New and Unread Tree-Mails
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 SFLJared Mar 23, 2018 3:59 PM CST |
| Hello! I'm new to gardening but really trying to learn as much as I can! Hoping you can help me diagnose what's going on with my Everglades tomato. I am continuing to get flowers and have some fruit starting but the plant does not look happy. The worst leaves are the lower leaves. I have a raised bed built but afraid to fill it and plant a sick plant. The soil is junk but I am fertilizing weekly with espoma "start" liquid fertilizer as per the directions. All my other tomatoes look healthy but are smaller and no flowers or fruit.      |
Name: Frank Mosher Nova Scotia, Canada (Zone 6a)           fwmosher Mar 23, 2018 4:49 PM CST |
| Welcome to the Forum!! I looked at all your tom pics, and I don't see anything wrong with them. It is common for the lower leaves on tomato plants to yellow. No cause for concern. Tomatoes fruit at different times, even the same type, planted alongside each other. You have healthy looking fruit there. Congrats!! |
SFLJared Mar 23, 2018 6:04 PM CST |
| Oh wow. Nice to hear. I was expecting to hear my plant is trash and I'm failing. I was worried about the brown edges on the leaves and some of the lowest branches have fallen off. But it's continuing to flower. Based off research I've learved that the "organic potting mix" I used from Walmart is trash. It does basically look like mulch so maybe I'll just repot everything in bigger pots with some higher quality stuff. And see if it fills out a little and greens up. |
Name: Rita North Shore, Long Island, NY Zone 6B           Newyorkrita Mar 26, 2018 10:44 AM CST |
| How much light is it getting? Too me it look pretty spindly for a tomato plant. |
SFLJared Mar 26, 2018 8:55 PM CST |
| It gets a good amount of sun, nearly full sun. I'm not sure how many hours but I had it in a sunnier location for a week and it did worse so I put it back in its normal spot where it gets a bit of morning shade from my loquat tree. |
Name: Paul Fish Brownville, Nebraska (Zone 5b)  PaulF Mar 27, 2018 8:15 AM CST |
| It is time to cut back on the fertilizer to once every two weeks and be sure what you use is not high in nitrogen. In containers you do need to add nutrients every couple of weeks but use a "bloom booster" type that has higher P and K formula, for example: 8-20-20 or 6-15-15, just so the first number is less than half the last two. I agree, too tall and spindly |
SFLJared Mar 27, 2018 7:00 PM CST |
| The fertilizer I am using is a 1-2-2 formula. That being said it is Espomas "start" formula which they say is for root health and growth. I figured it would be ok since it was a 1-2-2. The foliage looked fuller a month ago. That being said I have a few more flowers and a few more flowers have turned into tomatoes since I first posted. Maybe I'll try a different fertilizer. I'm also going to top off the pot with some worm castings. Do you think maybe it's not getting enough water? I hooked up drip irrigation to association sprinklers so it gets water from a 1/2 GPH dripper every other day for 1 hour. Maybe I should amend the soil to hold more water to help with the dry days. |
SFLJared Mar 29, 2018 4:47 PM CST |
Current pictures of my little tomato plant.    As per Paul's recommendation I skipped on the liquid fertilizer this week. I did however hit the tomatoes with some Epsom salt in water. (1 tablespoon to 1 gallon water solution). I ordered some Kelp fertilizer and some Azomite rock dust on Amazon. I'm gonna start alternating some of that in my fertilizer routine as well. I'm happy to get any recommendations I can get. Hope to learn a lot this year! |
Name: Sandy B. Ford River, Michigan UP (Zone 4b) (Zone 4b-maybe 5a)       Weedwhacker Mar 29, 2018 9:32 PM CST |
| Hi Jared -- from looking at your photos, I don't think your tomato plant is getting enough sunlight, and also the pot that it's in appears to be a little on the small side. (the roots from my tomato plants, planted in the ground, spread for about 8 feet... ) I also think you are making yourself crazy over the fertilizer thing; give it a dose of dilute fertilizer every week or so and that should be all it needs, IMO. I'd suggest growing a variety specifically bred for container gardening in the future  C/F temp conversion |
Name: Paul Fish Brownville, Nebraska (Zone 5b) PaulF Mar 30, 2018 7:27 AM CST |
| Sandy B (Weedwhacker) is correct about what was said, especially the pot size. It should be at least twice as big and maybe larger. Tomatoes don't need constant care. Too much stuff done to them is not necessary. |
SFLJared Mar 30, 2018 2:51 PM CST |
| It's going in that raised bed I built once I have time to fill it. |
justinpeterson96 May 22, 2018 3:26 PM CST |
| Hi there, I've been using Azomite for a long time and came across this product that has the same benefits of Azomite (70 minerals) plus the benefits of greensand. It is a 2 in 1 product and I think it is very good stuff. If you are curious like me, let's give it a try. I found it on Amazon: Super Greensand |
Name: Sally central Maryland Seriously addicted to kettle chips.         sallyg May 22, 2018 6:10 PM CST |
| Sorry, but- It's not a happy plant. I had plants I started from seed and didn't fertilize at all, much better condition. Fertilizer is not a cure all, is not a medicine that always fixes things. You said you had other tomatoes that were OK. What is different with this one? This plant is not going to make any worthwhile fruit crop. One failed plant is not a failed garden. i'm pretty OK today, how are you? ;^) |
SFLJared Jul 31, 2018 12:37 PM CST |
| Hey Figured is update this post. I hate when posts go without updates. The first pic is when I planted ina bed. The 2nd picture is from a month ago and it keeps growing. It's a bit wild and needs to be cut back. I get a nice bowl of tomatoes about every 4 to 5 days! Once I got it in some good soil I mixed up I never bothered to fertilize again. I probably will fertilize a bit soon though.    |
Name: Deborah Southern California (Zone 10a)  Saltflower Jul 31, 2018 2:05 PM CST |
| Looks like a happy ending for that plant! I love the flamingo! Retro chic! |
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