Hi, I'm having an issue with my tomatoes. I need to know if this is temporary or if this is a deal breaker and I should rip it out and try again. A friend gifted me one of the ones he started from seed that he saved from last year. Unfortunately, he did not tell me what variety it was because he didn't know. He just liked the flavor. It's planted in a 5 gallon container filled with Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix. I applied Epsom salts. I'm on a second floor balcony that gets full sun. Temperature ranges have been in the upper seventies to 90 degrees F for the past week in the day, lower seventies at night. No signs of pests so far. All new growth is affected from top and bottom. A few flower buds have appeared and appear normal.
Could be any of these... Yellowing and wilting Bacterial canker Bacterial pith necrosis Bacterial wilt Fusarium wilt Iron deficiency Pith necrosis Salt damage Tomato spotted wilt virus Verticillium wilt http://www.tomatodirt.com/problems-on-tomato-leaves.html
Looking forward to hearing eveyone's answers. I'm going to follow your post. Just planted my toms and want to get ahead of problems.
Does the 5 gallon bucket have adequate drainage with holes in the bottom? I've heard that using salts is a great thing but I've also heard that too much of a good thing can cause problems. Stop with the salts and perhaps try to flush it out. I've also stood clear from miracle grow products when it comes to growing food. So whatever it is hope it recovers.
It looks as if it is iron deficient to me. this can happen if the soil is too compacted due to being water logged or no drainage at all. A high Ph will also contribute to the condition... even if there is iron available it isn't available to the plant.. it is "locked" in the soil due to the ph or other minerals... or it may need a dose of high iron fertilizer.
Thank you all for your responses. I've read and considered them all. Including drilling more holes. We've had a lot of really heavy flooding rain, so anything I added probably got flushed (I only watered in the epsom salts once. They were not added to the soil.) Seems like you're on to something Carolyn. To be honest, I don't know if my friend fed his tomato seedlings and if so with what. it may have developed a deficiency of one or even more nutrients by the time I received the plants. I'll be sure to water and feed well balanced micronutrient fertilizer and post a follow up. Quick Edit: I asked and my friend used miracle grow fertilizer. Which contains iron. Could it have been that there weren't enough drainage holes? Hopefully drilling the holes will help.
If the problem is that leaf curl,, don`t worry about it ! Mine do that every year and still have a ton of tomatoes. And thats in regular garden. You might ask your friend if the seeds he saved were from hybrids. Miiracle gro had some problems in the last few years. Plus you have no idea what was added ! Just use regular compost or potting soil and add your own stuff !
Just start giving it some vegetable fertilizer. the NPK numbers ...should be lower in N than P and K. if you have a high nitrogen number you will have a beautiful green plant with no flowers or fruit. don't worry over the epsom salt. but flushing the fertilizers out from heavy rain is very possible.
Good news! Turns out that it was the drainage. Even after just a few days look how much better it looks! Thank you for helping my tomato issue!