hello everyone! have been growing container tomatoes for years, with varying degrees of success. this year am dealing with a strange issue that i have never encountered before. the branches are kinda curling in and around themselves — are they stunted? would love any advice about what is wrong and what to do to help them.
these are 3 different heirloom varieties (Reika, Japanese Black Trifele, Dragon’s Tears) purchased as seedlings from local nursery
planted six weeks ago
material in the pots is a mix of MiracleGro Moisture Control potting mix, bagged compost, dolomite lime, and earthworm castings plus some extra fertilizer
I water them every couple days once top inches of soil are dried out. give them some very diluted MiracleGro water soluble fertilizer for tomatoes (pink crystals) every week. plus some Bloom City Cal-Mag 2-0-0 liquid supplement every 2 weeks
they are on a rooftop in Los Angeles. where it’s been a bit more cloudy/overcast than usual this year
thank you!!
by arby309
8 Comments
They look like they need water and bigger pots. Really they should be in the ground. Tomatoes need a lot of water, like way more than you think.
They look like they need water and bigger pots. Really they should be in the ground. And tomatoes need way more water than you think.
Just not watering enough. Especially if windy and or sunny and or dry. Daily generous watering
Sometimes, I have found, some of my leaves curl & some don’t. All same environment. All same watering schedule, same nutrition. It happened to me last year. They still produced as much as the others w/ non-curled leaves. 2 out of 8 did it to me last year.
Virus. Tomato yellow leaf curve disease
Although I’ve never used it, it seems like MiracleGro soil isn’t the best. And then you’re adding earthworm castings plus fertilizer and then more fertilizer.
My guess is that you’re using too much fertilizer/nitrogen and that the plants are trying to let you know.
I would recommend buying larger containers and a bag of higher quality soil, like Ocean Forest, Happy Frog, or EB Stone, and then repot your plants. You will see them perk up in about three days. Hold off on the fertilizer until they recover. They should have plenty of nitrogen and probably don’t need more.
I’m guessing those containers are just not big enough for your chosen varieties.
All 3 are indeterminate. I know a lot of people successfully grow tomatoes in 5 gal buckets, but i had very limited success with 10 gal grow bags last year with my indeterminates. Plants from the same seeds were incredibly productive in the beds. This year my smallest grow bags for indeterminates is 25 gallons.
Also i am wondering if your soil mix and fertilizer schedule is a little too much. MG soils and Commercial worm castings are already pretty well balanced soils and amendments. Adding the lime may throw off your pH. And the amount of fertilizer you are feeding right now, especially when it is the soluble salts rather than slow release organics, might be more than what you need right now.
If California has a County Extension Office system, contact your local one and request a soil test kit. They will send you a sample collection kit. For a few bucks they will tell you exactly whats going on. My results this year surprised me and has completely changed my fertilizer schedule for the season.
The leaf curl is herbicidal drift. Someone was spraying for weeds in the vicinity.
But you also need much bigger pots. Like…20x bigger. I grow mine in 20 gallon containers.