Bought this tomato plant in November, we experienced a cascade of rain over a couple weeks at the start of the year. Saw quite a few ants the last couple weeks and some aphids a few days ago (I sprayed them off when I noticed the wilting and took a better look).
I’m a little confused why most of the plant is so sickly and there’s such a healthy little limb toward the bottom?
TIA!
by EarthlingLiving
4 Comments
Well, I live in Los Angeles too, and what I know about tomatoes is they really only like consistently warm weather. They only thrive , especially if the nights are always above 50°
What kind of potting soil is that? Kelloggs?
What are you fertilizing with?
Is this a sun gold?
There is a small wet spot just around the plant. Not enough water. The pot looks too small to support that size of plant.
Difficult to say, because a lot of things can lead to leaves looking like that. It definitely hasn’t been anywhere near cold enough here (unless you live at high elevation) to be anything frost related.
Did you get strong Santa Anas where you are this last week? Is the potting mix you’re using actually staying moist *all* the way through? Does that pot have actual drainage holes? Was it recently transplanted? It looks like a watering (or possibly root damage) issue.
That being said….you mentioned you “sprayed off” aphids recently. Before the wilting, did you spray it with anything? (oils and many “home remedies” can case leaf damage that looks like that).
Fyi, that pot is going to be far too small to grow any thing but a true dwarf tomato in out climate. Also, the plant looks *very* spindly….how much sun is it getting, and have you been fertilizing properly?
Focus on the new side shoot coming in towards the bottom; that will become your new main stem. You can cut off all the other stuff above it, and hang that up on the patio or indoors (those tomatoes *might* actually ripen, although quality will be poor — personally, I’d make pickled green tomatoes out them.
Gently poke around in the potting soil to loosen it up a bit (a chopstick or something similar works well, then water *fully*, and check after a few hours.
I suspect the soil has gone hydrophobic and there are roots circling all around the inside wall of the pot; it’s likely not getting enough water where it actually needs to be.
Better yet, just get a larger pot and repot the dang thing; fluff out the rootball first. You”re goning to want to do that anyways, and you’ll be able to see what things look like in there when you do it.
If you just so happen to live in the IE, I can clue you in on a place to buy good quality nursery pots in an appropriate size, for a very reasonable price.
It’s root rot that led to systemic pythium. You might as well cut off the wilted part. A potting mix with more perlite in it will help with aeration.