Tomato plant - leaves yellow pale green. Some mixed with purple!
Charlie Leonard
8 years ago
Hi! I planted a new garden a few weeks ago. The plants were seedlings and looked great. Now weeks later they are lake green and yellow. Some with odd hints of purple! It's a large raised bed in the ground. Dirt I had delivered purposely for this garden. I added a small amount of Epsom salt to each hole before planting. Heard raves so figured I'd try it. Also mixed in black cow compost manure and peatmoss/space in to the soil. It hasn't rained at all since they've been in the ground. I've done my best to keep wet. Maybe the soil is lacking in nutrients? I figured it was brand new so it would have something good going for it. Here are some pics. All from different plants. Eggplants and squash odd in color also.
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Peter (6b SE NY)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoCharlie Leonard
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Yellow leaves on my tomato plant?!
Comments (12)It is going to be difficult to pinpoint the problem because of all the unusual things you have done to the plant. But I can say with surety that you are over-watering it, that it is in too small a pot for that variety, and that the soil mixture in the container is harmful. Also that both moisture meters and pH meters are notorious for being inaccurate. So if you want to try to salvage the plant and grow it successfully we can make some easy to do suggestions for you based on the standardized methods of successfully growing tomato plants in containers. Then you can choose how much of it you want to adopt. OK? 1) container plants do best in much larger containers, the bigger the better. This particular variety (I have grown it several times as have others here) requires a minimum of a 20" diameter pot. 2) containers-grown plants should only be planted in a quality name-brand soil-less potting mix that is naturally pH balanced, no compost, no added peat, no chicken manure especially. That chicken manure is burning the roots and causing some of your problems. Fresh chicken manure is never used around even in-gound plants because it causes nitrogen burning of roots and leaves. 3) tomato plants in containers require consistent moisture levels. They do not tolerate heavy watering. That means some days they may need watering 2x a day, sometimes only every other day, sometimes only every 3 days, etc. Most days they will not need watering unless it is exceptionally hot and they are in a too-small container. You have to learn to stick you fingers deep into the soil before watering, learn how it feels when it is still cool and damp at the root level and skip the watering. 4) tomato plants in containers need regular feeding weekly because the nutrients wash out each time you water. The standard recommendation is to use any common liquid, well-balanced fertilizer DILUTED to 1/2 strength 1x per week when watering. So if you want to try the normal approach get a bigger pot, fillit with a good soil-less mix, add nothing to it, re-pot the plant in it after removing as much of the current mix as possible first, and water it well. Remove the damaged leaves and set it out of the direct sun for a couple of days. Then move it where it will get as much sun as possible all day and water it only as needed. Hope this helps. Good luck with your plant. Dave...See MoreNewly planted out tomatoes have pale leaves?
Comments (13)I am afraid I need to keep it in place for the time being- the tent was a season extended and it allowed me to plant them out much earlier than they otherwise would have been able to go out (debateable, since they still suffered a bit). ALso, the garden isn't right outside my back door, so I can't go there back and forth to open/close the tent every day. So until the nights get to be well over 50* I think it needs to stay in place. By the end of the summer I will know if I had any net benefits from using the tent and planting things out early, or not....See Moretomato leaves turn yellow and purple
Comments (7)My recollection is that phosphorous sounds right for purple. And perhaps nitrogen for yellow. Determinate tomatoes get to be big plants. Indeterminate tomatoes make determinate tomatoes look small (7 to 10 feet). The "pot in a pot" looks small for a big plant. I'm thinking you need to fertilize. Add some NPK, add some mirco-nutrients if possible, fish/kelp fertilizer is good. Micro-organisms in the soil is good. Compose is good. Tomatoes can be buried deep, the underground stem grows roots. So at a minimum you can toss a bunch on top next time before you water. If you are going to transplant, mix it in the hole. I'm trying a dose of old horse dodo this year for each plant. Plants are big, have flowers. It may nave been too hot to set fruit in the past week....See Moretomato plant leaves turning yellow/purple
Comments (14)I would not focus on being root bound as your main issue currently. Are the roots growing out of the holes at the bottom? If not, then it is most likely not root bound. In the current container you have, each plant would have 7.5 gallons and many have successfully grown toms in 5 gallon buckets. Although a 10 gallon for each would be better. I would not attempt to transplant at this point in summer. I would focus on getting your watering and fertilizer in line and then see what happens. It is most likely the Roma is more sensitive to water drainage than the beefsteak. This post was edited by rawley on Wed, Jul 23, 14 at 11:27...See MorePeter (6b SE NY)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoCharlie Leonard
8 years agoCharlie Leonard
8 years agoPeter (6b SE NY)
8 years agoCharlie Leonard
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPeter (6b SE NY)
8 years agoCharlie Leonard
8 years ago
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