Sick Tomato/To-MAH-to

Hiya.

New to gardening of any form, but I made a tomato plant using only my mind. And a gift card to a big box garden store.

Apparently, my mind, the store, or my gift card were sick (guess which one my money is on) because after a few weeks of looking absolutely fantastic, the bottom leaves went yellow. And it looks like it's working its way up.

I did notice that this started right about the same time it started to flower. Probably a usual affliction, but like I said: N00b.

Pics plz:


Thanks for the hep!

to the forum!! I see a few things right off. Perhaps your garden soil has been drying out between waterings? It may be that you need to feed the plant more nutrients; tomatoes are heavy feeders and really really like to be fed through the season, unless you had very rich compost as part of your original mix. There are a few things you can do. First, use the search feature to see back to previous threads about tomatoes, various problems and their remedies. There is some good info hiding here. Second, search for threads about pruning tomatoes, the very yellow branches are probably not going to revive, so you will want to prune them back, I would recommend you also nip the suckers, the little branches growing in the notch of the branches off the main stem.
Give it a go and let us know how your progress is, also do not hesitate to ask more questions.

@CampRN: Thanks again! Your watering comment was right on. I read in Mel's book that most people (including me) tend to over-water their plants so I think I was hypersensitive about that. I'll find a more consistent schedule that works in our currently-dynamic microclimate (20 degree change in the last two days).

My mix is just store-bought Mel's mix, so I figured the nutrients would be in there, right? If I were to add anything, would a worm-casting tea be enough? Or do tomatoes need something more substantial like pre-natal One-a-Days?

These guys seem kind of high maintenance for something I don't even like. Not even sure how I'll manage if a big yucky worm shows up one day. Oh well, if it succeeds, I can trade the big, juicy fruits for some cookie dough.

Or something.

Oh! And I trimmed off the yellow branches at the bottom, and the little "suckers".

[quote="NaturesApprentice"]@CampRN: Not even sure how I'll manage if a big yucky worm shows up one day.

HA ha....as I was reading on diseases and pests I was wondering the same thing...
I wonder how much I would have to pay someone to kill the bugs for me..

I had one tomato plant that did the same thing and died and another one looks to be on it way to the same death. both looks the same as yours

I had another thought, scary I know, in any case, your plants roots need to stay moist, dont let the mix dry out but do not keep it sopping wet. once it dries out you have to water a little bit and often, because when the peat is dry is resists water. Once your mix is steadily moist, the plant will be able to uptake the nutrients. Go with rehydrating the soil for a few days, water the whole square and not just the stem area. If there is little or no improvement, if it were me, I would give it a little plant food. Compost tea or something.

I understand Wilt starts out that way, browning the leaves from the bottom up. Its soil borne and the best cure is to pull out the plant and toss in the dump, not the composter.
Cover the soil with clear plastic, seal all ends, and leave thru the summer and let the heat 'cook' the soilborne organisms.

Look up wilt in google first to check out pictures before you remove your plants. You want to be sure. If it because its dry, it will perk up again with watering and removal of the brown leaves.

You don't want to remove a plant that can be saved. I'm hoping your plant is just too dry.

Its sometimes difficult with tomatoes because too much water can cause browning like that and too much watering can do the same.

It would be worth doing the research but this does not look like wilt to me. . .

this is wilt http://www.hos.ufl.edu/vegetarian/03/April/Apr03.htm

That's early blight. The best course of action is to pull the plant and throw it away. If you want to try to save the plant pull off all the affected branches, and apply a fungicide. I wouldn't put any other tomatoes near it.

Google "early blight treatment" for more detailed info.

I'm so sorry to hear about your sick baby. Tomatoes are a tough one. Most are quite disease prone. You can seek out disease resistant hybrids to help curb the problem.

Best of luck to you and happy Gardening!

dizzygardener wrote:That's early blight. The best course of action is to pull the plant and throw it away. If you want to try to save the plant pull off all the affected branches, and apply a fungicide. I wouldn't put any other tomatoes near it.

Google "early blight treatment" for more detailed info.

I'm so sorry to hear about your sick baby. Tomatoes are a tough one. Most are quite disease prone. You can seek out disease resistant hybrids to help curb the problem.

Best of luck to you and happy Gardening!

I dunno, it doesn't look quite like blight to me but it is difficult to tell from the photo. If you look at the photo's in this thread it looks like blight, a bit different from the photo here.

Certainly if this plant doesn't revive, I would consider pulling it up and replace.

I'm with Camp, it looks like the recovery from transplant shock and dry soil (keeping liquid life in the new leaves while sacrificing the old). If you don't like tomatoes than toss it. Otherwise I would clip off the yellow leaves (they are not coming back) and let it grow.

Deborah.... whose Washington (the state) tomatoes are still only a few inches tall and sitting in the kitchen window.

Nature's Apprentice - welcome! I can tell I am going to enjoy having you around.

You must tell me, why did you grow a tomato plant if you dont' like tomatoes? Are you single? 'Cause if you are, I am quite sure that growing tomatoes and SFGing would be a major "chick magnet" - almost as good as a puppy!

Looks like it might be nitrogen deficiency, I'd try some fish emulsion. I did find I had to fertilize last year despite the MM, but I didn't have 5 types of compost as I couldn't find more than 2 here.

My handy book says possibly Magnesium deficiency - yellowing between the veins is the first sign, if it is that the cure is Epsom salts at half an ounce to a pint sprayed on the plant.

try

http://tomatolover.com/magnesium-for-tomatoes/

also recommends seaweed liquid feed.


Good luck.

Barkie wrote:My handy book says possibly Magnesium deficiency - yellowing between the veins is the first sign, if it is that the cure is Epsom salts at half an ounce to a pint sprayed on the plant.

try

http://tomatolover.com/magnesium-for-tomatoes/

also recommends seaweed liquid feed.


Good luck.

Barkie,
So glad you mentioned epson salts!!!! I love a tool that works in all aspects of our lives. I use epson salts on owies soak warm water all better.
I keep epson salts in my garden shed at all times. If I have to feed a plant I sprinkle epson salts on the food, it helps the plant absorb it better. I use it on new plantings, sprinkle it around the plant and water. Ive had it in a sprayer as well. Epson salts is also quite inexpensive here.

I shared this link last year too from a friend.

http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/garden_benefits.htm
That link there tells how much and what doesnt like epson salts. Sage doesnt like epson salts Im always looking where my sage is when Im feeding someone.

Ha-v-v

camprn wrote:

dizzygardener wrote:That's early blight. The best course of action is to pull the plant and throw it away. If you want to try to save the plant pull off all the affected branches, and apply a fungicide. I wouldn't put any other tomatoes near it.

Google "early blight treatment" for more detailed info.

I'm so sorry to hear about your sick baby. Tomatoes are a tough one. Most are quite disease prone. You can seek out disease resistant hybrids to help curb the problem.

Best of luck to you and happy Gardening!

I dunno, it doesn't look quite like blight to me but it is difficult to tell from the photo. If you look at the photo's in this thread it looks like blight, a bit different from the photo here.

Certainly if this plant doesn't revive, I would consider pulling it up and replace.

If you enlarge the picture you can see the tale tale circular brown spots of around 1/2" in diameter. That coupled with the yellowing of the leaves and the die back from the ground up says early blight to me. It's also been just wet enough for early blight to be an issue.

That's not to say that there couldn't be something else going on like a deficiency and watering issues, but I'd still take that foliage off. If it is blight it will spread. Better to be safe than sorry.

yeah, I still think it's not blight... How is your plant doing Nature's Apprentice?

Nature's Apprentice do you think you might be able to get an enlarged photo of those bottom leaves with the brown spots? That might help.

What a wonderful response...I'll try to address them all as I go down the list:

@CampRN & @ DizzyGardener - I looked at the blight thread you linked to, and the top leaves have similar spotting. I'll take better pics tonight when I get home and we can figure out if I need to trash the plant and start fresh. I was initially on board with the transplant shock and watering iregularities (@LavenderDebs) as that fit the story of my boxes, but we'll see.

@Martha - Thank you so much, I hope I can live up to your expectations of me While I don't like tomatoes, I do like to cook with tomatoes. If I can figure this thing out, I will probably have a regular plant of Romas since those are the only ones I can handle raw (with tons of garlic and basil, of course). I did notice the attention the firemen were getting in the product aisle, but I always wrote that off to the uniforms...who knew it was actually the produce. :-)

@Barkie & @HA-v-v - I'll get some closer pics tonight and let me know if you think it still needs the salt. I have sage in the next square over so I will have to be careful with it, but I'll try it if it will save a plant.

I've trimmed off the bottom leaves, but I think the next row up has some yellowing, and I think there is also spotting on the top leaves, so I'll get some more detailed pics tonight.
Thank you, everyone, for being so supportive. I added a second box over the weekend, and will post some pics of that in a more appropriate thread once I have them on the computer.

-NA

Ok, so having trouble uploading pics to my gallery...keeps telling me files are too large or corrupted no matter how small or clean I make them...so remote hosting.

One of the leaves near the bottom:


The leaves near the middle (green, but some spots):


New growth at the top:


Flowers:



Does that help?

Oh your tomato plant looks pretty good. Go ahead and take that yellow leaf off, and if you want to the other one with the spot. Your plant looks pretty good from what I can see! I think you took some fine photos!!!

Sweet! Thanks!

They look pretty good to me.

I have always had some kind of disease on my tomatoes, and I have learned that they will still produce (although not as much) after having early blight, septoria spot and powdery mildew. My strategy has evolved into pruning all leaves that have spots, and all leaves below fruit. I end up with less leaves, and more air circulation. As long as you prune regularly, like once a week, you won't over-stress the plants.

Last year was my best because of the drought conditions. I use soaker hoses to water, and because it rarely rained, I had much less problems with leaf decay diseases.

It doesn't look like the blight has gotten too bad. I'd take off all yellow and spotted leaves and keep a close eye on it and your other tomato plants for that matter.