Tomato and Pepper Plants YELLOW leaves

3 years ago

Hello - I built a raised bed garden this year, and am having some problems. The tomato and bell pepper plants all have yellow leaves on the bottom. Plus, about half of the flowers die before they can fruit. Any ideas what's going on?

I used a soil that was a 50/50 mix of compost and top soil (at least I was told). I'm watering about once a day using 2 10 gallon buckets for the entire garden (which is 200 sq feet with some walking paths). I am guessing th problem is one of two things: either overwatering, or not enough nurtrients in the soil?

The garden gets plenty of light, its in a wide open field, and the raised bed is open on the bottom with about 12" of soil added on top. The other thing I noticed is that the soil gets very compacted on the top inch or two. Should I be breaking that up or is it fine? below the top it's quite fluffy.

Featured Answer

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

I have to doubt it's a nutrient problem. If nutrients were an issue, the plants just wouldn't grow very well. Agreed about watering. Just stick your finger in the soil. For mature plants, if it's moist an inch or two down, you're good to go. Keeping the surface of the soil moist is just an invitation to bugs and disease. I should add that deep infrequent watering is best, because it encourages the roots to grow deep. Frequent shallow watering just keeps the roots near the surface. You can "read" your plants to see if they need water. If leaves start to droop a bit, give them something to drink. That's true about tomatoes and heat. Pollination just shuts down if nightime temps don't get below 70F. Sounds like you have nothing to worry about on that score. But peppers seem to handle heat better.

Now, understand that compost is actually a poor source of nutrients, though if you have a lot of it, it sort of makes up for that fact. Sounds like you do have a lot of it. Especially for tomatoes, amending with real fertilizer is never a bad choice.

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Comments (9)

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
3 years ago
Yellow and browning leaves, especially on the bottom, looks viral. Spores get kicked up from the soil. Disease in tomatoes and peppers is much more common a problem than many people would like to believe, even in varieties that claim "resistance". I'd remove the affected leaves asap and destroy or trash them. Probably too late to use fungicides, but if the disease hasn't spread, you have a chance.
bryanthegrower
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you, i will remove them asap. you dont think it could be a symptom of poor nutrients? i bought the soil in bulk so i only know how much compost is in there based on the nursery’s word
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vgkg Z-7 Va
3 years ago
Watering daily might lead to some problems like the catch all disease "blight", does your plot dry out that quickly? Best to water deeply every 4-5 days under normal temps. If you live in one of the recent Very Hot areas then your tomatoes blooms may not be pollinating at over 90+F. My plants have shut down for now but they should wake up next week as temps dip into the mid-80's.
bryanthegrower thanked vgkg Z-7 Va
bryanthegrower
Original Author
3 years ago
@vgkg Z-7 Va I live im upstate NY, zone 5, so its not incredibly hot. i am relatively new to gardening so i may be overwatering. even if the top few inches of soil are completely dry its ok to water every 4-5 days? here its max 80-85 during the day and goes down to 65-70 at night. thank you!
vgkg Z-7 Va
3 years ago
Your local temps have been perfect Bryanthegrower, I'm envious. I'd use a hand spade to check on how deep your watering goes and if it's wet or dry below the top few inches. As long as the plant roots are in the moist zone (3-4"+ down) then they shouldn't need daily watering.
bryanthegrower thanked vgkg Z-7 Va
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
FWIW, I mulch my tomatoes thickly with hay. It seems to help keep soil borne diseases at bay, preventing soil from splashing up on the leaves, and adds humus to the soil. Mulching helps preserve soil moisture too. I get hay from a local feed store.

Also, when planting, I remove any lower leaves touching the ground.

It's way too hot here for tomatoes right now, mine have been done since May - looking forward to starting some new ones in August. I've been growing broadly resistant hybrid varieties with really good flavor - that's what I specifically look for when shopping the catalogs.

I use Espoma organic fertilizer, among other things - results have been pretty good.
vgkg Z-7 Va
3 years ago
^^^ Another fan of Gardentone here, along with homemade compost.
bryanthegrower thanked vgkg Z-7 Va
catherinet (5IN)
3 years ago
Maybe I'm just lucky this year, but I've learned to get rid of lower tomato branches and to never plant them too closely to others. Ventilation is very important. And as soon as I see infected leaves, I remove them. It seems to be working well this year for me.
bryanthegrower thanked catherinet (5IN)