About tomatoes...again, for the last time.

early_bird_2007

16 years ago

Here is the story. I planted recently few tomatoes outside and they got sick immediately. I took pic. and sent my question to Un. of FL ******** County Extension Service, to Horticulture Agent. This is my letter:

"Hi!

Not long ago I planted few tomato plants on my back yard. I grew them from seeds and in pots they looked very healthy. But in the ground they look like they want to grow but something doesn't let them. New leaves come smaller and smaller and they are yellow-green, not green. The last leaf is only about an inch and it's not growing anymore. Could you tell me what is the problem and what can I do about it?

Thank you.

Maria"

I also attached a pic.

{{gwi:799406}}

Very soon I got an answer:

"Hi Maria, have you fertilized the plants since you put them in the ground? They could use a slow release fertilizer like Osmocot or Dynamite that has the three numbers all the same like a 14-14-14 or a 13-13-13- or even 20-20-20. The container will tell you how much to scatter around the plants. Good luck!"

I new my plants were sick, not weak. I went to tomato forum, found info on TYLCV, found an article about TYLCV on UF website. It took FIVE MINUTES total.

Now you tell me: wasn't my description obvious? Who are these guys in UF Extention Offices? Is it a paid job or volunteering? Don't take me wrong, I am not a grumbler who always complain about this and that but I don't understand how can anyone live in FL, call him/herself "Horticulture Agent" and not know about TYLCV.

So my lesson N1: Don't ask UF Horticulture Agents - they are useless. Go to Gardeweb.

Lesson N2: I think I am done with tomatoes. Leafminers, Nematodes, TYLCV... That's too much for me. I can work as a mule and dig, dig, dig...But what's the use if I don't have power over all that stuff? There is Flea Market close by.

Now a little something to laugh about. My husband's co-worker and old buddy came to our house few days ago. From the porch he saw my persimmon and asked: "Are they TOMATOES?" Yeah, they shaped like tomatoes and they are yellow, but it's a TREE higher than the porch roof! Quite a knowledge in agriculture. My husband is about the same.

Maria

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

joycrick
16 years ago
This time of year you can grow GREAT tomatoes in Florida - just a few things - plant disease resistant varieties in raised beds amended with LOTS of compost to discourage nematodes. I also grind up shrimp and crab shells and add that to the soil (if the shells are from cooked shellfish be sure to rinse off all salt). I don't spray any chemical sprays - I make a mixture of hot pepper, garlic orange oil and a little dish liquid and spray that if I see evidence of insects.

Be sure they get plenty of water regularly and sun.

Rotate the beds you grow the maters in - don't use the same bed you used last year.

Finally, you may have to net them to keep the @@##%%** mocking birds away. They tend to take one bite out of the ripest reddest ones.

Yeah, it's not easy, but I think the homegrown, vine-ripened are worth it.
gcmastiffs
16 years ago
I had a similar bad experience when asking questions of extension agents. Very discouraging..

You can easily grow healthy Tomatoes in containers, or raised beds with rich, organic soil mixes. Forget about trying to plant them in the ground, unless you use Treefrog's post-hole method.

I've been growing Tomatoes in the same raised beds for 10 years. Every fall I add fresh soil (pine bark, potting soil and Allgrow-composted manure) and I get bountiful crops.

After paying $8 for 2 Tomatoes at Publix a few weeks ago, I potted up 9 Patio Tomato plants and they have grown like crazy and are already blooming and setting fruit. As soon as I get the main veggie gardens cleared of weeds, it is off to get 4 yards of soil and to plant both raised beds.

The determinate varieties are quite easy to contain in 10-15 gallon pots. I make a wire fence circle around the pot, which keeps the chickens out and supports the plants.

Lisa
Related Discussions
yellowing tomatos....again
Q
Comments (4)
Backyardmomma, Yellow leaves alone are only a sign of stress, so they can be a symptom of many things. Yellow leaves could, for example, mean the plants are too dry, too wet, underfed, under attack by insects, or have a disease....and there are many kinds of disease including some that are bacterial, some that are viral and some of those are deadly while others are not. It also could mean they are growing in soil that is too cold. If you transplanted them in mid-March, I'd guess that at least initially the soil was too cold and maybe too wet and that might be part of the problem, although it should have corrected itself as both soil and air temps warmed up. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions to try to help you figure it out and I hope others who grow tomatoes will offer their ideas and suggestions as well. Are they turning a really bright yellow or a very dull yellow? Do you see any kind of purplish, brownish or blackish spots on the foliage? Do you see any of the concentric rings (sort of like a bull's eye) often associated with Early Blight? It would be peculiar, I would think, to have Early Blight start up in April, but I have seen it start up in May once or twice, so if the temperatures got hot enough in April, I guess it could. Usually, though it is more prone to show up in June. Also, if you see any sort of circular discoloration on the leaves, is the tissue whole and intact, or are there little brown dead spots in the center, or a lack of leaf tissue in the center like someone took a straight pin and poked a little hole in the center of each spot? What kind of soil do you have in terms of drainage? Does it drain fairly well? Extremely well? Not well at all? Have you added organic matter to the soil? Do you, or your neighbors, use any chemicals? Have you added any compost or used hay/straw mulch whose origin you're unsure of that could have been contaminated by broadleaf weed killers used on cattle pastures? Are you seeing any lesions of any sort on the tomato plants' stems, especially the main stem? They most likely would be pale tan or light brown in color. Does your new foliage look normal for this time of year in terms of healthy green color? Finally, I'm going to link the TAMU Tomato Problem Solver, and if nothing there looks familiar, we might try Earl's Problem Solver. When you click on the link, click on the 'leaf' section and see if anything there looks like your yellowing leaves. That might give us a good starting point because it might help rule out a few things. The two varieties you mentioned are pretty disease-resistant, which doesn't necessarily mean a lot because resistance is only resistance, not immunity. Tomato plants, though, can be as individual as people...some get sick, others don't. Last year I had Septoria Leaf Spot hit some of my plants, but it was hit and miss...one plant might have a very bad case of it, and the next plant sitting right beside it, even one of the exact same variety, might not show any symptoms at all. Many diseases live in soil and will stay there almost forever, although solarizing your soil for a couple of months can help reduce their level in your soil. Do you add compost or organic matter every year? I ask because improved soil often helps plants fight disease better. Did you mulch your plants after you planted them to reduce soil splash? With unmulched plants, the rain or irrigation water can splash soil up onto the plant and that soil can carry any soil-borne disease up onto the plant leaves. That's why mulching is incredibly important for tomato plants. The people I know who have nematode issues in sandy soils usually don't see trouble this early in the year, but I'm not saying it couldn't happen. If you happen to have nematodes, you'll see root galls (swelling and knots) on plants when you pull them up out of the ground. Have you seen any of that in the past? I'm sure we'll be able to figure this out, but it might take several of our brains working together (in fact, I am sure it will) and also some back-and-forth conversation. So, be patient and give us all time to work through the possibilities and to think about your answers to our questions. Now, when you have time, look at the link and see if it helps you rule anything in or out. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: TAMU Tomato Problem Solver
...See More
Let's talk tomatoes, again!
Q
Comments (55)
Sorry I haven't been around much lately---but here are the results for my tomatoes---which I covered during a snow fall last Saturday and pulled the crispy blankets off of them Sunday morning---they are still alive. They have some frost damage here and there, but not too bad. My favorites for canning this year: Campbells 1327---bright red, round fruit that resists cracking, and can handle sitting on the counter for several days. Flavor is good, good as a slicer, but since it can sit around it makes a great canner. Determinate Heidi---very productive bright red paste type, no BER, good flavor fresh, medium size. Handled the heat. Determinate Rio Grande---very productive large oval shaped paste type, no BER. Determinate Aker's Pink Plum---beautiful pink paste tomato, smaller than Heidi or Rio Grande, but peels easily and the perfect size for canning whole. Yellow Bell---pretty pale to bright yellow fruit with good flavor, about the size of Aker's Pink plum---on the smaller side, but got a little bigger later in the season, also easy to peel. My favorite slicers: Kellog's Breakfast: This tomato is so beautiful! It is large and tasty and very meaty! It started producing fairly early and is still producing huge bright orange beefsteaks. Burracker's Favorite: my first bi-color---stunning. It ripens to a deep golden color with a red blush on the bottom that extends in striped about half way up. When you cut it open it is golden with red marbling. Very large! Quite productive. Earl's Faux: a pretty pink beefsteak. Very tasty!!! Potato leaf variety that produced better for me than Brandywine. The fruit ranged in size from baseball to soft ball size. Consoluto Genovese: A small, bright red slicer that is fluted/scalloped and looks like a flower when you slice it. Very productive---no larger than a baseball,kind of flattened---looks like a red mini pumpkin. Good flavor and started producing early on---tolerated the heat well. Azoychka: A bright yellow, small beefsteak that is very early. Good flavor---a clean, tart flavor, but not too tart. Productive, fruit ranged in size from ping pong to soft ball sized, with most of the fruit in the middle. Noir de Crimee: A Black tomato a strain of Black Krim. Earlier than Cherokee Chocolate and a bit more productive. Great flavor, a very juicy tomato and beautiful to look at! Coustralee: a large red tomato---later than I like, but earlier than Big Zac, good flavor. It didn't produce very good for me, but I'll give it another try in a better spot. I'll have to do this in installments. Maybe I'll post a link to some photos too. I grew around 25 varieties this year! Later, Tyffanie
...See More
Campari store bought tomatoes, last a long time, just sharing.
Q
Comments (6)
Yeah, right. I suspect a lot of seeds/seedlings sold as HYBRID are actually hybridized OP. By saying that it is "HYBRID" most won't attempt to save seeds from it for re planting. Even the parents of a hybrid must have been decent tomatoes, anyway.
...See More
When was the last time...
Q
Comments (8)
Those are some of the same reasons that I don't get magazines anymore - most of the quilts are repeats in different color schemes. I have to confess that I had been quilting for many years before it registered with my brain that what I was looking at in catalogs and magazines were some basic patterns that just had a different twist on them. I felt so foolish when it clicked one day of, "Oh, that's a jewel box pattern; oh look, that is just an irish chain, oh, and that is a storm at sea!" I'm a little slow at these things! Since then, if I stop to look at a magazine, I just scan through real fast to see if there is any new and different pattern that captures my attention. I did like this one in the Dec. issue since it had the paper-piecing pattern with it. I have an older version of the endless chain pattern, but it uses a different form of construction and this looked easier.
...See More
early_bird_2007
Original Author
16 years ago
I've red every post about tom. here and I think I can manage nematodes, I just picked up some nice tom. from plants in containers. But TYLCV? I don't know what to do with that. Only to grow tom. inside the house (lol).
Maria
naplesgardener
16 years ago
Maria

I feel your pain with the TYLC virus. I am fighting it again now after getting it for the first time this spring when it pretty much ruined the spring tomato crop.

As you know there is no "cure" other than ripping them out.
There are "resistant" hybrids you can start from seed but I don't know where to get the seeds. Someone nice gave me a few seeds and I am currently growing them along with my heirloom seedlings.

The heirlooms are being attacked by the whitefly that spreads the disease. I even tried growing them inside my lanai hoping they wouldn't come in....they did.
If it gets impossible you might consider taking a year off and let the whitefly move on but if you are growing any other plants they like (beans, morning glory, cotton) they will stay in your garden.

Too bad about the uninformed Extension agents but don't dismiss them all because of one person. I also thought I was underfertilizing (as yours did) when I first saw TYLC because that's what it looks like. After things didn't get better I came to GW and found out the bad news.

I predict more people will be having this problem as the virus is spreading throughout Florida. Bummer.

Denise
tony_k_orlando
16 years ago
a suggestion for all that are having troubles.

Consider planting plants or seeds now in all different parts of your yard. Some in the sun, some in shade some in crappy soil others in rich soil and make sure you make notes as to their progress.

Another thing to keep in mind is WATER source. Try watering half with your faucet water and the other half with water from elsewhere, maybe miles away. Maybe get a bucket from a pond or lake and use that exclusively.

Maybe use unsoftened water and then TRY softened water BUT be sure and ready to take notes.

Its the only way to work yourself out of the tomato difficulty you/we have from time to time.
sumala
16 years ago
Delta Charlie may feel a bit slighted by the implication that treefrog was the originator of the post hole method. I think DC put it forth first. Maybe I am wrong?
gcmastiffs
16 years ago
Well, h*ll, if I goofed on who started the post-hole method, I apologize. I learned about it from Treefrog.

I've never visited DC, but I've seen first hand the healthy Tomatoes in Treefrog's garden using that method.

Fifty lashes with a wet noodle are accepted(G).

Lisa
tony_k_orlando
16 years ago
Lisa, we want PICS of the lashing with a scale device of course.
sumala
16 years ago
Hold off on the flogging. I may be the wrong one :)
delta_charlie
16 years ago
Hi Early Bird, Sumala and the group.

"I've red every post about tom. here and I think I can manage nematodes, I just picked up some nice tom. from plants in containers. But TYLCV? I don't know what to do with that."

Yes that does look like TYLCV to me. It is spread by tiny white flies. What to do about it? The first thing is you must clear all host tomato plants from your yard. This includes any in pots. Any tomato plant in the area can serve as a host and keep the TYLCV going. Do you know of any neighbors that are also growing tomatoes? If so this could be a problem. All tomato plants and maybe peppers/egg plants must be gone for 60 days. The infection carrying white flies will have died within the 60 days putting an end to the cycle. After the 60 days you should be able to start new tomato plants from seed and be free of the TYLCV. This is what I did after lossing my spring crop to the TYLCV. So far things are looking great with no sign of the TYLCV.

This TYLCV has me running scared and it looks to be a very serious problem. I plan to only start my own tomato plants from seeds in an effort to try and keep from bringing in the TYLCV from an outside source.

I also managed to get samples of special hybrid tomato plant seeds from Hazera that were bred to resist TYLCV. I ran a germination tests on the seeds right after I got them and the seeds were very good with almost all the seeds coming up. I managed to grow a few out into the summer and found they did resist the TYLCV very well. I even got a few sample tomatoes before the heat took it's toll. I picked two of the best from the samples I got last summer, the Polina and the Shanty and have them growing this fall. I just do not have enough room to plant all five of the special Hazera hybrids until this spring. I look forward to trying these tomatoes and they may help a lot with resisting the TYLCV.

"Delta Charlie may feel a bit slighted by the implication that treefrog was the originator of the post hole method. I think DC put it forth first. Maybe I am wrong?"

No worries, I ran across the post hole method on some remote web page someplace that I can't remember the link to. It was being used to keep cut worms at bay. All I did was experiment and adapt it to keeping nematodes at bay in our sandy soil. Treefrog is really the one that ran with the idea as I use raised beds for most of my gardens.

I'm just glad it is helping people grow our beloved tomato.

Good luck with the TYLCV, DC

About tomatoes...again, for the last time.

Comments (10)

joycrick

gcmastiffs

Related Discussions

early_bird_2007
Original Author

naplesgardener

tony_k_orlando

sumala

gcmastiffs

tony_k_orlando

sumala

delta_charlie

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

About tomatoes...again, for the last time.

Comments (10)

Related Discussions

early_bird_2007Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

early_bird_2007
Original Author