Losing patience with Tomato plants now!

EmptyPockets

Hi - it's been a while since I posted, but I'm afraid I've come for a bit of a rant :mad:

I have eight tomato plants, Gardener's Delights, each growing in individual pots and containers around the garden, each about four or five feet tall.. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong with them but I'm disappointed with them at the moment. The bottom leaves have been turning yellow/brown and dying for weeks now, so I've been removing them and now they are completely naked until about 2ft up the stem. They generally look straggly, bedraggled and scruffy.

I haven't 'stopped' them yet, I know they each have more trusses on than they really should have, but I just haven't had a spare ten minutes recently to get out there and do it.

I do water them every day, although they are always bone dry when I come to do them the next time.

I feed them every ten to fourteen days (ish) as per the instructions on my tomato feed.

AND NOW! I get up this morning to find little green tomatoes all over the floor :huh: ... Just one of the plants (well one so far!) has started to drop it's tomatoes! If I so much as touch the plant, a tomato falls off

I'm just about to go and water them all, in this cooler weather I've been doing them once a day in the mornings... but I'm seriously losing the will to live with these plants now.

Any thoughts?!

ETA: the toms are still green, some are quite large but none are showing signs of turning red yet...

TonyMMM

Tomatoes hate being dry ...so if "they are bone dry when I come to do them" it sounds like they aren't getting enough water ..... how big are the pots, and what are they potted in ?

westiea

hi

Poor you very frustrating.:(

I think you answered your question . Your plants are suffering hunger and drought.

I haven't 'stopped' them yet,

do that now - the plants are putting energy into growing taller and not into the fruits. Also have you been removing the side shoots? That will also help, you want the tomatoes left to ripen not producing new fruits .

I do water them every day, although they are always bone dry when I come to do them the next time.

They need watering more often - I am watering at least x2 a day.That is probably why your tomatoes are dropping.

I feed them every ten to fourteen days (ish)

Feed them at the minimum weekly - I would suggest that you give them a slightly more than usual diluted feed every watering session for a week then once a week there after.

The bottom leaves have been turning yellow/brown and dying for weeks now, so I've been removing them and now they are completely naked until about 2ft up the stem.

Don't worry, some people remove them deliberately to allow light to get to the lower trusses.:)

kazwookie

They need more water, what you have given them is sadly not enough.

Can you stand the ones in pots on trays and water the tray for a few days?

EmptyPockets

TonyMMM wrote: »

Tomatoes hate being dry ...so if "they are bone dry when I come to do them" it sounds like they aren't getting enough water ..... how big are the pots, and what are they potted in ?

Yeah... *hangs head in shame* - I've been neglecting them a bit and I guess they are punishing me now. Grrrrr! The pots are about 13/14 inches across, and about 16/17 inches deep. Can't do anything about that as I have no bigger pots and nowhere to put them in the ground. They're in B&Q Multi-Purpose compost as far as I can remember, couldn't tell you exactly which one though...

EmptyPockets

kazwookie wrote: »

They need more water, what you have given them is sadly not enough.

Can you stand the ones in pots on trays and water the tray for a few days?

I don't have any trays but will pull my socks up where watering and feeding is concerned and hope they recover

EmptyPockets

westiea wrote: »

hi

Poor you very frustrating.:(

I think you answered your question . Your plants are suffering hunger and drought.

do that now - the plants are putting energy into growing taller and not into the fruits. Also have you been removing the side shoots? That will also help, you want the tomatoes left to ripen not producing new fruits .

They need watering more often - I am watering at least x2 a day.That is probably why your tomatoes are dropping.

Feed them at the minimum weekly - I would suggest that you give them a slightly more than usual diluted feed every watering session for a week then once a week there after.

Don't worry, some people remove them deliberately to allow light to get to the lower trusses.:)

Thanks for taking time to reply. I have been good at removing side shoots - have missed a couple on each plant which then developed into thick stems and put out more trusses, but overall I've removed most side shoots. I'll go out now and remove the growing tips, and will feed them too.

We've just been a bit side-tracked with other things this past week or so, and the veggies are all telling us off for it! The Iceburg Lettuce have all completely rotted and died. The pea plants are covered in a white, powdery mould which I presume is mildew, and desperately need pulling out and binning. The rocket all went to seed and smells absolutely disgusting! Ahhhhh, if ya don't laugh you'll cry eh?

wornoutmumoftwo

I'm on my third year of trying to grow tomatoes. First year put them outside and they all died. Second year got blight as I had them undercover but planted in the ground.
This year they're undercover, in pots and I water them twice a day and feed every three (as per the feed I have).
I've removed most of the side shoots and all the ones in the lower plant that don't have flowers on them.
Two of the plants keep wilting though, don't know why as they get the same treatment as the others so I got some of those magic water crytal things from the pound shop, put some of them in and its stopped them drying out so much.

katiel

After an experiment this year I can recommend using compost from growbags rather than general purpose for toms in pots. They are by far the best ever this year! Also, my current brand of tomato food says feed pots weekly, and double the strength of the feed compared to plants in the ground. So I agree with all of above..

Lotus-eater

I remember when I wrote on here about tomatoes being difficult to grow and everyone rounded on me and said they were easy.
When you open a book and look at the tomato growing page, read the pests, diseases and problems bit, either it's much bigger than every other vegetable , or they just say.... loads.

Mojisola

EmptyPockets wrote: »

Yeah... *hangs head in shame* - I've been neglecting them a bit and I guess they are punishing me now. Grrrrr! The pots are about 13/14 inches across, and about 16/17 inches deep. Can't do anything about that as I have no bigger pots and nowhere to put them in the ground. They're in B&Q Multi-Purpose compost as far as I can remember, couldn't tell you exactly which one though...

These pots should be plenty big enough for tomatoes. One of the problems with multi-purpose compost is that, if it gets dry, it can be very hard to get it wet again. If you are just watering from the top, the chances are that the water is running straight through the pots and the compost is perpetually dry. The best way to get it properly wet again is to stand the pots in water and let it soak up gradually. If you can get the pots into a bucket and fill it up, that would be best. If you can't do this or improvise in some other way, make some holes in the compost from the top and fill with the water crystals wornoutmumoftwo mentioned. They hold water and slowly release it into the compost.