mutant growth

Dang Me · May 28, 2016

I've got horrendous clay where I live so am trying the lasagna growing method this year. I am growing tomatoes in a 5 foot pile of weeds. It's working a little better than growing in the ground. Hopefully will get better over the years when I get a decent base of good dirt. It is not a hot pile. It's been breaking down for months.

Anyhow, I am experiencing some weird growth with a few tomatoes. I cannot post pictures because I don't have a camera but will describe. The plants started growing pretty well but eventually start to grow curled up leaves. They otherwise seem healthy and even have a shine to them. They are putting on blossoms. It looks kind of like pesticide damage I have seen online but there have been no pesticides with this pile at any time.

Strange thing is some tomatoes in the pile are growing fine. About half have been deformed and the other half not.

One was pretty badly affected and seemed done for so I put it in potting mix. It's growth was deformed still but a bit more normal. Then it had some semi-normal growth. I then put it back in the pile and it is growing fairly normally with some signs of this weird growth.

One started showing the signs but seems to have kind of outgrown it although it's leaves are somewhat weird looking. I have grown broccoli, brussel sprouts and the peppers I am growing don't seem to have a problem. Lettuce did fine too.

Any ideas on why these tomatoes are going mutant on me? I am not going to take any action. Just curious from a scientific point of view. Maybe nutritional deficiency from no dirt although the other tomatoes seem to be enjoying themselves fairly well.

Dang Me · May 28, 2016

Guess it might be too much water in looking at another thread. Have been getting lots and lots of rain.

Labradors2 · May 28, 2016

Is it just weeds in the pile, or do you have some grass clippings, straw, manure, or anything that could possibly have been sprayed with herbicide? While other crops can tolerate herbicides, tomatoes are particularly susceptible.

Linda

Dang Me · May 28, 2016

It's mostly grass with lots of weeds mixed in. It's basically a pile of hay more or less.

Labradors2 · May 28, 2016

Can you find out if the grass or the hay was sprayed with herbicides? That could be your problem.

Linda

May 28, 2016	#1
Dang Me Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: Abilene, Texas Posts: 12	mutant growth I've got horrendous clay where I live so am trying the lasagna growing method this year. I am growing tomatoes in a 5 foot pile of weeds. It's working a little better than growing in the ground. Hopefully will get better over the years when I get a decent base of good dirt. It is not a hot pile. It's been breaking down for months. Anyhow, I am experiencing some weird growth with a few tomatoes. I cannot post pictures because I don't have a camera but will describe. The plants started growing pretty well but eventually start to grow curled up leaves. They otherwise seem healthy and even have a shine to them. They are putting on blossoms. It looks kind of like pesticide damage I have seen online but there have been no pesticides with this pile at any time. Strange thing is some tomatoes in the pile are growing fine. About half have been deformed and the other half not. One was pretty badly affected and seemed done for so I put it in potting mix. It's growth was deformed still but a bit more normal. Then it had some semi-normal growth. I then put it back in the pile and it is growing fairly normally with some signs of this weird growth. One started showing the signs but seems to have kind of outgrown it although it's leaves are somewhat weird looking. I have grown broccoli, brussel sprouts and the peppers I am growing don't seem to have a problem. Lettuce did fine too. Any ideas on why these tomatoes are going mutant on me? I am not going to take any action. Just curious from a scientific point of view. Maybe nutritional deficiency from no dirt although the other tomatoes seem to be enjoying themselves fairly well.

May 28, 2016	#3
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,896	Is it just weeds in the pile, or do you have some grass clippings, straw, manure, or anything that could possibly have been sprayed with herbicide? While other crops can tolerate herbicides, tomatoes are particularly susceptible. Linda