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Tomatoes wilting

omghiomg_123omghiomg_123 Posts: 96
in Problem solving
My tomato seedlings have been wilting for the past couple of weeks now. The lower leaves begin to wilt and look a little yellow until they worsen and fall off. The upper leaves look completely healthy. As it stands I’m ending up with tomatoes with very long stems, as it works its way up.

What could be causing this? I look online and saw that I may not be watering them enough so am beginning to water them lightly every other day. I have noticed also a lot of the leaves have little brown tips. I have attached some pictures.

thanks!


Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    The lower leaves going yellow and falling off is perfectly normal with tomato plants.....they are, if you like, just losing their baby leaves. Having more than one plant in a pot is not a good idea. They are very hungry plants and hate competition. One plant per pot is the rule. At this point in the growing season the plants will need to be gradually accustomed to outside temperatures in order to harden off and get a bit more robust and it is best to do this very gradually. I have mine by a partially opened window just to give them a bit of a waft of cooler air and they will soon go into the greenhouse during the day. 
    As to the watering regime. Look at the soil and if it is drying out at the top then the plants will need water. Tomato plants will wilt if they are too dry but overwatering is liable to cause problems too. All plants have slightly different needs when it comes to liquid but if it isn't a pond plant, it doesn't need to be drenched 24/7.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I agree - re pot individually and bury the stems more deeply.  A deep pot is always better for them, and it doesn't have to be huge - I often use clematis/rose pots for mine if they have to be in the house longer than normal before going in the gr'house   :)
    Keep turning them too, while they're inside. Water when they start to wilt, and water thoroughly when you do. That's far better than constantly watering, especially if it's done too lightly. That just encourages roots to stay nearer the surface. 

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



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • omghiomg_123omghiomg_123 Posts: 96
    @ceres @Fairygirl thank you both for your advice. Good to know it’s normal for them to lose the lower leaves. I will definitely repot, those two tomatoes are only in the same pot because I had run out of pots at the time! All the rest are potted up individually, but it is probably about time I put them in bigger pots; that being said, when I looked I couldn’t yet see any roots coming out of the bottom. For what it’s worth they are only bush/hanging basket tomatoes so hopefully shouldn’t be as hungry for space as the others! 

    In any case I will pot them up and then gradually acclimatise them to my cold frame. I will definitely pot them more deeply.

    thanks again for your advice 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If they're not root bound, just leave the for a little longer.  :)
    They may just be growing a bit rapidly if the conditions are warm for them. The hanging basket types should certainly manage in less depth, so maybe you could pot them into those now?
    Depends on the room you have to keep them until they can go outside. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • omghiomg_123omghiomg_123 Posts: 96
    @Fairygirl well I could do with putting them outside as my window sills are full of plants 😄 But I thought I’d read that it’s best to put them outside when temps are consistently above 10 degrees? Which where I live would be more later this month. My house is usually quite warm so it might be the heat, particularly when it’s sunny as well, causing them to wilt a bit. 

    But I was planning on making a new, vertical style planter for them and my peppers so was planning on just potting them up until I have that made! 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited May 2023
    I don't grow toms outdoors as the weather isn't always suitable through summer, especially overnight. 
    Yes- double figs consistently are what they need, but a healthy plant, properly acclimatised, will manage the odd lower temp. You can still put them outdoors during the day for a while, and in at night which will help toughen them up and slow them down a little. Even a day that isn't that sunny can be roasting in a room with a south facing window, and that's hard for them to deal with.
    It's very much a juggling act with this type of plant at this time of year. Mine are tiny because I had to re sow [ there's another thread about that just now! ]  and because I've not had the heating on as much through April, everything is slower to germinate too. I don't sow until at least mid March  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • omghiomg_123omghiomg_123 Posts: 96
    @Fairygirl Down here along the south coast the tomatoes tend to do alright outside, thankfully as I don’t have much greenhouse space! But it certainly is a juggling act. I will start putting them outside so they get used to it and don’t roast so much. 
    I had a look at the thread, thankfully my tomatoes all germinated well, the cosmos and the osteospermum on the other hand… I shall have to resow!
  • REMF33REMF33 Posts: 731
    I have some mysterious and worrying wilting going on. They are not underwatered. Might possibly be overwatered, although harder to do this with tomatoes than other plants. One wilted a week ago and has neither recovered nor died. I tried not watering for a few days. I just got it out of it's pot and the root system was poor. Some adventitious roots growing, though, so I have potted it up again with compost from a different bag (but same brand and possibly batch) and will keep nurturing it and water less. But another one is now wilting too. It's roots look good and strong and I have potted it on - not root bound but due to be potted on anyway. It was a bit on the moist side. (This peat free stuff is hard to get right even with a hygrometer...)
    This doesn't look like any fungal disease and it's not blight. (They have been outside for hardening off.)  I don't think I am watering them more than I have in past years, but it's hard to remember. I am concerned it might be the compost.
    Re using the hygrometer, I take it I should take the reading from low down in the pot?
    I can afford to lose two plants but am a bit worried that more may become afflicted. I suppose there is nothing I can do, really, other than be careful with the watering.
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    It is actually easy to over water toms particularly with the compost available on the market these days.
    Are your toms inside or out ?  The fluctuating temps can still be a bit pf a problem even at this time of year.  
    Gradual potting on is always the best bet but I assume you already know this.  Just your mention of 1 having a poor root system - over potting ?
    Hope you manage to salvage enough plants to get a decent harvest  :)
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