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Container Gardening

Tomato leaves wilting and turning black?

Tabatha Thompson

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

My tomatoes are acting crazy. The leaves seem to be curling down and feel leathery. And a few of the lower leaves have soft wilted black edges. I pruned them and discarded of them in my trash bin far away from my plants, just to be safe. Here's a little info....

-This is a Mortgage Lifter tomato plant

-It's in a 10 gallon container (I know, way too small)

-I'm using MG moisture control potting mix with a little Garden Tone fertilizer mixed in. I added drainage holes and a layer of large pebbles/rocks in the bottom of the container

-It rained a lot this past week

-The temp did drop to the mid to low 40's for 2 nights (I believe Wednesday and Thursday)

-I used mosquito bits sprinkled on top of the mix 2 days ago to try to get rid of fungus gnats

-Due to the rain I have not watered in about 9 days or so

-It has been planted out for about 3 weeks and has been doing well until now

-I haven't used any new fertilizer or foliage spray

I hope that covered most of the questions you guys might have. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the leaves before pruning. I did find a small leaf that had dropped off naturally that was damaged.

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Comments (4)

Tabatha Thompson
Original Author
8 years ago
Tabatha Thompson
Original Author
8 years ago
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I wouldn't worry about the very lower leaves turning yellow. When you let the plant to grow on its own(no pruning , no trimming) eventually some leaves have to go. On top of that too much rain, I trim all such leaves, especially if the are less than 10" from the ground. I think you are doing the right thing by NOT fertilizing. I would 've done the same. Let them start bearing some fruits then give them a light dose.
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Not a disease. More likely a cultural problem. We need to know how you are growing them. So please fill us in on some of the missing details, anmong them these: - where do you live? (zone and city) - what are current temperatures -- day? -- night? - in ground or pot? - if in pot, what kind of potting mix? - if in ground, what soil prep prior to planting? - any fertilizer applied? - if yes, what kind, how often & how much? - how many hours sunlight each day? -- pot or ground? - anything else you can think of?
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My tomatoe leaves are turning black and the tomatoes are rotting before they start to turn red. Any solutions will be appreciated. Thanks Rick
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Seems like whats happening is they were are low on nutrients, started showing the signs(mainly yellow leaves from not having enough nitrogen) especially now that its blooming it uses more. You noticed and were hoping it was just lacking water and added even more which if anything probably made matters worse by keeping the roots from absorbing what little if any nutrients are left if any from the miracle grow soil. Of course this just speculation and my theory of whats going on, considering Im assuming that they have not been feed besides what nutrients were in the potting soil. If there were the case I would let the soil get back to how you had it and FEED it!!
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Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
8 years ago
I think it is because of cold and too much water (rain). Once it warms up and the rain stops it should be better. One of the causes of leaf curling s excessive moisture/water.
Also I would fertilize it at about 1/2 strength. One of the things that too much water does, is that it causes the nutrients (especially nitrogen) to leach out. Need to fertilizer even more when you get too much rain.
Tabatha Thompson thanked Seysonn_ 8a-NC/HZ-7
Tabatha Thompson
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for responding (:

I also think the cold and rain might have done it. I might try fertilizing a little if it doesn't perk up soon... Right now its looking pretty sad (worse than the pictures above). I haven't found anymore black leaves, but the plant is a little limp and the leaves are still curled down..... I ordered another plant for backup. It's probably too late, but I'm a risk taker.

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