Hmmm...Well, I guess Ill just post links then!

1. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/drrazorback/IMG_0191.jpg

2. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/drrazorback/IMG_0187.jpg

3. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/drrazorback/IMG_0190.jpg

4. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/drrazorback/IMG_0189.jpg

5. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/drrazorback/IMG_0188.jpg

Ratrace, instead of [IMG] like more advanced message boards, you have to use img src= "the link of the pic" with everything inside arrows . So, left arrow, img src= "http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/drrazorback/IMG_0191.jpg"; then close with a right arrow. The only space would be between img & src and after the equals sign.

Try it, I'll do the first one...

Actually, I've tried a couple of your links and none are loading so there's either a problem with your photobucket account or the actual links. Maybe you didn't set the permissions or maybe the the links are typed incorrect.

If the pic above shows up, then the problem was fixed on photobucket's side. Also, pics posted in threads are supposed to be no larger than 60kb in file size...

Hmmm...Well, I guess Ill just post links then!
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AWESOME! Thanks!!!

I'd say overwatering, or, if the plants were planted in a soiless mix without added nutrients, could be lack of nutrients. Although, the photo with the yellowing leaves browning on the edges looks like some sort of disease process. If the pots are really heavy, ease off the water. Try adding compost right on top. Also good to mix some compost into these soil mixes, with additional perlite, if necessary.

I did plant them in some Miracle Grow type soil with enough food for 9 months

Possibly Miracle Grow Garden Soil rather than Miracle Grow Potting Soil? 2 very different products and lots of discussions here on the problems associated with it that a search will pull up for you.

Per the website, none of the MG products list 9 months of feeding - 3 months max - so I can't be sure which it is but the MG Gardening Soil says right on the bag that it is not to be used in containers. It has real compaction and drainage problems in containers and your plants look like plants that (1) are suffering from insufficient air for the roots (soil compaction), (2) have either been excessivly watered (or rained on?) or the water is not draining out properly (but all the fertilizer is) and so root rot is developing with leaf tip/edge death, and (3) very hungry. Since you say you haven't been overwatering then I'm guessing the soil is the problem.

I would suggest you first need to check which type of soil you used, if it was the Garden Soil you can transplant them to regular potting mix (root ball and all into a larger container), then give them a good balanced feeding and see if they don't perk up substantially.

Thanks for the input so far! Heres some further info:

1. I said MG soil, but really its a comparable brand from WalMart that said 9 months! I just assumed they were all the same! But I line the BOTTOM of the container with regular potting soil, then put the MG type stuff from about a quarter of the way up to the top!

2. I have lots of holes for the containers to drain! They have all been watered with the same amount of water, yet only one or two are actually looking this way!

3. Someone suggested that I may be getting TOO much water on the plants themselves and I have been hosing the WHOLE plant down every time I water them! I guess that they COULD be getting too much water, but I thought that it was hard to do such a thing!

4. Reckon I should get my spade and dig around the plants in the soil to UNcompact it?

Ok...Like I said, Im new and learning! So, thanks for the input!

3. The heavier stuff in the bottom may be affecting drainage and the roots.

A full grown tomato plant will take 1/2 to 3/4 gallon of water/day.

a plant of that size will only need a quart or so.

If you are growing hydroponicly (in an inert media such as MG potting mix), you need to feed every watering. It's not irrigation, it's fertigation.

These plants are about 2 feet taller than this now.

WOW! You have quite a crop there!!!

What do you mean by: "It's not irrigation, it's fertigation"?

Im still learning!

So, what I get so far, is that I DONT need to water them as much as I have been! I have been trying to put a gallon per day in them!!! Some days MORE!

We're drifting a little from Ratrace's original post... who is not growing hydroponically, just in a container.

My suggestion is to basically do nothing. A few of your plants look a little anemic, probably due to cooler growing conditions, but the new growth appears good. Trim off the lower yellow branches since they are now just disease infection sites now. Hold off on fertilizing until you know what condition the potting mix is in.

Growing tomatoes in that size buckets will be a season long chalenge for you with regards to watering, fertility and plant support. But for now it appears that you just need better weather.

ratrace - Timmy's are impressive looking true! ;) But much the same thing can be accomplished with plants in containers. Fertigation means he is feeding and watering at the same time - food in the watering solution. His is an auto set up but you can accomplish the same thing by adding a diluted fertilizer mix to your watering.

As others have said, your soil mixture needs some work and I note room in the top of the pails for more quality mix - IF the buckets are draining well. You can bury all those yellowing bottom leaves and exposed stem right up to the edge of the container.

Then, please feed these plants. I hate to disagree with others who have posted but these plants are starving for fertilizer. I don't care what kind you use - fish emulsion, Jobs, Peters, compost, even Miracle Grow but something that is N-P-K balanced. Stick with 1/2 what the label recommends.

Then, is there a place where they can get more sun? They are "lanky" with long branch/node spaces from reaching for light.

Look at the color and size of Timmy's plants above and check out the pics in the post I have linked below. Those are healthy, well fed, properly watered container plants. With some work and care yours can look that good too. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: atacosa's container plants

bmoser,

mine are in containers, again if you are growing in a 5 gallon pail you are by definition growing hydroponically.

The MG potting mix is just an inert media (soilless).

Hi Ratrace - I am mostly focused on how you said you were hosing down the entire plant when you water. Please please NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. I don't know why anyone else isn't admonishing you. Tomatoes are susceptible to foliar diseases which are tempted by wet leaves. The rainfall is bad enough for most of us growers battling fungal problems - I NEVER wet my tomato plants with the hose. Spraying the leaves just helps to spread disease and create disease-favorable conditions. Keep the leaves as dry as possible. Water the root zone, not the plant.

Timmy, Below is accepted definition of hydroponics. You don't fit the definition with ProMix BX in buckets. By your definition I would qualify with potted flowers and my high tunnel friends who fill wooden bin beds with promix to grow beets and radishes would qualify. Sorry, read further.

Definition(Wikipedia):
Hydroponics or hydroculture is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel or Rockwool.

OH NO! The pics above that I posted are from SUNDAY! Here is what my GOOD tomatoes look like TODAY!!!! What is WRONG!?!?

Why are they doing this!?!? UGH! I was SO looking forward to my own tomatoes...Is it too late to save them!?!?

Please give me some instructions like:

1. STOP Getting water on the plants, but keep watering them with 3 quarts per day!
2. Stick a stick of MG plant food in there
3. Put them in sunlight
4. Spray insecticide
5. Fill buckets to rim with MG soil

I guess that is what I am getting from yall! But I NEED to do something...Or maybe I need to do nothing! But, I am SO confused and really REALLY want some tomatoes later!!!!

Thank you SO much for the advice!!!!!

bmoser,

It says "instead of soil", pro-mix is a soiless mix.

Trust me, i've been doing this a while.

I'm having the same problem about right now. It looks like birds (or maybe rodents) are pecking/gnawing on your tomatoes to try to get some water.

I had a "better bush" plant with 10 perfect green little tomatoes on them on Friday (this weekend). The next day, 4 of them had puncture holes in them from birds. By Sunday, the next day after, another 2 of them were ruined. Thus, only 4 of my smallest tomatoes are still any good (out of the original 10).

For right now, I have cut pieces of white plastic grocery bag and wrapped them around my 4 remaining good tomatoes so that the birds won't recognize them and, thus, leave my baby alone. I only have one single fruiting bush right now, so that is a manageable solution for the time being. Later on, when my other 20 smaller tomato plants, which I currently have in the works, start fruiting, I am going to put up bird netting over my entire garden. It costs me about $35 to get a piece of 28' x 28' netting, but it's a much better alternative than to have 80% of all my tomatoes ruined by bird pecking.

By the way, you should go ahead and pull off the damaged tomatoes. They won't recover and will just sit there and eventually rot. Plus, keeping damaged tomatoes on the vine will just suck away nutrients and energy that your plant could use elsewhere.

Just my humble opinion....

That looks like more than bird damage... you got squirrels or coons or other critters? Looks like claw marks.

Looks like slug damage to me. Ever check the plants after sundown? Ever had the pots on the grass or a weedy area? If it is slugs, you have some big un's.

1. Lift up one of the pots. Does it seem quite heavy? Does water drip out? With plants as small as yours you do not need to be watering them everyday.
2. Try a dilute foliar spray of a very complete and high quality liquid fertilizer (like 1/4 strength Dynagrow) and some liquid seaweed (higher concentrations are ok). If your plants need nutrients you will see dramatic results in about 48 hours. Spray your plants only in the morning so the leaves dry before night.
3. If you see dramatic improvement you can water with the above solution as the plants need it. Remember to lift the pot and you will learn when the plant needs water.

Is there drainage in the container you have them planted in? There should be good drainage.

I think gumby's right. Slugs are nasty, sneaky and eat the darndest things. Get some Sluggo, works and is harmless to anything else but slugs and snails.

WOW Yall...I havent watered my plants in a few days and they are looking better already!!!

Plus, just today, I topped off their pots with more MG type soil!!!

Looks like too much water to me. Make sure the buckets have good drainage. Why so little soil in the buckets? Fill them up and add some fish food. Drill 10 holes in the bottom of the buckets & add 2" of pea stone in the bottom so they drain off well. NEVER WATER THE FOLIAGE unless you like diseases & fungus.

It may be the Walmart potting mix.

I started three flats of tomatoes from seed this year. I finished up a bag of soilless mix I had leftover from last year, and then for the third flat I opened a bag of stuff that I bought at Walmart this year.

The first two flats took off like gangbusters. The third flat was slow, anemic, disappointing, and more than a bit puzzling.

I started watering that third flat with fertilized water and things are starting to really happen, so my belief is that the stuff I got from Walmart didn't actually have the nutrients in it that they claimed. I set the bag at the curb on garage sale day and it disappeared, so I can't tell you the exact brand of it.

My plants are in those little tiny seed-starting trays- probably 3 ounces of soilless mix. But the plants themselves are 2 feet tall, with many leaves. Adding fertilized water every day now. Looking forward to putting them in the ground this weekend.

Gosh, I can't wait for some real, ripe tomatoes.

I went to the farmer's market. They are selling tomatoes from Georgia. Nothing wrong with Georgia, but the farmers in Indiana aren't growing toms in Georgia. More picked-green, not truly ripe stuff. Might as well hit the supermarket!

Not wandering as much this year.

Hey Wanterinindiana...What kind of "fertilized water"?

Can you give me a brand name of exactly what to get and what to do?

Will it hurt my plants if I add that to the mix?

Im SO new to this and get REALLY confused when Im standing there in walmart looking at all the brands and different things! UGH!

ratrace - if the bag of soil that you put in the pots claims it already had fertilizer in it, then you may not need to add any right now. Just watch the moisture level in the pot and let mother nature take over right now. Where are you located? That may make a difference regarding your watering practices.

Slugs will certainly eat tomatoes. I found a slug today. It has been raining for several days. At first I thought birds were eating the tomatoes because it is only the pink/red ones being eaten so, I placed netting over the plants. Today, I went out in the rain - and there he was - a SLUG! There are probably more. Tomorrow, I will be out getting rid of those nasty slugs!

Ratrace, you may want to think about putting some kind of mulch on the surface of that soil in those pails...it will do two things , help with moisture and help with the fight against soil borne fungus from splashing up on your plants.

Good Luck

Big Al

If you're getting bird damage on toms or fruit, try adding a birdbath nearby. Birds peck fruit because they are thirsty - once I added a water source, my damage has been close to zero and I no longer have to net. =^,,^=