Tomato question

[domromer]

There doesn't seem to be a general forum area so I'll post this question here. I'm growing a garden for the first time and things are going well. I have 2 tomato plants that are starting to flower and for small fruits. Ive noticed a few leaves are shriveled and dying. Is this usually from too much water or not enough? I've attached a photo of a leaf.


Shot at 2007-07-29

 

[CarriBrown]

Probably not enough. Tomato plants LOVE water. Do you have any oyster shell for your chickens? Put some of that on your plants. They also love calcium.

 

[silkiechicken]

That looks like latter stages of sun burn.. probally not enough water or water on the leaves that got sunned on. Bottom little leaves do shrivel some tmies and the plant can be fine. They do love water though. The leaves curl when they don't have enough.

 

[Lunachick]

That could also be tomato blight. I would snip off those leaves.

 

[sundance]

You said the plants were starting to bloom, I know this sounds crazy but it really does work,. Take a newspaper and roll it up and beat the tomato plants with it. not so hard that you break the stems, but hard enough to cross pollanate them. An old indian told us this when we lived in calif and we have more tomatoes than we can use or give away, so i usually end up pealing them and putting them in zip lock bags to put in the freezer. when i need tomatoes, i defrost them and run them in the blender for a few seconds. I also pinch out the 2 blooms in a group of four. the tomatoes grow bigger then.I also put about a teaspoon of sugar under the plants when i take them out of the cartons before i plant them, makes them tase GREAT

 

[Barb Schuetz]

Wow- great info! Forgive me this stupid question, what exactly does the cross pollinating do? Does it actually have immediate(this season) results?

 

[BigMama]

Sorry to butt in on this topic, but I was hoping someone could answer my tomato question also.

I have some huge tomatoes that are just starting to turn. The only problem is that when I pick them the bottoms are rotted. None of the tomatoes are touching the ground, I have them all caged up.

I don't know if it is a disease or if bugs are getting to them. Does anyone have any advise. I've just been tossing them to the chickens, they sure are enjoying them!

 

[lkagop]

Hi, BigMama. That's actually called Bottom Rot, ironically enough. It's one of the most common tomato problems. The Today show did a gardening segment a week or so ago and the expert addressed this problem. I'm sorry I don't recall what he said, but it sounded like it was easily treatable. You could Google Bottom Rot or go on the Today show's Web site and search for it.

And domromer, water those tomato plants and snip off those leaves. I pull a small few off my four plants every day and it helps them grow even faster.

 

[seedcorn]

Bottom rot is lack of moisture and calcium. Tomatoes are a calcium hogs....For a quick fix, mix dry milk (if you can find some cheap that is past date) w/water and spray on.

 

[ChickMomma]

Big Momma
What you have is blossom end rot or bottom rot. It is a calcium deficiency in the soil. Most places that sell vege plants will sell a spray that you can use this season. Have a soil test done and then use lime that has calcium this fall to help prevent it next season. Here is a link that might help. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3117.html
Domromer
I would guess tomato blight on those leaves. Tomatoes do like a lot of water. When you water try to water at the base of the plant and not wet the leaves. This will help to prevent this.