Tomato plants - stunted growth

malebolge

yogi_brrr wrote: »

No, I am trying to avoid giving them to much feed. I was under the impression that you shouldn't feed tomato plants until they are setting fruit, otherwise all their energy goes into making leaves. The theory is that the plant needs to "think" it's about to die before it will produce fruit. That's what I heard anyway, and I am still learning and experimenting !

I've been growing tomatoes well over 30 years and never feed them with tomato feed until the first set of fruit can be seen. Seed compost is the best for starting them off, but it contains less nutrients than multipurpose compost (deliberately, to make the seeds grow more quickly.) Years ago, I used to give them a bit of general liquid feed (about half strength) when I repotted them, but now I use a multi purpose compost that has feed in it, so I don't feed them at all until they're in their final places and have set fruit. Too much feed too early doesn't lead to a good crop - you end up with lots of leaves and not many tomatoes. I've got 60+ young plants in my conservatory atm, all in small pots - I repotted them so they're not too leggy. One thing that is important is that you warm the compost before you repot. This applies to any seeds really - if seeds have been happily growing indoors, and you bung them into cold compost, they get in a huff and don't grow for a bit. I'm lucky in that I have a huge conservatory that I basically use for plants at this time of year so I put compost in the pots a few days before I repotted the tomatoes so the compost was at room temp. I'm growing a mix of indoor & outdoor varieties and they all get the same treatment.

unrecordings

I've only been growing tomatoes for about five years. I go for Ailsa Craig every time, and maybe a couple of Alicante. Always in the greenhouse as I'm bordering on the woods so blight is a problem. I didn't know about the burying deeper thing when repotting until it was mentioned here. And as for warming the compost, I never even considered that but it makes perfect sense. I've got an old 1940's War Dept booklet on growing tomatoes, maybe I need to give it another read

wishuponastar

yogi_brrr wrote: »

Yep, it's a learning curve for sure! As long as they are not wilting or turning yellow, you probably shouldn't worry. As well as soil, it's worth experimenting with different varieties of tomato and cordon and bush types, like I'm doing (I managed to get some seeds at a seed swap so didn't cost me much). And remember, some tomatoes are harder to grow in our climate without a greenhouse. Which variety are you growing?
I can also highly recommend keeping a gardening journal. I have one which I started in 2008. I make notes about everything I have grown, what worked, what didn't work, etc and refer to it quite often.

Thanks for the advice, I am growing different varieties I think as some of the plants look different if that makes sense, some have very pristine cut out precise leaves with lots of detail on it whereas the others are more just like standard leaves. The actual variety I'm not sure as I saved the seeds from various tomatoes I had eaten (all red ones) but some were cherry, the oval large ones and regular salad ones. So the journal would have been a good idea as now I don't know which ones are from which so now I've got the surprise factor to look forward to a bit like a gender reveal in the tomato variety world. Unfortunately I don't have a greenhouse, I currently use my windowsill and if the plants get too big for inside, they go into my car as a temporary one until I can manage to get a greenhouse.


Journal is a good idea, I've got a daily journal but I'm not very good at writing in it and I have big gaps in it lol so hopefully if I start a gardening one then it will go better. Are you quite an organised gardener?

halogen

I had this problem last year with my tomatoe seedlings and this years are going the same way.
Last year they never got beyond 1.5-2 inches high and no more than the 1st set of true leaves and that was throughout the season. Can't have been a variety thing as it was 6-8 different varities and the bought plants were ok.
This year 90% of my 1st batch of seedlings died and the 1/2 dozen that are left are not looking good. My 2nd batch had really poor germination as well
I have bought some plants but that doesn't give me the range of varities I would like to grow.

What are people tips for growing tomatoes, peppers and chillis? I used to not have a problem but the last couple of years it's been a lost cause.

I usually start mine mid Feb in a heated propogator with a grow light, pot them on after the 1st true leaves and then into the greenhouse.

Silvertabby

halogen wrote: »

I had this problem last year with my tomatoe seedlings and this years are going the same way.
Last year they never got beyond 1.5-2 inches high and no more than the 1st set of true leaves and that was throughout the season. Can't have been a variety thing as it was 6-8 different varities and the bought plants were ok.
This year 90% of my 1st batch of seedlings died and the 1/2 dozen that are left are not looking good. My 2nd batch had really poor germination as well
I have bought some plants but that doesn't give me the range of varities I would like to grow.

What are people tips for growing tomatoes, peppers and chillis? I used to not have a problem but the last couple of years it's been a lost cause.

I usually start mine mid Feb in a heated propogator with a grow light, pot them on after the 1st true leaves and then into the greenhouse.

What compost did you use? Wasn't there a case of a certain brand being contaminated with weed killer?

I start off my toms and chillies in a heated propagator mid/end February, then put them on spare bedroom windowsills (away from hoolicat - what is it with cats and 'pushing'?) once they have been potted on.

They are all romping along nicely. My greenhouse is unheated, so I won't put them out there until about mid May.

Heedtheadvice

Malebolge gives good advice.
Some prerequisites.
Temperature. They like warmth but need plenty of light and is missing the latter become leggy so it is a balance. Generally low root temperature leads to problems so keep above 15deg C at all times.
Germination and early growth need low fertility soils/compost....but after about four weeks of growth, like all plants they need food to develop. Root growth is particularly important but you need leaf to make roots too so part strength balanced fertiliser is good. Reduce feed if there is too much leaf growth, that is lots of soft very green leaf. Afternoon though in their final position and after first truss is set (flowering has been stimulated) tomato feed (or similar feed with high levels of potassium such as 3-1-5 NPK) are very important to give good fruit growth.
In early growth, if the leaves look a bit anemic try a slight feed of higher nitrogen feed (but only early on! Certainly not after planting out) or add a weak mixture of Epsom salts in case of magnesium deficiancy.
Blue-ish leaves show they have been chilled.
Curled leaves in later growth show fast growth but night to e temperature too low to use up day time food production.
Lots of ventilation assists keeping blight and botritis at bay especially in damper areas. Tomatoes also like seaweed feeds.