I bet you're feeling pretty bummed! Sorry your'e having such a hard time.

We need some more info. Where do you live? How hot has it been? How many days ago did you transplant the Early girls? How much manure did you mix with the potting soil?

It's possible the Early Girls have transplant shock, or they might be overfertilized. I'm no expert on diseases, but you might need to have a funeral for the Better Boy. And yes, it would be safest to get rid of the soil and disinfect the pot.

Your plants look a bit dry, and it might be a good idea to water them well and put them under the shade for a day to let them recover. Maybe they will perk up overnight.

As wormgirl says, they're probably suffering from transplant shock.

Linda

I live in Northern California (area code 94506). My growing zone is USDA Hardiness 9b and Sunset zone 7 (close to 14). Last weeks highs ranged from 72-87 with mostly mid 70s and lows in the mid 50s. This week's highs ranging from 77-87 and lows in mid to high 50s. I transplanted Early girls 2-3 days ago. The nursery said to do 1/2 and 1/2 potting soil to manure but I think I was closer to maybe 1/4 manure to 3/4 potting soil and mixed into it about a tablespoon of dry organic plant food specifically for tomatoes and vegetables. The box said to mix in 2-4 tbsp for a potted tomato or vegetable and I dialed it down to 1 just in case. I watered them when first planting but didn't completely soak them as it was late in the day and I know it's better for them to not go into the nights like that, and the next day I watered them a bit more. My moisture reader and my finger show that they are definitely moist to wet from 3-8 inches down.

Anything else I can do to reduce shock? I can move one of them but the other is too heavy to move. I'll check them tonight to see if they perk up, though I thought I heard that plants with some type of wilt do seem to perk up at night but can still ultimately have and die of wilt. But I guess it does make more sense it is a transplant issue.

Too much nitrogen can mimic dehydration (as that is what happens when there are more salts in the soil than in the growing tips.)

I would water fairly heavy to wash out fertilizer salts in case that is the issue (you can always refertilize with a tea or a liquid later,) then mist the plant well.

At least those are the first steps I would take.

I wonder if removing the fruit might lessen the stress. We have a long growing season, it's not too late to try again, and you don't need all that stuff.

How does that growing bag work? How does it drain? The water shouldn't run right through and out the bottom, but it shouldn't be wet either.

Your weather, as you have described, is near perfect for tomatoes. So I don't think it is weather related problem.

Th plant in the first pic is either diseased or the sol is contaminated.

The plants in pic 2 and 3 's wilt may be due to:

--a- Transplant shock, as they are passed transplant stage.
--b- Suddenly getting too much sun than before (in nursery)

(a) -- water them more for a while until they perk up.
(b) - give them sun sparingly, until they are acclimated.
In either case (a) and (b) some extra watering (temporarily) can help.

About Soil:
Adding manure/compost to soil less potting mix is generally NOT a good idea. The reason being that it will get compacted and cause problem.
In this case, it might be causing the problem. Either being high in Nitrogen or possibly contaminated with herbicide.

Sey

I watered them both heavily to flush out potential excessive fertilizer. I also covered with a shade cloth to see if it would help them adjust.

Now the 3rd pic plant in the grow bag seems a bit perked up, though leaves nowhere near as perky as my sun gold.

But the 2nd plant in the terracotta pot is as wilted as ever.

Any other ideas or suggestions? It's been almost a week since transplanting.

Well, I think the 3rd plant is going to make it! The other one... hard to say. But it looks like you have a ripe tomato to pick!

I find it odd advice for the nursery to give to combine potting soil with manure. I know some people do it, but it's not exactly standard practice. I'm glad you used less than what they said, and of the fertilizer too.

I think it's possible that either:

- the chicken manure was not as aged as it should have been and "burned" the plants, even though you used less than directed

- or, somehow either your potting soil or the manure had some kind of herbicide residues (unfortunately, this is becoming more and more common... I think I bought some bad potting soil last year).

- third possibility: were any of your neighbors or their lawn services (or the county) possibly spraying herbicides?

I think you can nurse plant #3 back to health. Try flushing plant #2 again and then let the pot really dry before you water again. If it doesn't make it, pull it up and hang it to ripen the tomatoes, at least.

I'm sorry you're having such bad luck this first time. Next year, at least you will already have the pots and I bet you will have better luck. (Also, try some cherry tomatos, they are easy!) Keep us updated.

Jenn

I'm sorry I missed this thread. A clear cut case of esculentum-interruptus ;-(

Agree with the wormgirl & Labs initial assessment on this one when they said transplant shock, and my 2c would have insisted you removed all the tomatoes like nanelle when she was mulling over doing that.

I think the soil is a secondary issue at this point, and you still should be able to use it successfully where you're at. There are always better options but you can't do much till you get a healthy plant back.

When you transplant, the plant experiences a terrific shock. Just look at all the mass and maturity of tomatoes on the very sad plant, and like w'girl says, I don't trust the nursery...in my case for selling you a plant like that for transplant. A plant needs to re-establish its root system upon transplant. There is no possibly way this terracotta Early Girl can deal with all the demands you've placed on her and give her babies what they need even if you do everything best. I'd remove the tomatoes right away, before she dries out beyond repair.

Leave them and the plant will never catch up and you might as well chop the plant off and hang her upside down in the garage and have the fruits ripen, because there is not enough nutrition to go around to grow those tomatoes. The tomatoes on her have no way to get the nutrients they need (with the shocked roots) and has no energy to build a root system because it rightfully is considering its mortality and putting everything it's got into maturing its tomatoes to finish the reproductive process it has started. So it will just cannibalize the plant and leave for them like you are observing. They won't benefit from being left on either since new sugar production will be minimal. Ripen them indoors and they'll be just as good.

Consider the ratio of leaves to mass of fruit between the two plants when you compare the differences in recovery so far. You will see the small tomatoes ripen without increasing size one by one, as the plant goes into a controlled death if I call this one correctly. If there's anything left at the end it might still recover but even if that happened it wouldn't be much of a plant.

PC

I think maybe PC is right. How do I remove and finish ripening tomatoes in garage? I've never done this before.

Do you think it's safe to plant something else in the pot in its place? Or should I adjust the soil somehow? The soil I have on hand is 2 huge bags of Bumper Crop. Not sure that that is okay for pots. The nursery had recommended it to me when I was planting herbs and I'm not sure if they heard me say it was for container planting. But I'm not sure what else to do with it since I'm only planting in containers.

Don't give up! In the future, the ideal plant size for transplant is 6-12 inches. Avoid those that have blooms and especially those that have already fruited. After transplanting keep them in the shade for several days and ease them into full sun.

Hi winorchards,

+1 to hoosier's comment ^^^^^

No need to chop the plant down now, that is a practice some people do for delayed ripening of tomatoes. You won't mind having tomatoes sooner, right? My best shot would be just snip all the tomatoes like normal and ripen them in a relatively cool place (since it's basically summertime now, 68-75 F if available otherwise room temp) and most should get red; I'm sure the plant has already sent the signals to ripen to most of them. Just look up or ask about bananas and paper bags if you want more info on that.

If you remove all the fruits, the plant might recover yet. It won't likely be the strongest, but it still has a reasonable chance since it hasn't been that long and your season is advancing, so it's your call on that or if you just want a new plant. I personally would reuse the soil and might just mix in 1/3 perlite from Walmart or the nursery but I haven't read the soil part carefully since I didn't think that was the primary problem.

Hope that is more clear, not guillotine just yet :-), but a new plant is always nice if you get one to be excited about. Early girl is a vigorous hybrid though and has a good shot at bouncing back compared to many other plants.

PC

Oh, okay. I had misunderstood your first message. Is there anything I need to do in order to properly remove them for ripening indoors? A dark place? A warm but not hot spot indoors? How much of stem to remove with them?

"A dark place? A warm but not hot spot indoors?"

Yes.

If you really want to be nice to your plant, use sharp cutters and make a clean cut below the "knee" where the tomato is connected. This picture "A" illustrates the knee with an arrow (a.k.a. pedicel joint):

http://www.pnas.org/content/106/20/8392/F5.large.jpg

It's just a small bit of TLC -every bit helps ;-), like leaving the knee on.

PC

hoosier40 wrote:

> In the future, the ideal plant size for transplant is 6-12
inches. Avoid those that have blooms and especially those that have already
fruited.

I never planted seedlings shorter than 1
ft. (12 in.)

I planted seedlings with blooms and
even fruits and everything was fine.

Daniel,

I have pushed the envelope on that myself for one reason or another. I stand by that statement as a good rule of thumb. The bigger the plant, the more transplant shock there will be. Almost all of the time the smaller plants will catch up to and probably surpass the bigger more shocked plants.

Ideal transplant height for me has always been 8". Objectively, the
smaller the plant, the less stress it experiences.

If someone (Daniel, etc.) is an
expert at transplant TLC, there is no reason they couldn't transplant
multiple times to improve their plant's growth, practice makes perfect.

PC

Okay based on your suggestion and the articles I found about ripening indoors I have picked the tomatoes and put them in a box with a few layers of paper towels in a room that's usually around 70-72 degrees and dark but with decent airflow. They seem pretty small/immature to me but hopefully they will ripen anyway (the penny is in there for scale).

Now that the fruit is off the wilted plant should I remove the cloth that is keeping it mostly shaded? Leave it covered until it perks up? Or do so gradually starting with letting it have only morning sun and increase? It's suddenly a whopping 102 degrees outside with the following forecast (thought I wouldn't be surprised if it gets hotter than predicted).

And did I mention you all are awesome for all of this help?? It is wonderful. A friend wound up giving me some extra seed packets she'd bought so now I have the conundrum of figuring out if I want to try my luck at summer squash or cucumbers.

Hi winorchids, with that forecast I doubt it would have made it past tomorrow! Definitely keep it protected, if possible bring it inside during the hot part of the day in the lightest part that doesn't have direct Sun. Oops, I just saw that is today, not tomorrow's forecast, so I guess this suggestion is late. You live in a humid place this week. I'm not a big supporter of getting leaves wet in that sort of place, but I'd make an exception tomorrow and lightly spray pure water on the plant to give it a leg up.

The box is fine, I use a paper bag loosely around them. I would take the three tomatoes that are blushing and put them close but not touching in the center and then arrangle closely and concentrically the others. Ripening is contagious. You can put a couple of bananas or ripe apples in there too, they all release the same gaseous ripening hormone.

"Or do so gradually starting with letting it have only morning sun and increase?"
Use your judgement and trust yourself, we might not pick up on what's going on as well as you seeing how it is responding. Watch how it responds and act accordingly. You have the general idea right about getting turgidity and hydration again and then over say 2-3 days getting things back to normal, or whatever it takes. As you say, morning Sun is best. An you have very humid mornings so it doesn't need to be wet then, only around 2:30pm to give it a little boost if you decide to do that. Fine spray, not a drenching works best.

Good luck, any other questions just post them. Even if the plant crashes and burns, which I hope won't happen, please let us know. It's really a nice touch to follow up because it won't be long till the next nice gardener in the shadow of Mt. Diablo Googles up your nice pictures and is relieved to see what to do with the same problem, and then actually gets to see the results of your passionate efforts.

Cheers
PC

Just wanted to say, keep the faith. Your plant may recover or not, but you will learn from the experience. I know someone who recently called herself a "Plantkiller." I realized, when I thought about it, that I have killed a lot of plants too. I just have had more survive than die. And I learned something each time.

Soon you'll have some ripe tomatoes and that will be fun. Try some summer squash and cucumbers too! They should boost your spirits.

Jenn

Thank you, all! You have cheered me up considerably and it is nice to have allies in the fight! ;) I will let you know how it goes. Will probably search around for a good board to get some advice on the squash and cukes *before* planting so I get it done right!

I would yank that plant and replace it with a healthy plant. A small, healthy plant will probably catch up and surpass this one even if it does make it.

I agree with ncrealestateguy.

I just wanted to say it is not humid here (Sunset 7/14), many of us have watering restrictions, so I do sometimes water after 8. (Where I live we can only water between * PM and 8 AM).