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Latest posts by Italophile

Poorly tomatoe plant leaves

Posted: 10/06/2013 at 09:07

There's some good sensible advice in that link, Sue. I particularly like the caution against overwatering. I'd extend it to overfertilising, too. There's an old tomato saying: "More plants are killed by pampering than neglect".

The Blossom End Rot (BER) problem is an interesting one. It used to be tomato lore that it was caused simply by a lack of calcium and was remedied by digging the stuff into the soil.

Science now tells us that BER is certainly calcium-related but in terms of the plant being unable to distribute the calcium through its internal system to the fruit. You can have all the calcium in the world in the soil but the plant is unable to use it.

Unfortunately science can't tell us exactly why. The best guess is that it's stress-related, with the plant's physiology under duress and affected. There are potentially plenty of causes of plant stress - climate, culture, etc - so there's no simple answer.

The real mystery, though, is why some varieties are more prone to it than others. The link suggests larger-fruited varieties are more prone, but, in fact, it's the plum or egg shapes - San Marzano, etc - that are most vulnerable. I've had plum/egg varieties in the ground growing right beside beefsteaks and oblates. The plum or egg shapes have been riddled with BER, their immediate neighbours totally BER-free.

Who would be a tomato grower?




Poorly tomatoe plant leaves

Posted: 10/06/2013 at 06:42

Not a guru, KEF, I've just grown toms for 20+ years and, particularly in the early days, had the benefit of a lot of advice from some real gurus, particularly a couple of American tom growers who were incredibly generous not only with advice but gifts of very-hard-to-come-by heirloom seeds. Tom growers are a bit of a community - world-wide - and the more help and advice shared around, the better.

The best thing I learned about growing toms was Keep It Simple. Don't fuss over them, don't pamper, don't overwater, don't overfertilise, let them do the work. It's what their genes are programmed to do.

Oh, and I'm a him.

Poorly tomatoe plant leaves

Posted: 09/06/2013 at 15:14

Okay, Danielle, I thought I could see some amongst the patches. That's a computer monitor for you! Just out of interest, what varieties are they?

Poorly tomatoe plant leaves

Posted: 09/06/2013 at 13:39

Danielle, the first one - with all the necrotic tissue - doesn't look fungal. It's something cultural. As Dov says, knock off the fertiliser and cut back on watering too.

The second one could be more problematic. Have a very close look. Can you see little blisters/pustules at the centre of the marks?

Poorly tomatoe plant leaves

Posted: 09/06/2013 at 10:46

Danielle, the necrotic - white/fawn - tissue in the first photo doesn't necessarily mean "blight".

"Blight" has become a generic term for all fungal diseases. In reality, there are two "Blight" diseases - Early and Late. There are other fungal diseases that can look somewhat like them. Early Blight is the most common fungal disease in the domestic garden, with Septoria Leaf Spot probably next on the list.

This is what Early Blight looks like in its early and later stages:

Notice the "bullseye" appearance of the spot in the first image. I think I can see one or two of them in your first photo. The extent of the necrotic tissue, though, isn't necessarily consistent with a fungal problem. You can get that result from things like fertiliser burn, particularly too much nitrogen. Are you fertilising the plant? And what with?

Can you take another, much closer photo of the smudge/stains on the leaves in your second photo?

Tomatoes with 5.5 hours sun....wishful thinking?

Posted: 09/06/2013 at 10:24




Posted: 07/06/2013 at 13:44



Posted: 07/06/2013 at 13:19


Moving tomatoes outside

Posted: 05/06/2013 at 08:34

You're right, Bf, you don't want to take off too much foliage. The plants need it for photosynthesis. It's a matter of striking a balance. The plant looks all right. A bit spindly still, but that's a legacy of the lack of light earlier in its life. Leave the foliage for now, give them as much sunlight as possible, even if it means moving the pots around to capture the sun. And don't overwater.


Posted: 05/06/2013 at 07:09



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