What Is Happening with My Tomatoes?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hello, all,

I am a novice gardener and am growing tomatoes from seed in pots this year. They were started indoors in the winter. I've given them a small sprinkling of fertilizer every 4 weeks, per the fertilizer bag instructions (it advises feeding them every 3-4 weeks). They have been looking great and I gradually hardened them off in April. But now I have noticed their leaves are turning a sickly pale yellow/pale green or white color. What is going on with them? Did I give them too much fertilizer or is it a fungus or something else? I live in the South (North Carolina Sandhills). Is there anything I can do to remedy this? I have worked so hard to grow them from seed and I don't want to lose them.

EDIT: I just noticed some of my other plants also have tiny pale yellow-white spots on some of their leaves, like the sage and the calendula. So it's not just the tomatoes that are being affected. Can anyone help?

Featured Answer

funkyhat

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I have a balcony, I first used 5gal buckets (in white!), got 200+ cherry tomatoes from each plant. I can tell you you really need to like watering if you go that small, like morning & evening every day depending on your weather. Mulch/plastic can help keep moisture in, which would help a bit, it got me from 2x/day to 3-days by cutting down evaporation (zone 5B, highs around 30C). Miss one watering and everything starts cracking.

Now, I have seen people get 6-7 or so big beef tomatoes from a 1 gallon pot, but the plant was really stressed the whole time and the fruits were undersized (but still tasty).

However, *bigger is better*. I'm experimenting with 7gal nursery pots and 15gal fabric bags. The amount of watering the larger containers need is clearly less.

Feel free to get creative. Garbage bins, recycling bins, closet totes, paint buckets, etc. all get you large volume containers for low $$$.

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Comments (13)

edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
8 years ago
Pot is too small, not enough light, and underfed.......imo. What kind of fertilizer are you using?
organicbackyardgardening
8 years ago
Agree, pots are to small and not enoght light. They look leggy.
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Jean
8 years ago
Harden them off and get them into garden.
Kristin Fleetwood
Original Author
8 years ago
What size pots do you recommend?
dirtguy50 SW MO z6a
8 years ago
Kristin, what is the tomato variety? Tomatoes need a lot of root space and growing in containers can be difficult. They require a large pot. Can you plant them in the ground or is there a reason you are using pots?
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
8 years ago
10-15 gallon pots. I use 15 gal Totes with holes in the bottom.
Kristin Fleetwood
Original Author
8 years ago
dirtguy50,

I live in an apartment and don't have access to any plot of ground where I could plant them, so that's why I'm using containers.

edweather,

Thank you! I will see if I can find any of those here and transplant them today. Is it 10-15 gallon pots per plant? Or can you put a couple in one of those together?
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Yes 10-15 per plant. Do the best you can with the space available.
gorbelly
8 years ago
Granular fertilizer is not ideal for containers. Liquid works better, and you can dilute it further than the instructions and use at 1/4 strength frequently--every other or every third watering when conditions are dry and every watering when there's more rain.

As for the damage, some of the larger white patches look like sunburn, and the tiny white spots look like leafhopper feeding damage or similar. The small spots won't hurt the plant or interfere with growth or production.
dirtguy50 SW MO z6a
8 years ago
Kristin, are the tomatoes you are growing are determinate or indeterminate? They look like indeterminate which would be difficult to do in pots on a balcony. What direction does you apartment face?
funkyhat
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I can assure the world that indeterminate tomatoes are not difficult to grow on a balcony. They take space and sunlight but not much else.

My setup is on a southern exposure balcony. 5gal bucket (or larger), 2" deep saucer ('Arko Mills' brand on Amazon), and 6' (180cm) bamboo stakes. Growing medium Pro-Mix BX, Pro-Mix HP and 25/25/50 BX/HP/'black earth' (all three worked fine). Nutrients: first two months Foliage Pro, then Migracle-Gro All-Purpose (24-8-16) for the next few, supplementing bi-weekly with FP.

I grew Sweet Millions and Cherokee Purple quite successfully with this setup (200+ millions per plant, 15-20 Cherokee Purples).
gorbelly
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
In addition, not all indeterminate tomato plants are very large. Many top out at 5 or 6 feet. In addition, there are many dwarf varieties which are indeterminate as well. But regardless of size, all tomatoes need enough light and enough space for their roots.