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Tomato plant issues .... help!

loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
in Problem solving



Looking for some reassurance/help.

Some of my tomato plants lowest set of leaves are turning yellow-ish, the 2nd photo is sun gold, it’s lowest set of leaves are dark around the edges and slightly turning up, some the veins are very dark and prominent. I’ve realised since finding my moisture reader that I’ve been under watering, I was watering from the bottom, so the top half of the pot has been reading dry, is this likely an issue due to that or something more sinister? sorting out the water issue today, it’s been very hot in the greenhouse for days so only the bottom half of the pot has been getting moisture. Wasn’t sure if it’s some sort of chlorosis or magnesium/nitrogen deficiency? but they have been repotted into new compost with perlite and coir mix so I didn’t think I’d have any sort of deficiency issues so early on as the compost says it has added food, they haven’t been in it weeks. 

Hopefully it will sort itself out now I’ve fixed the watering issue? 

Any advice/insight would be appreciated!
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Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Are they kept above 12c at night? They don't like lower temps than 12c
    The leaf colouration is often a sign of a chill or draught

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
    Pete.8 said:
    Are they kept above 12c at night? They don't like lower temps than 12c
    The leaf colouration is often a sign of a chill or draught
    I use a heater at night in the greenhouse. Not sure what to do 😣
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Can you bring them indoors overnight?

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
    The newer/top growth just looks normal, only seems to be happening to the lowest set of leaves, for now. Some of the cherry types are even producing buds/flowers so it’s really perplexing. Roots are white, they aren’t pot bound, no lesions on the stem. 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    So long at the temperature is about right then it may be just something that happened in the past.
    If you can keep the compost just moist, give them lots of sunshine and keep the temperature ok they'll soon recover.
    I very much doubt they need any fertilizer at this stage

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
    Pete.8 said:
    Can you bring them indoors overnight?

    They are at my allotment so transporting back and forth everyday would be difficult. Do you think it looks like any sort of deficiency or disease? 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    That's not really practical them.
    I don't think they need anything more than some warmth at this stage. The sings of deficiency are there because it's not warm enough for the plant to operate properly and access the nutrients it needs. Putting more nutrients into the compost could kill the plants. If you can keep them a bit warmer somehow, they will be ok.

    You can start feeding with tomato food once you see the tiny tomatoes forming after the first flowers have dropped

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd agree with @Pete.8, but in future, if you sow a bit later, that will help.
    If you're not there all the time to give them the care required, it just makes it more difficult to manage them.
    Sowing later would help avoid that, as the plants would be a bit more able to cope by themselves   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • loveunrequitedloveunrequited Posts: 33
    Fairygirl said:
    I'd agree with @Pete.8, but in future, if you sow a bit later, that will help.
    If you're not there all the time to give them the care required, it just makes it more difficult to manage them.
    Sowing later would help avoid that, as the plants would be a bit more able to cope by themselves   :)
    It’s about 90 seconds from where I live.... I just don’t have the space for a greenhouse as there’s very little garden and it only gets afternoon sun. The plants are tended to every day, they get full sun during the day and plenty of ventilation, if anything it’s been too hot in the greenhouse the last 2 weeks, they also get heating at night, not sure what else I can do! 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Temperature fluctuation has probably been a big part of the problem then. Too hot during the day and dropping too much at night.
    I've just seen that you're watering from the bottom, which isn't the best idea. Tomatoes actually do better if allowed to dry out a little before watering again, but if you're watering from the base, the bottom end of the roots are possibly  too wet. Just water at the base of the plants - the soil surface. A consistent watering regime is also best, as it avoids problems later.
    Also - a mix of coir and perlite won't have much nutrition. They'd be better just in compost. What size are they, and what size of pot? It's actually quite hard to tell from the photos.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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