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Growing Tomatoes

Wilting tomato plants

11 years ago

Hi everyone.

I have some tomato plants that are not doing so good all of a sudden in that they are wilting at the top of the plant. They are nice and green just wilting. I have a broccoli and a couple of peppers doing the same thing. All of the plants have been exposed to the following things:

-A feeding of liquid soluble Miracle Gro about a week ago diluted per package directions (2T per gallon I think).

-Starting the next day we began having cloudy and rainy weather (last Monday 5/14) with a lot of the rain occuring between Wed-Fri with at least 3" of rain falling in this period. Today is only the second day in a week that the sun has been out this bright with few clouds.

-These tomatoes and peppers have been planted for one month so they are well hardened off.

-They were slow to ever take off and kept a sort of yellow-green color to them which is why I fertilized them with Miracle Gro.

-I have other tomato and pepper plants that were planted between 5/6-5/8 that have not been fertilized yet. They are not wilting and are growing, just have a yellow-green color to them.

-All of these plants are planted in cinder block raised beds in a mix of topsoil/leaf compost/ and turkey compost bought in bulk from a local supplier.

-All plants were about 5-6 weeks old when planted and I started them from seed.

So is it because the fertilizer I used maybe had a lot of nitrogen and leaf growth is outgrowing root growth right now? Or is it because of all the rain we have had in such a short period and they are finally getting sunlight? Will they ultimately come out of it? Thank you for all of your help and let me know if any pictures are needed!

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Comments (4)

Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
11 years ago
Photos are always helpful. Do you know which Miracle Gro formula you used (NPK)? There are many different ones, but I've never heard of one that calls for two tablespoons per gallon. If you did overfertilize, the rain may have saved the day by leaching excess fertilizer. With the soil mix you use, it's highly unlikely you would need to fertilize such young plants. If I were you I would avoid any more fertilizer until the plants are growing well and producing fruit.
lexiegurl09
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the info! I didn't get any pics today because about 2 hours after I posted this they began to perk back up. Strange. I will check on the NPK and double check the directions tomorrow as I may have misread it by accident. I would think my mix was good but they had been in the ground for 3 weeks at that point, barely growing and getting more yellow by the day even though I wasn't overwatering them (I was watering about once a week). The peppers had began to get the same yellow color. As soon as I gave them the Miracle Gro, they instantly started growing and turning green.

Would there be any other reason why once I transplant them they begin to turn yellow-green to yellow (peppers included) even though I am pretty sure I'm not overwatering (except for mother nature's overwatering efforts :) )?

Also, some of the tomatoes I planted on 5/8 have what may be blight or septoria or something which I have no idea that has just popped up since all this rain. I do have pics of that. Should I post those here or start a new thread for those? Thank You!!
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Various things can make plants wilt -- critters or disease and/or erratic/poor care. Whenever you suspect a root problem, it's wise to dig up the plant so that you can examine the roots. If you pull it up, all the potential evidence is still in the ground. Do you have pictures you can post? Including of the root system?
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I found this thread when I googled tomato plant wilting at top. One of my plants was severely wilted this morning. Fearing something that might spread to the others, I pulled the plant and prepared to take it in to the county extension office. Then I realized it is Friday, and they don't accept samples on Fridays, since they would not be able to get them to VA Tech in good shape, if the local office can't diagnose the problem. My problem sounds exactly like the ones described here. The only other clue I have, which may be unrelated, is that this particular plant had some damage three weeks agonwhich looked exactly like hornworm damage, but I was unable to find any pest. Following suggestions on this thread, I cut off the top of the wilted stem and placed it in water. No cloudiness came out, and six hours later, the piece in water has recovered from the wilt, and looks great. I cut the main stem at several points, and it looked normal. I then slit the stem for about eight inches. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. I will dig up the rest of the rootball for any further clues. It is clear the top of the plant was not getting water, but I don't know why.
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Yeah, probably just suffering from severe neglect since you "set them aside for a few days in the original containers". Not the thing to do with ordered plants. ;) I'd remove any blooms on them. They don't need any additional stress. You'll likely lose some of the most badly affected leaves - they will fall off on their own - but once the roots have time to recover the new growth should be fine assuming a good sized container, proper growing mix, etc. Dave
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Check the moisture status of the growing mix, what ever it is. (Hope it's potting mix.) Is it wet,moist, or dry throughout the plants' rootzones. Bet it's dry. Also, very lanky. Needs way more sunlight.
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jean001a
11 years ago
Always post in the same thread you started, that is as long as the images relate to the thread's subject.

So, yes, please post pictures. We like them *very* much!
lexiegurl09
Original Author
11 years ago
Ok. No problem. I should be a pro at this by now since I have had so many problems this season. It just seems never ending. But on the bright side I do have successfully pollinated peppers and I believe my FIRST TOMATO!!! starting to grow. Sorry, I'm really excited about that, it's a Big Rainbow Tomato. I'll get pics of it tomorrow too so I can make sure it is healthy.

Anyway, the following pictures I have attached are not of the originally wilting plants I mentioned. These pictures are of the other tomatoes I planted on 5/8 in a raised bed across the yard from the other tomato plants. So far in this bed I have had to pull one tomato due to something burrowing into the stem and eating it hollow (never figured out what it was but found the entry hole right below the first stem, so ruled out disease). Also found a small black catapiller with I believe 2 green stripes on the sides eating one of my plants. I was surprised it wasn't a hornworm as I have spotted them already as well. Otherwise these problems have just arised in the last 3-4 days probably. I also have leaves that are not pictured that have a "shot hole" like appearance. I thinking that may be from flea beetles as the eggplants have the same "shot hole" spots, but haven't seen the flea beetles yet, so not 100% confident about that. These plants have not been fertilized yet as they were just planted 2 weeks ago and most of the have the yellow-green color you see on the single leaves. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

Also, the pictures of the beds were taken 5/9 so everything has grown a couple inches since these pics.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants and problem leaves Pics

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