Newbie with Tomato Troubles! (photos) - Page 2

l_madu · August 10, 2016

Hi everyone!

I'm an ultra beginner to gardening (and by ultra beginner I mean never grown anything in my life) and earlier this year decided on a whim to try growing tomatoes from seed. I planted my seeds at the end of April, and my plants are now flowering and fruiting. The problem is that my leaves are in bad shape and I'm afraid they're just going to keep getting worse and I'll lose my plants and my fruit, and over 3 months of hard work will go down the drain.

I'm attaching some pictures so you can see the various symptoms I'm noticing. Sorry for the sideways ones...It will take me too long to delete, edit and reattach. In the pics you'll see some of these symptoms: leaves turning yellow, leaves turning brown and crispy on the edges and gradually spreading inwards, new leaves that grow in super tiny (are these stunted?), warped leaves that don't lay flat, leaves that curl down and feel hard/fragile, darkening/discolored leaves, the list goes on... I've browsed through tons of articles and guides for identifying tomato disease both in this forum and on the web, and I can't count the number of times I've come across info stating the cause could be either overwatering or underwatering... overfertilizing or underfertilizing... too much sun or too litle sun... I mean, how am I ever supposed to diagnose when it's always either/or? heeeeeelp!

tiny tims - this weird browning of the edges is slowly creeping up the entire plant

20160807_085018.jpg

tiny tims - this weird browning of the edges is slowly creeping up the entire plant

20160809_084833.jpg

yellowing leaves
20160809_214842.jpg

yellowing leaves
20160809_214921.jpg

warped leaves
20160809_214958.jpg

warped leaves
20160809_215007.jpg

tiny new leaf growth
20160809_215126.jpg

more yellow leaves
20160809_215245.jpg

crisp/burned edges?
20160810_063213.jpg

my homesteads...fruited 9 tomatoes so far
20160810_063226.jpg

my rutgers...fruited 2 tomatoes so far
20160810_063240.jpg

my manitobas...fruited 1 tomato so far
20160810_063310.jpg

dry/discolored/cracking leaves
20160810_063411.jpg

dry/discolored/cracking leaves
20160810_063428.jpg

dry/discolored/cracking leaves
20160810_063456.jpg

dry/discolored/cracking leaves
20160810_063609.jpg

To give some context on my urban garden:
- I have 15 determinate plants of 6 varieties (manitoba, rutgers, caribe, homestead, green striped zebra, and tiny tim)
- They live on the balcony of my small New York apartment (N/E facing), and get about 5-6 hours of sun in the mornings.
- I think I made the mistake of growing way too many tomatoes in one container (I have 2 or 3 in 5 gallon buckets), but this was ONLY after watching a youtube tutorial claiming that it could be done! Should I try and repot, or is it way too late??
- I water daily in the morning. I'm not sure if I'm giving too much or too little as I don't know how to quantify "1-2 inches of water per week" (suggested amount)
- I fertilize once a week with tomato tone liquid compost diluted according to the instructions on the bottle.
- I was out of town for one week at the end of July, and of course, that was the week we not only had a heat wave (90+ weather for 6 days straight with high humidity) but we also had thunderstorm for several days.

I'm sure I've made a thousand beginner mistakes, despite trying to do research in advance, so please don't beat down my already wounded ego. Any other information I can provide? Would really appreciate any insights or helpful suggestions to improve my plants' health.

Thank you!

August 10, 2016	#1
l_madu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: New York NY Posts: 11	Newbie with Tomato Troubles! (photos) Hi everyone! I'm an ultra beginner to gardening (and by ultra beginner I mean never grown anything in my life) and earlier this year decided on a whim to try growing tomatoes from seed. I planted my seeds at the end of April, and my plants are now flowering and fruiting. The problem is that my leaves are in bad shape and I'm afraid they're just going to keep getting worse and I'll lose my plants and my fruit, and over 3 months of hard work will go down the drain. I'm attaching some pictures so you can see the various symptoms I'm noticing. Sorry for the sideways ones...It will take me too long to delete, edit and reattach. In the pics you'll see some of these symptoms: leaves turning yellow, leaves turning brown and crispy on the edges and gradually spreading inwards, new leaves that grow in super tiny (are these stunted?), warped leaves that don't lay flat, leaves that curl down and feel hard/fragile, darkening/discolored leaves, the list goes on... I've browsed through tons of articles and guides for identifying tomato disease both in this forum and on the web, and I can't count the number of times I've come across info stating the cause could be either overwatering or underwatering... overfertilizing or underfertilizing... too much sun or too litle sun... I mean, how am I ever supposed to diagnose when it's always either/or? heeeeeelp! tiny tims - this weird browning of the edges is slowly creeping up the entire plant 20160807_085018.jpg tiny tims - this weird browning of the edges is slowly creeping up the entire plant 20160809_084833.jpg yellowing leaves 20160809_214842.jpg yellowing leaves 20160809_214921.jpg warped leaves 20160809_214958.jpg warped leaves 20160809_215007.jpg tiny new leaf growth 20160809_215126.jpg more yellow leaves 20160809_215245.jpg crisp/burned edges? 20160810_063213.jpg my homesteads...fruited 9 tomatoes so far 20160810_063226.jpg my rutgers...fruited 2 tomatoes so far 20160810_063240.jpg my manitobas...fruited 1 tomato so far 20160810_063310.jpg dry/discolored/cracking leaves 20160810_063411.jpg dry/discolored/cracking leaves 20160810_063428.jpg dry/discolored/cracking leaves 20160810_063456.jpg dry/discolored/cracking leaves 20160810_063609.jpg To give some context on my urban garden: - I have 15 determinate plants of 6 varieties (manitoba, rutgers, caribe, homestead, green striped zebra, and tiny tim) - They live on the balcony of my small New York apartment (N/E facing), and get about 5-6 hours of sun in the mornings. - I think I made the mistake of growing way too many tomatoes in one container (I have 2 or 3 in 5 gallon buckets), but this was ONLY after watching a youtube tutorial claiming that it could be done! Should I try and repot, or is it way too late?? - I water daily in the morning. I'm not sure if I'm giving too much or too little as I don't know how to quantify "1-2 inches of water per week" (suggested amount) - I fertilize once a week with tomato tone liquid compost diluted according to the instructions on the bottle. - I was out of town for one week at the end of July, and of course, that was the week we not only had a heat wave (90+ weather for 6 days straight with high humidity) but we also had thunderstorm for several days. I'm sure I've made a thousand beginner mistakes, despite trying to do research in advance, so please don't beat down my already wounded ego. Any other information I can provide? Would really appreciate any insights or helpful suggestions to improve my plants' health. Thank you!