yellow leaves at the base of my tomato plant

sparrowbranch 5/19/2010, 2:39 pm

there are some leaves at the base of my tomato plants (right down near the soil) that are yellow and even have a twinge of brown. What could this be? My plants are well watered, healthy, and have tomatos starting to grow. is this a problem?

Also, does anyone have an official plan of how they planted/ harvested throughout the year in order to maximize your harvest? Thx!

greenbarnlady 5/19/2010, 3:05 pm

Hi, I think that the cause of the yellow leaves on your tomatoes is called blight. It is a type of fungus that results from rain or watering splashing up from the soil and hitting the undersides of the leaves on your tomatoes. This transfers the spores from the soil to your plant. Some organic suggestions is covering the immediate space around the base of the plant with newspaper, or plastic can help to prevent the transfer. Another suggestion is rotation in the place that you plant tomatoes. Hope this helps!

miinva 5/19/2010, 4:26 pm

I've had that happen to some of mine and I just remove the affected leaves with the nippers. We trim all of the leaves from the bottom few inches of the plants anyway as they grow.

Megan 5/19/2010, 7:56 pm

miinva wrote:I've had that happen to some of mine and I just remove the affected leaves with the nippers. We trim all of the leaves from the bottom few inches of the plants anyway as they grow.

Why do you trim the leaves? Also, do you do that for just tomatoes, or for all your plants?

**camprn** 5/19/2010, 8:36 pm

My initial guess is that the leaves are just exhausted and the plant, if the rest of it is unaffected, is making enough food for new foliage and fruit. My suggestion is the same as Minnvia is to just prune them off, Also do a search of the forum for tomtoes and pruning. There is a lot of information there. Happy gardening. Very Happy

**timwardell** 5/19/2010, 8:58 pm

Like miinva, I cut the lower leaves off all my tomato plants once they are well established. Any leaf that is touching the ground is a potential disease vector and tomatoes benefit from good air circulation - especially in areas where it's hot and humid (like my backyard in Texas).

**ava** 5/25/2010, 12:13 pm

Hi)I have ny tomatoes in a pot and I have the same problems. Just the leaves at the bottom is brown/yellow.

I think I am going to snip the bottom leaves off as well. They are otherwise health except the bottom leaves.

Ava

coot 6/12/2010, 10:06 pm

I've been told that yellowing of the base leaves is normal..they're just getting old and tired. However, I found a website that addresses an all-over yellowing of leaves:
http://mgonline.com/articles/yellow_leaves.aspx

Here's a summary that the website provides under "proper feeding":

Nitrogen	Overall yellow with no green veins
Magnesium	Yellow between veins, looks somewhat like iron deficiency
Boron	New leaves are smaller, edges curl and are thicker
Potassium	Browning of older leaves, edges dying, leaf crinkling and splotching
Manganese	Mottling of new leaves with checkering between veins
Iron	Yellowing of all but the veins
Sulfur	Lack of pigment in all parts of new leaves

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