It happens every year.... (long, whiny, and image-heavy)

Joz · May 5, 2006

I plant a bunch of tomatoes (in containers), and things go pretty well. I get some leafminers, but no aphids yet this year, and no mealybugs. It's been reasonably cool in the evenings, and only in the mid-80's during the day.

But...

My plants start to look sickly. Bits of them turn yellow. Bits turn brown. Some random spots pop up, and bits start curling in strange ways. Then, I'll get maybe 10 tomatoes total out of 5+ plants (tho this year I've got nearly 40 plants, and therefore hope to get ~80 tomatoes).

This year, I've already executed two plants that were looking C/TMV-ish (they were fern-leafing). I've been pulling TONS of leafminer infested leaves off (in some cases nearly stripping the plant). And I still have these leaf issues going on:

Newly appeared spots on leaves of Green Grape

odd-looking blossoms on same plant

General yellow/browning of Tommy Toes leaves (May have over-fertilized, as I see some burn at the edges of the leaves... but I am watering heavily to correct)

Yellow wilty bits on Tigerella

Curly, near dead branches on Patio Princess (also exhibiting on Green Grape and another Patio Princess, tho not yet with the wilty crispy leaves)

yellow speckling and leafminer on Tigerella

Can this be related to the water quality (it's pretty heavily chlorinated after the flood), or my care (I'm not consistent about ANYTHING, tho I do water heavily 3 or 4 days out of 7, and fertilize every couple weeks with seaweed or fish emulsion as a soil drench),or the lack of sunlight (they get sun for about 6.5 hours - I'm on a covered, NE facing balcony)? The recycled soil in the pots? Admittedly, the ones having issues seem to be the ones in pots with older soil...

Am I just not suited for tomatoes? <sniffle>

**carolyn137** · May 5, 2006

Joz,

I can't see the pictures.

There's just a red X there in a small box and when I right click and choose show picture I still don't see anything.

I'm not sure why, but I'll wait to see if others can view your pictures.

timcunningham · May 6, 2006

Odd, I can't see them either. But If I do right click properties and copy the URL and open it directly, I can see it. Perhaps Kodak doesn't allow hotlinking of images.

Lets see if they will work in a URL:

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photo...5305_0_ALB.jpg - Green Grape

Yup.. seems to come up.
http://images.kodakgallery.com/photo...5305_0_ALB.jpg

well it did, for a bit, now I get forbidden messages... seems kodak is not a good choice for image hosting.

Joz · May 6, 2006

Hrm... I can see the pics. Used the img tags per the BBCode page. Could be my host (Kodak / ofoto)?

Edit: I COULD see the pics... until I posted this. Will try to upload pics to snapfish or another host, see if that makes a difference.

Joz · May 6, 2006

Ok, I fixed the links, but the photos are ENORMOUS. Will try to remedy that later this afternoon.

Thanks y'all.

May 5, 2006	#1
Joz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 27	It happens every year.... (long, whiny, and image-heavy) I plant a bunch of tomatoes (in containers), and things go pretty well. I get some leafminers, but no aphids yet this year, and no mealybugs. It's been reasonably cool in the evenings, and only in the mid-80's during the day. But... My plants start to look sickly. Bits of them turn yellow. Bits turn brown. Some random spots pop up, and bits start curling in strange ways. Then, I'll get maybe 10 tomatoes total out of 5+ plants (tho this year I've got nearly 40 plants, and therefore hope to get ~80 tomatoes). This year, I've already executed two plants that were looking C/TMV-ish (they were fern-leafing). I've been pulling TONS of leafminer infested leaves off (in some cases nearly stripping the plant). And I still have these leaf issues going on: Newly appeared spots on leaves of Green Grape odd-looking blossoms on same plant General yellow/browning of Tommy Toes leaves (May have over-fertilized, as I see some burn at the edges of the leaves... but I am watering heavily to correct) Yellow wilty bits on Tigerella Curly, near dead branches on Patio Princess (also exhibiting on Green Grape and another Patio Princess, tho not yet with the wilty crispy leaves) yellow speckling and leafminer on Tigerella Can this be related to the water quality (it's pretty heavily chlorinated after the flood), or my care (I'm not consistent about ANYTHING, tho I do water heavily 3 or 4 days out of 7, and fertilize every couple weeks with seaweed or fish emulsion as a soil drench),or the lack of sunlight (they get sun for about 6.5 hours - I'm on a covered, NE facing balcony)? The recycled soil in the pots? Admittedly, the ones having issues seem to be the ones in pots with older soil... Am I just not suited for tomatoes? <sniffle>

May 5, 2006	#2
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	Joz, I can't see the pictures. There's just a red X there in a small box and when I right click and choose show picture I still don't see anything. I'm not sure why, but I'll wait to see if others can view your pictures. __________________ Carolyn

May 6, 2006	#3
timcunningham Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Middle Georgia Posts: 241	Odd, I can't see them either. But If I do right click properties and copy the URL and open it directly, I can see it. Perhaps Kodak doesn't allow hotlinking of images. Lets see if they will work in a URL: http://images.kodakgallery.com/photo...5305_0_ALB.jpg - Green Grape Yup.. seems to come up. http://images.kodakgallery.com/photo...5305_0_ALB.jpg well it did, for a bit, now I get forbidden messages... seems kodak is not a good choice for image hosting. __________________ Visit my site: tomatoindex.com a database of over 2700 varieties. Vote for your favorite.