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Why are tomato plants suddenly turning brown and wilting?

bobsunscreenlistbobsunscreenlist Posts: 4
in Problem solving

My tomato plants were doing really well. They were in direct sunlight for most of the day and so I was watering them daily. Suddenly, they started wilting. Thinking that I was overwatering the plants, I reduced my watering to once a week. The plants continued to wilt. At this point, animals started to eat the tomatoes, so I moved the plants to a crop cage in an area that was shadier but still received sufficient sunlight.


After the tomato stems began to turn completely brown and the leaves started drooping severely to the point of nearly falling off, I tried transferring the plants from the root pouches they came in to self-watering pots. The plants didn't improve.


Below are a few pictures of the current condition of my tomato plants:



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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Also - going from watering every day to once a week isn't a good idea. 
    However, as @philippasmith2 says - there seems to be no sign of any flowers, and by this time of year, there should be fruits formed, and ripening etc.

    Are you in the UK?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    They look very weakly, starved? It sounds as if they should have been potted on into much bigger pots and fed more. Just a guess.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    They don't need fed until there's a truss of fruit. No flowers - no fruit.
    What they're growing in should have enough nutrition until then.
    It's very odd that there are none though, unless there's something we aren't seeing in the pix.  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • strelitzia32strelitzia32 Posts: 758
    What are "root pouches"? Do you mean the teabag things some bedding plants come in?

    Those plants look like they've had a hard life. They look like they stretched due to lack of light, grew strange due to lack of nutrients, and were tied up tight (or some other mechanics) which damaged the stems where they've gone woody. But weirdly you've got new growth in that bottom photo, which looks like a stem has bent over on itself then axial growth has started, so did you start feeding them or something?

    As @phillipasmith2 and @Fairygirl say, if you're in the UK it's time to give up on them for this year, and spend some time reading the various posts and websites so you can get some help and instructions on growing.

    Good luck for next year!
  • bobsunscreenlistbobsunscreenlist Posts: 4
    edited August 2020
    Hi everyone,

    Thanks for your comments and suggestions - they were really helpful! I think I'll cut off the brown stems, make sure to water the plants consistently, and move them to an area with more direct sunlight.

    To answer your questions, I live in the United States. There's also something that I didn't mention: the plants already grew tomatoes a month or two ago.

    Is there anything else I can do to ensure the plants are healthier and grow more tomatoes next year?

    Thanks! :)
  • bobsunscreenlistbobsunscreenlist Posts: 4
    edited August 2020
    There are also a few flowers growing!

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    It’s usual here in the UK and also,  I believe, in the USA, to grow tomatoes as annuals. 
    Unless you have a heated greenhouse or live in a tropical climate I don’t believe growing tomatoes as perennials is a goer. 

    If you feel compelled to give it a go the information you need is here 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Ah - that's why I asked if you were in the UK @bobsunscreenlist :)
    The crop you get will depend on climate as well as care. Those are basically done for this year. If you got a good crop [and maybe a few more from those flowers  ;) ] then you're doing something right, but I missed the root pouches that @strelitzia mentions, and looked at your initial post.
    Were the plants growing well after you planted them into the pots? It does sound like the 'tea bags' as we call them here, and they can sometimes restrict roots. We tend to take those off so, if that's what you meant, it might be something to consider if you don't want to grow from seed.  :)
    @Dovefromabove 's link will give you info should you want to try and keep them going, but you'll certainly need to cut them back etc. Another thing you could try is keeping some of the sideshoots that you normally nip out at leaf joints, and grow those on, and see if that gives you some decent small plants to grow on. You can do that through the growing season anyway to get more plants. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bobsunscreenlistbobsunscreenlist Posts: 4
    Ok, thanks! :)

    The plants were doing well at first in the root pouches, or tea bags, but when they started to appear to be dying, I re-planted them in the pots. The condition of the plants didn’t improve much after I repotted them, although there was a little bit of new growth.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    @Fairygirl  I suspect this sort of thing may be what Bob’s referring to https://www.bitsouttheback.com/root-pouch

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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