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Heirloom Plants & Gardens

whats wrong with my tomato plant?

19 years ago

I have two heirlooms (Hillbilly & st. pierre) growing in an Earthbox on my roof. For a while, both looked great. In the last week, the Hillbilly's leaves have started to yellow and are sagging a little, the plants seems to have stopped growing, and I've noticed strange wort-like bumps on the stem. On the other hand, the St. Pierre is looking great - it keeps getting bigger and bigger and there are several flowers. I am a first time grower so I have absolutely no idea what this could be. I would have thought a disease would effect both plants given their proximity. It has been windy lately, could this be the problem? Please help save my Hillbilly.

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Comments (3)

Mary_in_pnw
19 years ago
If you go to the tomato forum, scroll down, and click on the link to tomato pests and diseases, you will find some folks who can help you. You would think that the heirloom tomato discussions would be here, but it's always on the tomato forum. Most people there discuss and grow heirlooms, including me. I've been very lucky in avoiding disease problems, so not sure what is going on for your plant. Do check there. Best wishes.

Mary
motherduck
19 years ago
Is the Hillbilly in a large enough container? Usually if they become 'potbound' they slow in growth and the leaves turn yellow starting at the bottom. The yellow leaves eventually fall off. When you transplanted it did you spread the roots out a bit so they grow better? The bumps on the stem are probably new roots trying to sprout.
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Some looks like disease - If so, likely needs more air circulation Some looks like ran short of water. Lots of possible reasons to investigate for that.
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jean is right, that is *not* glyphosate damage, that looks like 2-4D damage. My first year of gardening I listened to my grandpa and he said "aw hell just spray roundup around the plants to keep the weeds down. Well, my tomatoes looked like this afterwards: 2-4D causes plants to basically grow themselves to death, it causes the plant to grow in all kinds of weird directions and shapes, it makes them curl. If it is herbicide damage, then My vote goes into the 2-4D type of chemicals. Are there any farm fields next to you that might have gotten sprayed? Another thing no one has mentioned yet is disease, I was scolded and scared by my dad and grandpa when getting advice "you never never never plant tomatoes in the same dirt year over year" they said. Eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco are all in the nightshade family. They will be vulnerable to the same sets of diseases. Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden
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Judging from the last picture (posted 5 hours ago) I see the yellowing starts from the lower leaves. In my view, plant is just aborting those older leave to support the younger ones . I would think lack of nutrients associated with too much moisture ( due to rain, bad drainage/soil). But There is a possibility of disease as evidenced in the earlier photos , showing lesions. I would take Steve's advice : Trim off all the yellowing leaves, as the is no chance for them to revive. In the meantime the offer and open door for disease. Next step is to fungicide the plants Third, feed them !
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Comments (12)
The USDA Zone numbers are actually based on the lowest temperature in the winter. They have nothing to do with the highest temps in the summer. As a result, the zone numbers are especially useful for perennials, and assessing freeze tolerance. While those numbers can give a general feel for summer gardening conditions, they are by no means accurate in that regard. Yep, your soil looks bone dry. But I don't think that's your problem. Tomatoes will wilt significantly when they dry out. Yours aren't wilted. I have to suspect a fungal infection for the brown spots. But yes, container plants ALWAYS need added fertilizer. I'm surprised they grew that big without any. Garden soil has organics that, if outside, degrade and release some nutrients, but a container plant doesn't have the biological activity to do that degradation well. Tomatoes lacking nutrients just don't grow.
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Julesagain
19 years ago
I don't know if you went over to Tomatoes, but that is an excellent source of info. If you have room in your pot, you can add some more dirt to the top, and those bumps might turn into roots. You could also try a fungicide combo that Safer makes, I can't remmeber the name of it but it is available at garden supply and Home Depot type stores, and it comes in an aqua bottle in spray or concentrate formulas. It worked like a charm for me when some of my tomatoes got the yellows, and it also works OK for white flies.
Also make sure you aren't over-watering, its easy to do in a pot. A good dousing once a week or so unless it looks wilty oughta do it.
As well as checking out the diseases and pests on the Tomato Forum, also check out the growing tips, there's some good info in there too. And we're pretty friendly over there!
Julesagain

Here is a link that might be useful: Watering tips

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