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purple leaves on tomato

beginnergardenbeginnergarden Posts: 8
in Problem solving
hi, I'm new to this forum and to gardening and would appreciate your help and expertise :smile:
My tomato plant has purple veins, I am trying to figure out if it is a phosphorus deficiency or purple leaf disorder or something else entirely and how I can help it.
It started out with most of the leaves turning yellow (I forgot to water 😰 ) and now the leaves have purple veins as well. It also has tomatoes starting to grow if that helps.

Posts

  • granmagranma Posts: 1,933
    are you feeding your plants  ? 

    If you have fruit forming you can give it tomato food. This may help.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    How are growing them?
    Outside - inside?
    All tomatoes will be dropping old foliage by now anyway, so unless there's some other problem, it's most likely to be just that.
    As @granma says - once the first truss of fruit sets, that's when to start feeding. How often you do it, depends on how you feel about it. I only feed about three times in total - about every week to ten days. By then, the fruit is usually ripening and being removed. 
    If you haven't been watering consistently, that will often become  a problem too. Skins may split on the toms.  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    it might be cold nights doing it
    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - especially if they're outside @Hostafan1.
    I'd expect a fair bit of tatty foliage by now too, although if they haven't been watered regularly, that will have contributed to stress. 

    Need more info and photos from @beginnergarden :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    I agree, purple colouration appearing in tomato leaves is nearly always the result of cold spells in my experience.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • beginnergardenbeginnergarden Posts: 8
    Hello, thank you so much everyone for all your help. :smile:

    I did not feed them, I thought it was more optional but I'll definitely do it if it causes problems. Do you need one specific for each kind of plant or does it work on multiple vegetables?

    I grow it in a greenhouse with a different tomato, two peppers, and a squash, none of them have purple leaves so I think it keeps them warm enough at night too, I even had to move my potato inside after learning it cannot handle the heat lol.

    I'm glad to hear it's probably stress, it is the smallest so I guess bad watering affected it the most :(

    I noticed some brown dots on some of the leaves, could this be stress as well?
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    edited September 2020
    That leaf is dead, or very close to it - the leaf stem should be green.  If they all look like that I would suspect a serious issue with the roots or low down on the main stem.  Can we have a photo of the whole plant please?
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • beginnergardenbeginnergarden Posts: 8
    Oh no, really?? Here is more pictures, I hope it can be saved 😭😭😭

    I took some at a couple different angles if that helps
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    It looks like the stress of forgetting to water did indeed cause it and I would now take off the lowest 4 leaves as they are not feeding the plant (only those with green in can do that) and are now just an entry point for disease.  Tomatoes naturally shed the lowest leaves as the season progresses, so you're really just helping it along.  Hopefully the leaves at the top will remain healthy enough to ripen those tomatoes. :)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • beginnergardenbeginnergarden Posts: 8
    alright, thanks so much. 😁 I'll definately take better care of it from now on. I'm glad it's not some weird disease or virus that's all I saw when  trying to look it up myself lol.
    Do peppers shed bottom leaves as well?
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