Hi.

My tomato plant dropped all plants and now seems like dying from some sort of disease. Help please to identify and recommendations to treat itrusty

I don't see any signs of diseases. It could be there's just not enough space in the bucket to sustain a plant with a root systems as big as a tomato's. You are using a 5-gallon bucket but, there's probably only 4 gallons of dirt in there. Does that bucket have drain holes?

Hi daisyl,

Yes, there is bunch of holes for drainage so plant get all water out perfectly. Everything was going well until last 2-3 weeks. Got around 10 good tomatoes growing but then suddenly they started to drop. At first I thought birds got them but then the rest fell. Now it's looking very bad with leaves curling and yellowing with spots on them.

When you stick your finger down a couple inches into the soil, does it feel damp? Dry? Hot?

I water once a day or sometimes in 2 days with 2 gallon of water. Solid feels a bit damp and warm.
I was looking online for possible problems and pictures looks like septoria fungus?

All due respect, Daisy, a 5 gallon bucket IS sufficient to grow a tomato plant in, if it is watered properly. Rustyk, you live in Houston, your zone would be 8a, 8b, or possibly a 9? I have relatives n Houston, I used to vacation there as a child, and I know the climate is very similar to Arkansas, hot, humid and sometimes very wet? fungal diseases abound in this kind of climate; I have been battling them on my tomatos for YEARS. People who live in dry, arid climates don't have these problems. (Nevada). It doesn't look like septoria leaf spot to me(I had that LAST year), but it does look like early blight, which starts on the bottom leaves, moves upwards, and can cause fruit fall. Some gardeners don't like using chemicals in their garden, but in areas with high humidity and heat (like Arkansas) most people I know who grow tomatoes have to resort to using fungicides. My county extension agent says that early blight has been reported to be really bad this year. (I am a master Gardener in my county). A copper based fungicide has the least impact on the environment and it is what I use. It usually comes in a powder and can be used dry or mixed with water to spray on.

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes our weather is really hot and humid here. I will go ahead and get stuff you recommended. Any specific brands that will be less contaminating it. Also, will crops come back out or it's done for this year.

Bonide brand is a good one. Did a little more research on tomato diseases, leaf spot does not cause fruit drop. Copper based fungicide is considered organic. You may be able to save the plants. I also found a really great website that is only about tomatoes, it's called Tomatodirt, it has some really good info about tomatoes. Good luck!

Tomato Blight is characterized by brown spots with a yellow ring on the lower leaves of the plant (I don't see any yellow rings and the whole plant seems to be affected). It shows up first at the bottom of the plant because the fungus lives in the soil and gets splashed up on to the lower leaves (this tomato is in a container with, I assume, bagged soil). It does cause leaf drop, then the complaint would be the tomatoes are sunburning.

Early Blight does not cause fruit drop but a sudden change in weather or the soil being too hot, too dry, too wet will. A larger container would help even out temperature and moisture swings that a small container cannot.

When a sentence is started, "with all due respect", I suspect the speaker does not value or respect anything I might have to say. Yes, I live in Nevada, in Northern Nevada but, my knowledge base is wider than the county I live in.
I will leave this conversation to the "expert."

DaisyI said:

When a sentence is started, "with all due respect", I suspect the speaker does not value or respect anything I might have to say. Yes, I live in Nevada, in Northern Nevada but, my knowledge base is wider than the county I live in.
I will leave this conversation to the "expert."

You are wrong about that Daisy. Starting a sentence like that does not mean what you say it means. I have used that expression many times both in my legal practice and outside of it. When a judge gives me an opinion on what a legal case says and I disagree I will say "With all due respect Judge, I think the case means this....." I am not saying I do not respect anything the judge might have to say. It is just a gentle way of saying you do not agree with something someone said. Nothing wrong with that. We do it all the time. You over-reacted to this comment.

DaisyI said:Tomato Blight is characterized by brown spots with a yellow ring on the lower leaves of the plant (I don't see any yellow rings and the whole plant seems to be affected). It shows up first at the bottom of the plant because the fungus lives in the soil and gets splashed up on to the lower leaves (this tomato is in a container with, I assume, bagged soil). It does cause leaf drop, then the complaint would be the tomatoes are sunburning.

Early Blight does not cause fruit drop but a sudden change in weather or the soil being too hot, too dry, too wet will. A larger container would help even out temperature and moisture swings that a small container cannot.

When a sentence is started, "with all due respect", I suspect the speaker does not value or respect anything I might have to say. Yes, I live in Nevada, in Northern Nevada but, my knowledge base is wider than the county I live in.
I will leave this conversation to the "expert."

Would be dangerous to replant the tomato to bigger pot or box?
If replant is the solution how big pot should I be looking for?

@Rustyk ~ if you have lost all the tomatoes on your plant, it may not be worth trying to save the plant. When temps get this hot/humid there will be no pollination even though the plant continues to bloom, it will not produce more tomatoes until it cools. Just a thought...

Thanks you, John, and Pod for your kind comments. Yes, Ms. Daisy I really DO respect EVERYONE'S opinion on this forum. However, we ALL need to remember that unless any of us have a horticulture degree, it IS an opinion we are giving. I have been growing tomatoes in a hot, humid climate for 20 years and I am very familiar with tomato conditions that are endemic for this climate. This is not to say that you are not familiar with tomato problems throughout the country, but rather to say that sometimes it is best to comment on problems that occur in climates more similar to one's own. Because I grow mainly tomatoes and squash as my main vegetables (I am mostly gardening for pollinators), I like to join the forum questions concerning tomatoes from members gardening in MY area. As for fruit drop, MANY websites that I perused DID say blight could cause fruit drop in severe cases. I have NEVER had fruit drop due to weather conditions or growing conditions. What I have noticed is that whenever you, Ms. Daisy, reply to a tomato distress question, especially if the person is growing the tomato plant in a container, you indicate that the CONTAINER is at fault. You seem to display a general dislike for anyone growing tomatoes in containers, as if is not a viable choice for growing tomatoes. Many people grow tomatoes successfully in containers, including myself. Yes, there are special concerns for tomatoes grown in pots, but don't assume that anyone growing tomatoes in pots isn't smart enough to know how to water. As for early blight, yes I DID think that was what it was, the leaves looked exactly like the ones on one of my plants, which was verifed to have blight by an extension test by a horticulture "expert". Pod, you are right about no blossom set during hot weather. However, I have found some tomatoes that do. They are a series of tomatoes by a gentleman baned Brad Gates, a hybridizer from California. I have three of his tomatoes, and they are setting fruit now, in this weather!

@gardenfish

However, I have found some tomatoes that do. They are a series of tomatoes by a gentleman baned Brad Gates, a hybridizer from California. I have three of his tomatoes, and they are setting fruit now, in this weather!

I am interested...

Pod, you can find the seeds at Baker Creek Seeds, Reimer seeds, and Tomato Fest seeds. I had to order my plants online this year; I am the chairperson of my County Master Gardeners plant sale, plus I was building a new raised tomato bed for myself, and with all the plants I was starting for the sale, I didn't have time to start seeds for myself! I ordered from a company called TomatoBaby, this is a small woman run nursery in Tn, and I was very pleased with my plants. They were packed within an inch of their lives, and actually came in two days. I will try to take a pic with my I-pad and post it.

gardenfish said:All due respect, Daisy, a 5 gallon bucket IS sufficient to grow a tomato plant in, if it is watered properly.

(I am a master Gardener in my county).

Maybe you CAN grow a tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket in your area...

It's a lot harder down south with our hotter temps and brighter sunlight.

I saw a self-proclaimed "master gardener" on the news over the weekend... Showing off her dead cucumber plants that she tried to grow in tires, complaining that she'd been watering a bunch.... She blamed tha problem on the subtropical sunlight...

Ida been embarrassed of that garden.

Seems like they fail to teach important stuff in those MG classes...

Stuff like not repeating something that doesn't work in ones current location...

If I was that lady on the news, I'd stop trying to garden. In tires, and.... If I was in houston, I'd give up attempting to garden in 5 gallon buckets.

Different techniques work in different areas, and two gardens on the same tract of land may have different enough conditions to require completely different methods....

For example... When I had a clay garden.... I gardened in raised beds.... In my current garden... Bottomless sand.... I would never attempt to garden raised beds. Too dry.

While high temps make flower set with tomatoes difficult, it doesn't completely rule tomatoes out...

The heated roots in the five gallon bucket.... That would make the dropped fruit seem positively expected.

I'd try planting the plant in the ground... If it lives, good. If it dies, no big loss.

Try planting cherry tomatoes... They are almost guaranteed to be successful.

Dear Stone, I DO live in the south, zone 7b, and I have never had fruit drop from growing tomatoes in buckets or containers. It may be the cause; however, I like the rest of your explanations a LOT better. Sometimes despite your best efforts, whatever you do just doesn't work.The plant is a dud, the soil isn't right, you planted too early, you planted too late, the plant has disease, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah. I'm beginning to wish I had NEVER started this thread. All I was trying to do was HELP someone, and now I feel as if I'm being drug over the coals. As for Master Gardeners, they vary widely in experience from county to county and state to state. In my own group I have a retired forester from the Forestry Service, a locally known expert on Irises, a wonderful lady who owns a nationally known native plant nursery who is being inducted into the Arkansas Game and Fish Hall of Fame, and many others with an impressive body of knowledge, including several ladies who are known for their local efforts in the Native plant society. The educational institution that oversees our program is the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, very well known for their excellent horticulture program. If you have a thornless blackberry with an Native American name, that was developed by the U of A. Ditto to the flavored grapes; we hold one half the patent to those, along with a revered California institution. U of A has developed many heat and humidity resistant plants available on the market today, including grapes, peaches, blueberries, and blackberries. On a lighter note; Ida been embarrassed by those cukes, too!

We all suffer gardening failures some years and do better on others. I actually gave up in ground gardening as we have what is commonly called cotton root rot here.

When I figured it out, I began to grow in containers (Yep and I am only a couple hours north of Houston) and in raised beds exclusively.

I also plant an assortment of tomatoes for different uses and ripening times. This year I am growing 26 plants started from seed. Five different types ~ four indeterminate types (two cherry) in raised beds and one determinate type in large restaurant cooking oil containers. All have done well.

Solution is to do what works best at your house!

@gardenfish ~ Lynda, thank you for the seed sources. I will check them out. Yes, I am already studying on what I want to plant next year and this year isn't even done.