What is wrong with my tomatoes?

11 years ago

I am new to growing tomatoes (and to growing anything at all) and could use some help here.

These were perfectly fine just about 2 weeks ago. It started getting really hot and humid here and every day I would come home from work and they looked very droopy, so I started giving them more water, they perked up, but then started showing this beige discoloration on the edges of the leaves (pictures below). I thought maybe the sun was too strong (they were on a spot on the deck that gets A LOT of direct sunlight), so I moved them to a spot that doesn't get quite as blaringly sunny. Does anyone know why they look like this?

Also, why would the roots of the plant be coming to the surface (first picture)? This is just one plant, the others are fine...

Featured Answer

digdirt2

11 years ago

It is damage from periods of water-drought. Using the size of the plant for scale, the container appears to be far too small. What size is it? Overly small pots dry out too quickly causing root and leaf death as the plant becomes rootbound in it.

Dave

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Comments (6)

goodground
11 years ago
Was it plain water? Looks like you may be over feeding. Add soil or mulch to cover the exposed roots and don't fertilize for a while.
AS _NJ ZONE 6B thanked goodground
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antmary_Omaha_NE_5b
11 years ago
yes, the pot is too small for the plant. The soil dries out very quickly and the leaf damage is from drought. The plant roots are trying to find new space to grow and they expand from the soil.
AS _NJ ZONE 6B thanked antmary_Omaha_NE_5b
Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
11 years ago
Excess Nitrogen combined with low water/moisture., manifested as edge burn/crisping. JMO

Sey
AS _NJ ZONE 6B thanked Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
AS _NJ ZONE 6B
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you very much everyone. I moved the plants into bigger pots so hopefully they will do better now. I have been using, once weekly, as directed, Miracle Grow all purpose fertilizer so maybe I should use it once every other week instead?
digdirt2
11 years ago
If you are using it full strength then yeah you need to cut way back on the frequency. But better approach for containers is to dilute it instead. The common recommendation for it is diluted no more than 1/2 strength max every 7-10 days.

Dave