I started growing tomatoes about 2 months now. Planted over 500 plants and they all started off a healthy green until recently. Some odd plants here and there will turn a deep dark green colour and become crispy in texture before gradually turning brown and eventually dry up. They also don't have a strong tomato scent like my other ordinary plants. Tried searching everywhere on the internet for the same symptoms and a solution but haven't had any luck. All of the plants aren't like this (see the last 2 pics of healthy plant at the end) but every other day I'll discover some plants turning the exact same way. I also want to add that the plants that are fruiting don't turn like that. I'll add details below about my setup to get better help:
I'm living in a hot and humid tropical climate (Ghana).
The tomatoes are covered with 50% aluminium shade netting above.
They get watered once a day in the late afternoon just before evening.
I haven't used any herbicides or pesticides.
They're grown in 5 litre plastic grow bags.
The variety grown is the money maker tomato plant.
Is it a nutrient deficiency or perhaps a fungus/virus? I can't seem to find similar results on the web to help my case.
by Farming_Lad
2 Comments
Curling then drying out and turning brown is a sign of under-watering. You’re growing a LOT of tomatoes. Curling can also be caused by too much sun…too hot.
If you have access to a cheap water meter…that would help. All plants don’t need the same amount of water. So I would try using a water or moisture meter to see if the ones you’re having problems with are getting enough water. I’ll attach an example of a cheap water meter below. I’m fairly sure that you can get one anywhere you buy your supplies. They don’t need charging or batteries. Just insert the probe and it will tell you if the plant is too wet, too dry or just right. With such a HUGE garden…just check ones that appear to be having a problem.
In gardening we try to weed out the most common issues first. Watering fits with your description. If it’s absolutely not a watering issue…then the next would be too much sun and/or heat.
https://preview.redd.it/3m3h3j46yqhg1.jpeg?width=955&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea7ebd142ab2839ad7c5122dd5696d3dddfd2abc
You might have spider mites so look very closely to the backside of the leaves and they’re really tiny like the size of a needle head and they also have a very almost transparent web ,so if you have those they will deplete that part of the plant by feeding on it so the best way to control that is find the infected areas cut that out and also spray with proper insecticide and because you have so many plants that sounds like you might wanna isolate them from the others to keep it from spreading good luck