may/can cause rotting and infection and breeding place for bacteria."

Every container has a layer of water in the bottom portion of growing medium, adding gravel just moves it up higher in the pot. Hopefully one is watering well enough to flush out any "stagnant" water. The issue with raising the perched water table is that you cut down on the usable growing medium in the container and increase the probability that the roots of your plant will drown and rot.

In the "Tomato plants turning yellow" discussion (I've provided a link to it below), I replied to your post advising Lilypadlanding to put gravel in the bottom of her containers with four different links that say you should not do that. Three of those links are publications from universities, another is a newspaper's gardening column. If they all say don't do it, I figure there is a good reason not to.

Betsy

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato plants turning yellow discussion

Betsy is 100% right about NOT adding drainage material in the bottom of pots. Like she said all it does is actually raise the level of the perched water in the pot, and decrease the space the plants can grow in. If you want your containers to drain a little better you can add a wick of some kind to the bottom of your pot which will protrude out lower than of the bottom of the pot. This will 'trick' the pot into thinking it's deeper than it actually is and lower the perched water level in the pot. There are threads on adding wicks in the container forum. It's pretty easy. You can just poke a piece of wicking material into one of the drain holes in the bottom.

Betsy and edweather are right, gravel on the bottom does not aid drainage. It is a persistant myth that is being perpetuated on the good old internet.

Screen the bottom holes, or if you feel like it, use a wick to pull excess moisture away. But good container soakings will drain away any old water anyway.

As for bacteria pooling at the bottom, it will only be the beneficial bacteria that normally gather around plant roots.

Plants will love the extra inch of dirt they are given when gravel is excluded.

This post was edited by sjetski on Sun, Jun 9, 13 at 19:30

Here's what works for me: Holes drilled about an inch up from the botton, about 6 in all. Before adding growing medium I put a layer or two of newspaper on the bottom and up a few inches on the sides of the container. This allows drainage but keeps any of the medium from working its way out (doesn't usually happen anyway).

I have used Kelloggs PatioPlus in containers before but I live in a very hot arid climate. The product does contain manures and compost as I recall which could allow the container to become compacted and waterlogged. Most container growers advocate a soiless mix, based on things like sphagnum peat moss, perlite and bark.

Tomatoes tend to be fast growers and heavy feeders. Growing them with only organic ferts in a container can be challenging. In addition to watering issues you could be seeing some nutrient deficiency.

I throw my hat in with the "no rocks in the bottom of the pot" clan.

Thank you all for your help.

How often do you think I should water them and how much do you think I should give them each time I do water them?

Also, should I add some type of wicking now? Is that still possible? and if so, what do you recommend?

Thank you!