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Tomato disease of nutrient deficiency?

labsmith13labsmith13 Posts: 10
in Fruit & veg
Hi, I’ve been trying to identify some issues with my tomato plants with little luck so I thought I’d ask in here!

I’ve got 2 varieties of tomato plants and both are showing signs of distress and worried that I’m going to lose then all! I’ve tried a pesticide/fungicide on one of them that had no impact as I thought it could be fungal - thought it could be Septoria leaf spot but the more I look at image the less I think it is. I’ve take 3 photos of each plant.

 

The other plants I think could be phosphorus deficiency, but again unsure.

Today I’ve bought some new tomato feed in the hope that’ll help them survive!



Any help or advice much appreciated.

thanks
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Posts

  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    The weather this year has certainly not helped a lot of fruit and veg - toms included.
    You don't say whether they are growing indoors or outside which can make a difference given the extreme fluctuations in temperature or what medium you are growing them in. At least one of the plants looks deficient in nutrients. 
    You appear to have some flowers forming but they won't need the tom fertiliser until the fruits actually form.
    I'd suggest it is a mistake to use chemical sprays on anything unless you know exactly what you are spraying against.
    I'm sure more advice will be forthcoming  :)

     
  • labsmith13labsmith13 Posts: 10
    Thanks. They’re outside (little London garden). I’ve just used standard growing compost (they’re in large pots), so nothing fancy. I’ve separated them out just in case it is a disease so less likely to spread. 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    edited July 2021
    I agree - especially about spraying plants that you're going to eat..
    Hope it was something safe for use on fruit and veg.

    I don't think there's anything wrong with any of your plants that wouldn't be put right with some decent summer weather.
    The pale leaves indicate either a lack of sun or a lack of nutrients.
    The yellow leaf just means it's old and past its best.
    The purple edgin on the leaves usually indicated the plant is getting too cold - probably overnight.
    We're all struggling this this year because of the weather.
    Do keep an eye out for blight - it's about already this year.
    Look for dark (blackish) 'bruises' on the stems and leaf stalks and leaves dying off

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • labsmith13labsmith13 Posts: 10
    Thanks. Yes I did research and found one of the few fungicides that can be used with edible plants. Fingers crossed it’s just this cold, wet weather we’ve been having. 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    As soon as we get some decent weather they'll be off and you'll have some nice healthy green plants and hopefully some nice tomatoes

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    One thing I would add to the excellent advice already given is - what type of tomato are they? I don't mean variety, I mean determinate or indeterminate. There seems to be a lot of stems coming from the base - especially in that last photo.
    Normally, you take out all the sideshoots that appear between the main stem and the side branches if they're indeterminate varieties. Bush varieties are determinate and don't really need them removed. That could affect the amount of nutrients your plants are using too.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • labsmith13labsmith13 Posts: 10
    edited July 2021
    The ones that I thought were nutrient deficient are beef tomatoes which a quick google tells me are indeterminate and the other ones are red cherry which I think are indeterminate too. I usually pinch them out however stopped as I was losing leaves. Should I keep punching out even though I’ve only got about 30% foliage compare to my other one?



    this is the same variety (from same seed pack) which seems to be doing a lot better! They were next to each other but I’ve separated in case it was a communicable disease.


  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    The pots look small for the size of the plants
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I hate to say it but I don’t think your tomatoes are going to come to much.
    Beefsteak need one very strong stem to support the weight of the fruit. There are no leaves on the first one so that’s not good.  Feeding will do no good now. 

    The other one, although has leaves,  should also have one main trunk,  it’s a bit late now to pinch out the side shoots,   unless you can sort out which one is the main trunk.

    Put this down to learning and have a go next year,  maybe come back to the site in March and we can talk you through growing them from the start. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • labsmith13labsmith13 Posts: 10
    They hold about 15-20L of soil. I used them the last couple of years with more crops than I could shake a stick at! I worked on the premise that grow bags are about 30l and hold 2-3 plants (but are ugly so pots were the firm favourite!). Maybe next year I need to move back to grow bags.
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