Help - Pot vs. bed tomatoes

This is my first year and I am trying all kinds of experiments. SFG, vertical and container. I call it "Intensive Gardening" for my little urban backyard.

My MM box tomatoes are Green. My MM potted tomatoes are now Pitiful. I had saucers under the pots that I just removed 3 days ago. PHEW did the water sink! I now have the bare pots sitting on dirt. I have added powdered milk and epson salts. A scoop of castings, kelp, coffee grounds, and steer "compost." Any suggestions? Thank you

MM Bedded tomato:


MM Potted tomatoes:

how big are the pots? I am assuming there is drainage since you mention removing saucers? were the saucers filled with water for some time? Did you plate all the tomatoes at the same time?

Two ideas for consideration:

Are the tomatoes the same variety? I currently have a situation where all the plants of one variety are doing poorly, and they look a little like yours. All the other varieties are doing well. All the factors that I can think of are identical. It's a mystery so far.

Depending on the depth of your plates, the MM could be waterlogged at the bottom ie. the bottom of the pot would be holding as much water as the depth of the water in the plates. If this is the case, sitting them on dirt, as you have, will allow them to dry out, and you'll see an improvement.

Camp RN and Boffer, Thank you for responding. The pots hold 5-7 gallons of mix. I measured out mix using a one gallon nursery pot. Early Girl plant and her transplanted daughters [suckers], Homestead, Roma, Heirloom, Beefsteak. I have been keeping a diary and here are some notes.

2-15-13 seeds in 2x2x4 seedling pots inside portable homemade "hot boxes" 12" high. Seeds either saved from last year salad and Roma tomatoes or seed packets
2-15-13 store bought Early girl into 7 gal pot
2-24-13 seeds sprouted
3-20-13 some seedlings into beds or big pots
4-1-13 more into pots
4-9-13 all doing well
4-17-13 Early girl lots of tomato clusters - growing vertically, saving suckers in flower vase in kitchen
4-27-13 some pots with leaf curl
4-29-13 all with flowers
Then Heat wave in low 90's, added powdered milk and Epson salts (on some thread)
5-24-13 removed saucers, stinky water!!
5-28-13 last 2 weeks of pleasant weather, 80's

I wonder if the soil baked in the pots since they are not insulated like the ground boxes. Bought some metallic insulating wrap but before I open the whole giant roll, I moved the plants to partially shaded flower beds. Soggy foot syndrome? [I made that one up] Is it too late to save them. Add some 0-10-10 fertilizer? Thank you

If they were standing in water for a while let the mix dry out because roots need air. you really shouldn't need any insulating wrap, tomatoes like it quite warm.

The pots are now sitting on dry dirt. I'll just give a daily cup of water at the top, around the plant. I'll report in a few days. Thank you.

I would not water them unless they need it, but that's me.