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Help needed to solve tomato problem.
Russell Murday
Posts: 7
I am growing 2 varieties of tomato in my greenhouse, Fandango and the large Italian variety, Red Pear. Both varieties are growing in the soil in the bed. the treatment of all the tomatoes has been the same all the time. The watering and feeding of all the plants had been identical.
Fandango has grown well up to about 1 metre and the growth from there is thin and shows signs of magnesium deficiency, up to this point the fruits are excellent. The Red Pear is growing normally and producing a heavy crop.
Can anyone suggest a reason for this difference? I've been growing tomatoes for 40 years and haven't experienced anything like this before.
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Posts
Different varieties have differing needs - some are more markedly different than others.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Have you grown these varieties before with no problem?
The Red Pear is a regular but this is the first time I've grown Fandango. I always grown a couple of varieties and have never had any differences in growth.
Any chance of a photo, Russell? With identical growing conditions, I'd be surprised if it's a magnesium deficiency in one plant alone. My hunch would be disease, but have to see the problem.
I'll sort photos out, but why would disease only affect the Fandango plants? It is showing no sign of spreading to the Red Pear plants that are in the same bed and only 40cm away and are actually touching. Soil borne disease unlikely as the bed was thoroughly dug over, mixing the soil. Is it possible that the Fandango, being a hybrid, are actually 'greedier' and need heavier feeding?
Photos will be a big help.
Mg deficiency does happen with toms sometimes and as you say Fandango may be an extra heavy feeder.
Mg def shows as interveinal chlorosis, so the veins on the leaf will still be green but the rest of the leaf will turn yellow starting at the outside and working towards the veins. Older leaves will be affected first.
Nitrogen def is similar but affects the whole leaf
Do you use tap water or rainwater on the toms?
It's possible that if you have very hard tap water and you're using that, other chemicals in your tap water can lock-out Mg - unlikely but possible
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Thanks Pete, we do have very hard water but I save my rainwater for a neighbour to use when we are on holiday. We've not had a great deal of rain here in the east so the water butts don't get topped up much in the summer.
My background is in Botany and Biology teaching and I am positive that it is Mg shortage, the puzzle being why it has only affected the Fandango. Has anyone else grown Fandango?
Hi Russell - try an Mg drench - 1 tablespoon epsom salts in a gallon of water. Maybe a foliar application would be best just in case Mg is locked in the soil.
My water butts have been empty for some months now, so I'm having to reply on my hard tap water too.
As your plants have been happy until recently, is there anything that's changed since the thin growth and yellowing started?
I've not grown Fandango so have no experience, hopefully someone will be along shortly who has.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Russell, disease can affect one plant and not another. Or take time to spread anyway. I only suggest it because I'm not sure either why a Mg deficiency would affect one and not the other in identical conditions. I haven't known many toms to be bigger feeders than others. Toms aren't big feeders anyway. All they need is the basic essentials.
There's always the possibility of the tom phenomenon known as "who the heck knows!" Weird and wonderful and apparently inexplicable things can happen to toms.
Thanks for you help everyone. I'll work on it and if I sort out a reason I'll post again. fandango seems to be a good tomato, large and fairly good flavour. I have grown it as it is resistant to blight which I have had towards the end of the season in the greenhouse in the past few years.