tomato plants -some advice please

marmiterulesok

I have two tomato plants on my balcony.They get a lot of sun and some of the tomatoes are ripening.

I have a few questions:

-quite a few of the leaves either have yellow patches on them or seem to have areas of white 'mould' (for want of a better word) or a combination of the two.

-I have also had tiny white flies on the underside of the leaves for quite a while.There seem to be fewer of these now.

I water them every day and feed them once a week.These are plants that are suitable for the balcony.The plants do look slightly stunted compared to last year.

Am I doing anything wrong?

Thank you!

DaftyDuck

Probably not really; it's a horrible wet year, and that's not helping lots of tomato growers.
Yellow leaves can be a sign of magnesium deficiency, and also of underwatering. You can add epsom salts to your foliar feed if it is the former. However, with balcony plants it is as likely to be a lack of sunlight getting to the lower leaves. I'd expect nutrient deficiency to affect the newer growing leaves as much. It is tomato fertiliser you are using, not general-purpose stuff? You might want to up the feeding to twice or thrice a week.

Personally, I think I'd cross my fingers for some warmer sun, and not play around with Epsom salts.

marmiterulesok

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Probably not really; it's a horrible wet year, and that's not helping lots of tomato growers.
Yellow leaves can be a sign of magnesium deficiency, and also of underwatering. You can add epsom salts to your foliar feed if it is the former. However, with balcony plants it is as likely to be a lack of sunlight getting to the lower leaves. I'd expect nutrient deficiency to affect the newer growing leaves as much. It is tomato fertiliser you are using, not general-purpose stuff? You might want to up the feeding to twice or thrice a week.

Personally, I think I'd cross my fingers for some warmer sun, and not play around with Epsom salts.

That's interesting-I wondered if I was over-watering them.I water them once in the evening,but I'll try watering and feeding them more.
I have special feed for tomatoes,mind you,it's from last year,but I'm sure it's still ok to use?

They get a lot of sunlight because the balcony has an open-work metal fence.We've had a lot of rain here too (Switzerland),but maybe not as much as in Britain.

Would it be ok to water them early in the morning as well,by that I mean 6 o'clock,before it gets hot.I know you're supposed to water in the evening.

Thanks again.

elisaves

i would say its is overwatering rather than underwatering; even if my tomato plants get a bit wilted because of lack of water they pick up as soon as i water them; they rather dry out a bit than sit in cold water; also if it is white mould it can be some fungal diseases

DaftyDuck

Yes, it could be over rather than under watering. That may not sound helpful (either water them more, or water them less!!!), but it makes some sense. Nutrient uptake through the roots can only take place when root health is good. Too much water is just as bad for most plants as too little. My (UK) growbags tend to suffer from under-watering, not over-watering. I wouldn't worry too much; tomato leaves tend to look 'orrible later on in the season, but they still do their job.

Year-old tomato fertiliser should be fine. You might want to use the fertiliser more frequently, though.

marmiterulesok

Thanks to you both,I'll try water them slightly less but feeding more often.They haven't looked wilted for a while.I know it's not good for plants to sit it water.