Another Tomato Plant Question!

EmptyPockets

Hello Greenfingered friends

We have eight Gardener's Delight plants. They're roughly between three and five feet tall now and have lots of little toms starting to form. But in the last week or so the bottom leaves have started to turn yellow, eventually wilting and dying if we haven't already taken them off the plant.

Does this mean they are not getting enough water, or too much water..?

They are watered twice most days, morning and evening. A few days here and there it's only done once in the evening. They're all in pots and nine times out of ten they are quite dry by the next watering.

I haven't stopped them yet as I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to do. Keep meaning to try and look it up but haven't yet And also one of the 'suckers' on each plant was missed/allowed to grow and it's now like a second stem: extremely thick, with leaves and more trusses of flowers on it.

Any advice from you fine people..?!

ETA: I forgot to say, I have fed them with tom food twice now. Am trying to do it every ten days... ish!

savingmummy

On one of my plants the bottom leaves have gone yellow but not wilted.
I normally only water once a day BUT my husband has been watering them twice over the past week so i have a feeling it may be too much water but would also like to know why this has happened and what to do with the yellow leaves x

morg_monster

I find the bottom leaves always end up looking a bit manky no matter how I water; and the rest of the plant usually looks absolutely fine. I just think as they are the oldest leaves they just get put through the mill a bit. TBH I have cut the bottom stems off; off the first foot or so of the plant as I find I can see the soil better to water and it seems to increase airflow through the plant; and these stems adn leaves are all pretty wilty, yellow and rubbish anyway. I know this is particularly recommended for large beefsteak type tomatoes; I did it with any cordon ones too (ie not bush or tumbling). At any rate I wouldn't worry too much if it is just the bottom leaves looking crap.

As for having two stems, most of mine have gone this way this year although I did try to pinch out the side stems like you! I think its just that with the good weather they have just grown so fast and strong it's hard to keep on top of it. I don't think it matters too much; clearly if you've got flowers and fruit you are doing something right. I would stop them now; I just go around and cut the growing tips; not just on the top but also any really large stems with fruit going out the side; so they don't get overly heavy and snap off. Someone advised me this week that with two or more stems; obviously they are going to be producing that much more fruit so you don't want to let them get overloaded. I might build them a bit of a cage too with bamboo and old tights if the trusses get very large, to help take the weight.

EmptyPockets

morg_monster, thanks for the very helpful advice. I'm not going to worry too much for now then, as it is only the very bottom leaves turning yellow. Today I'll look at stopping them, if I can figure out which bits to snip And will also have to look at supporting some of the trusses better than what they are now, which won't be sufficient for much longer.

Thanks again :T

Primrose

Are you adding a liquid feed to the water every other day? The nutrients in the compost will only last a certain time and with the tomatoes growing quickly you probably need to be adding Tomorite to the water more regularly, especially once small tomatoes start forming and especially if you've got side shoots which are also bearing flowers & fruit as this will be an extra strain on the plants. I suggest you rest all your pots in drip trays so that surplus water can drain into them. In very dry weather the compost will shrink and does not necessarily absorb all the water quickly. Water can drain straight out of the pots and you think you have added sufficient water whereas the compost in the centre of the pot can actually still be quite dry. With drip trays, if the inner compost is still dry, the surplus water can gradually be absorbed back up into the compost through capilliary action. It also ensures that none of the liquid fertiliser is wasted.
I've got all my peppers and chilli plants in drips trays and in this hot weather I've been surprised how much water often drains through to the drip trays after watering, and yet within 30 minutes it has all been absorbed back into the compost, suggesting that it wasn't as thoroughly soaked as I thought it was.

rms1

OP says plants are between 3 and 5 feet tall. Mine are barely 18 inches high and have lots of tomatoes forming so mine are obviously a different variety. I wish I knew what.

morg_monster

rms1 do they look like a bush? Have they stopped growing heightwise? They may be a tumbling variety. Mine got to about 12-18" and then the main stem split and they are growing "out" now, not up. They also have loads of tomatoes already (all still green though). Tumbling ones are so much less hassle! But I do find they can look a real mess, a huge tangle of stems and leaves and flowers.

misskool

Primrose wrote: »

Are you adding a liquid feed to the water every other day?

That's a lot of feeding! I feed mine once a week or once a fortnight and I get plenty of tomatoes (yes, even the ones in pots)

tanith

I always take some leaves off my tomatoes anyway so I start with the manky bottom ones... and eventually remove all those below the first truss.. I've always done this and get plenty of toms and I only feed once a week.. my tried and tested method over many years