No, not at all -- they always go through that "oh, my God, they look terrible, and they'r all going to die" phase, every year. The purple pigmentation is just a response to stress. As far as the spots, it might be just windburn/sunburn, etc., or could be a fungal disease. I would spray with a general purpose fungicide or some baking soda in water (1 tablespoon per quart) just to be safe.

I'm sure in a month, with some warm weather, fertilizer, etc., you'll be amazed at how well they've grown.

And, if PA is anything like Michigan, it's been just too cold and dark and wet, which doesn't help.

You set them out a few weeks ago? OMG! They must have frozen their little asses off during cold nights. Mine will be set out this weekend. They have been spending warm days outside and nights inside. I think yours will recover though and catch up with mine in a few weeks. It's just that you don't gain anything by setting tomatoes out too early.

Jim

Whew! Thank you! Thank You! Thank You to both of you!
Yes it sounds like we have been having the same weather,just plain old nasty! I will start the baking soda tomorrow!:)
I actually was bringing them in at night when we got below 40,maybe I should have brought them in every night! Lesson learned.
You guys have really made me feel so much better and now I can finally lay my head down without thinking I killed those poor little guys.I was heart broken having watched them grow from seed ,than thinking I was going to have to chuck them. Thanks a billion,I will be alot more considerate to them next time around!:)

Maybe you should try one of those portable greenhouses they sell at all the big box stores next year. They are 2'x2' and 4' high with a series of shelves with a plastic cover and zipper. At night you zip it closed and in the day you unzip it. They are pretty cheap to buy and can give you a really good head start in this kind of weather.

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Check out my veggie garden blog:
http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/

I do have one Dan,but I still brought them in when it got really chilly out there,but over the last 2 weeks I thought it really was OK to expose them to the elements and sat them out on the patio table in their flat. I guess I was a little to gung ho!...lol...hopefully our cold streak has come to an end and I am going to work on nurturing them back to where they were when they first went out. Next year they wont leave the house until I know it is safe. I bookmarked your blog and I'm on my way to nose around! Thanks so much for all the tips and advice,I will be visiting this forum more often! :)

Another possibility for cold nights would be to wrap them up all snuggly like in frost blanket. I'm also in a zone 6, with Frost-Free dates of less than 3 months that don't begin for another couple of weeks yet, so I've been using frost blankets on my gardens whenever the weather man predicts anything below 45 or so at night, and that has done the trick so far (even my tomato seedlings look great after temps dipped to 26 a couple of nights this week).

Another thought: I'm new to veggies, but maybe the experts can chime in on this; could your tomatoes need a bit of fertilizer? I have a terrific book I bought a couple of months ago and recently read that purple foliage can mean a nitrogen deficiency (and/or yellow may mean phosphorus deficiency... or the other way around? My book is downstairs and I'm upstairs right now). Is that right, experts? So maybe a light feeding will put them back on track.

Happy gardening! :-)

Another thought: I'm new to veggies, but maybe the experts can chime in on this; could your tomatoes need a bit of fertilizer? I have a terrific book I bought a couple of months ago and recently read that purple foliage can mean a nitrogen deficiency (and/or yellow may mean phosphorus deficiency... or the other way around? My book is downstairs and I'm upstairs right now). Is that right, experts? So maybe a light feeding will put them back on track.

Well, your use of the word 'experts' multiple times almost scared me off ;-) Certainly I do not qualify as an expert. If I did you all would be paying me $20/ounce for the produce my garden yields. :-) Bwahahahah!

Anyway, sure it is true that various nutrient deficiencies can present themselves during the growing season, but when they present themselves early in the season temperatures, particularly of the soil, should be looked at before the minerals.

It is quite common for a fertile soil to produce plants with nutrient deficiencies if the soil is cooler than the plant requires for good growth.

Perhaps you have heard of 'bloom booster' fertilizers? Y'know the fertilizers where the NPK numbers have the second number higher than the rest? They are, without exception, a waste of money as no plant on earth can actually use phosphorous (the second number) in that high an amount.

The idea behind them historically was that P is largely unavailable to plants in cool soils so using a fertilizer high in P was once thought to get at least some P to plants in cool soils. To this day you can easily find such useless fertilizers and for lawns if you look at the 'Winterizer' ferts they are usually high in P even though it is useless to the lawn.

So, what am I trying to say? What I am trying to say is that our plants have many requirements. One of them is temperature both for air and soil and putting plants into too cool conditions will stress them and cause them to look like crap. Any problem the plants have we can [mis]diagnose.

The real cause of the problem is the plant is forced to exist in conditions too cold for it.

This is particularly true right now as many of us have spring fever and we put out plants on the nice days only to have cold days return with a vengeance and make our plants suffer.

Hmmmm...that is a possibility! I did lay off the fertilizer awhile ago,it seemed they weren't liking it too much. So maybe I ought to start back up again! This is new to me also,I always bought my Tomatoes and peppers,but really would rather grow my own from seed. Not only because I know how and where they are grown,but for the pleasure of watching the whole process...I love to watch things grow ,even weeds...lol! I am taking all of this advice and going forward with it. I sprayed them with baking soda earlier today and I will start to feed again tomorrow! Thanks a bunch!
Dan,loved the blog! :)

Excellent, thanks so much, justaguy! And, you are indeed an expert in my book. :-) Believe me, you're all experts compared to me... which is why I love this forum and the way you all share your knowledge here. Thanks much!

Being one of those who just cannot wait for the season to start, I have done my share of planting my tomatos and peppers too early. I've been using wall-o-water for years now and love the results for both peppers and tomatos.

Still, I see my share of purple leaves and it is a nutrient deficit. Cool weather makes it difficult for tomatos to take up nutrients. The purple will go away when the nights heat up. In the mean time - like I tell my teen-age son - Use Protection!!!

Kay.

I set out about half of my tomatoes over two weeks ago. They look great...have not grown a whole lot, but are on the way. They get darker after setting out. In severe cool and wetness, some can get purple but should be ok later.

The ones I left on the outside table for two more weeks are not nearly as nice yet.....the lesson.....don't leave them setting around for perfect weather [as a rule].

I want to thank every person who posted to this thread! My tomatoes are awesome and we have just started harvesting from the plants a couple weeks ago! I am looking at a huge crop of Romas to freeze! Woo-Hoo! My other tomato plants are doing a good job also,and even my peppers are producing well!
Thanks again,for your words of advice and encouragement,you guys are great! :D
~Angie

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I'm so jealous. I have a huge patch of pretty green ones. We are still getting low fifty degree nights, even though the days are hitting mid to high eighties. The danged things just won't ripen!

That's sort of how it is going with the Romas. I expect when they do ripen ,I am going to have lots of them at one time! I am not complaining though! The ones we have had are coming at a decent pace,we manage to gobble them down as soon as they come. But, I know there will be a "surge" soon,as I am sure you will too!:)