Help. My first year of raised bed tomatoes and they don't look so good

8 years ago

Hi. I am a gardening newbie. I planted the tomatoes into the bed around May 16th; they were in pots in my home prior to that and I made sure to put them out during the day for 4 days before planting. The soil in the garden beds was brought in from a local top soil place and it was specifically designed for vegetable growing. Then, we put another layer of like 3-4 inches of garden soil on top which contains fertilizer. So they've been in the fertilized soil for only a month. There are 4 plants total but two are more sick looking (none of them look like they are thriving to me!). Two of them already have fruit growing (one of the sick looking ones and one of the better looking ones). They're all different varietals...the one sick one with fruit (on the left in photo) is the sungold cherry tomato and the other sick one is an heirloom pineapple tomato.

The sick looking plants are yellow green and the stems aren't that thick. Also, some of the leaves have black spots on them with yellow haloing. Here is an upclose shot of each plant:

This is the pineapple heirloom

This is the sungold cherry

I'm trying to figure out what the problem is so I can take measures to fix it. I initially watered the plants whole as I had no clue but after a week I was corrected and only watered at the roots. I've stopped watering almost 2 weeks ago as the soil was pretty wet from all the initial watering and the rains we've been having. Any insights are greatly appreciated! Thank you so much in advance :)

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Comments (5)

jean001a
8 years ago
Please provide more info.
To begin, tell us the following:
- What are they growing in? Garden soil? potting mix? planter mix? Your own custom mix? If the latter, what's in it?
- How did you prep the soil before planting?
- Using fertilizer? If so, what kind and how often?
Kat JC thanked jean001a
lgteacher
8 years ago
If the planting mix you used had too much bark in it, the decomposing bark will tie up the nitrogen in the soil, resulting in yellow plants. Too much water can also be the problem. Put some organic vegetable fertilizer on the soil so when you water (the ground, not the leaves) it will soak into the soil.
Kat JC thanked lgteacher
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Thank you for that helpful bit of info, will depend on how leafed out, don't know what to expect. I always water potted plants and let them sit a bit before I put them in. I tend to overwater, and the soil around here gets so dry so FAST these last few years! The new batch coming is going on the east side of the house, oh yes, I got Veilchenblau and 2 Gruss which are supposed to do well in part shade; it won't dry out quite so fast, but it does get dry, and I have to watch it. Next year I may not have to water so much as it seems the roots on stuff I put in last year have gone deeper. We've got rain on the way so I put off watering most stuff except scattered some poppy seeds. Now I have to keep that moist continually. I found a pretty pink columbine at HD and went and planted it out by the garage. The soil looked dry as a bone, but when I got down about an inch, it was nice and moist. Thanks for mentioning spreading out the roots a bit. I wouldn't have thought of that but do always try to dig a little bigger holes than I need and then fill back in to where the plant will be even or just a slight bit deeper. That gives the plant a little better start, chops off competing roots, and loosens the soil around them. My Austins look kind of pathetic but I have high hopes for some of them at least. What must the neighbors think, sticks poking out of the ground with funny shoots on them? Then I have seeds to plant to fill in, hope that works out ok. I will mulch around the roses and leave the bare soil until the seeds get going, if I'm lucky. Thanks again, you are a wonderful help and have been on other threads as well. I fell in love with these purple poppies, so will have to plant those, just came in the mail, so much to do. Those aren't the ones I scattered earlier today. I don't know whether to mix them in with the roses or the yellow and white lilies I have coming or find another spot for them. Here is a link that might be useful: Purple poppies
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Kat JC
Original Author
8 years ago
They are planted in a new bed built last fall and filled with top soil that was recommended to us for vegetable gardening beds. We let that settle through the winter and in the spring we tilled it and topped it off with garden top soil. I did not add additional fertilizer as the garden top soil mix had fertilizer in it.

If the other two tomato plants in the bed don't look as yellow-green and do not have the black spots with yellow halos, could the problem still be specific to the soil or watering in general? I'm wondering if these two plants I bought were simply not healthy to begin with (they're both from one nursery and the others are from two other nurseries).

Also, in terms of putting fertilizer on the soil - do you mean something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Jobes-09026-Vegetable-Granular-Fertilizer/dp/B002YOJDAS/

Thank you SO much for your help!
lgteacher
8 years ago
There are several brands of vegetable fertilizer. If you choose and organic, it will not burn the leaves by being too intense. Spots with yellow halos are probably from a virus. It is always in the air and when temperature and moisture conditions are favorable, it will appear on the tomato leaves. Cut off the yellow leaves because they won't get green again. The rest of the pant may survive. It is normal for the lower leaves to die off when the plant starts producing fruit. You may find this website handy:

Tomato problem solver

Have you contacted your local Master Gardener organization? If you have an active group in your area, they can provide you with information specific to your area. For example, in Orange County, Ca., where I live, last year we all had problems with tomatoes because of the weather.
Kat JC thanked lgteacher
Kat JC
Original Author
8 years ago
So I only cut off the few leaves that had the black spots and left the plants alone. I wanted to see if they would do better if the soil dried up. I have to say the new growth is a much darker green and the stems have gotten thicker. So I guess the plant is doing better. I'm just wondering if they will produce much since they are still on the more fragile looking side of things. I guess time will tell!

Thank you all for your feedback!

Help. My first year of raised bed tomatoes and they don't look so good

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Help. My first year of raised bed tomatoes and they don't look so good

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jean001a

lgteacher

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