Help! Plant dying?

[subzerolv]

I must have a black thumb.

This past weekend, a nursery held a class to talk about late year tomatoes. They said now is the time! And I bought it....hook, line, and sinker.

I followed all their instructions, and this is now the result...(hope this pic works)

[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/64442296@N08/6107453394/][img]https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6076/6107453394_40967656a3.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/64442296@N08/6107453394/]IMAG0073[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/64442296@N08/]subzeroLV[/url], on Flickr

Can anyone tell me what might be the problem? Or maybe just pointers on what to do on my next plant?

I did a jalapeno plant at the same time using the exact same method. They are about 2 feet apart, and receive the same water and sunlight. The pepper plant seems to be doing fine. Nice bright leaves, and a sturdy stem.

[rainbowgardener]

Plant is dead! RIP... Hard to say what happened to it without knowing more about the history, conditions, etc. Did you water it? Did you protect it from fierce LV (Sin City is Las Vegas, right?) sun? If it had been in a protected situation before and got plunked out in the sun, it could look like that, but there are other possibilities.

[subzerolv]

Thanks rainbowgardener. Yep... Sin City is Vegas. And yeah, it's been pretty hot lately.

It was in a 4" pot when I got it.
-Transplanted into 3 gal container using Dr. Q's Vegetable and Herb Planting Mix.
-Added Dr. Q's Gold Dust fertilizer per instructions.
-Added Dr. Q's Plant Tonic per instructions.

Plant is facing east to catch early morning sun, and is shaded by large tree into early and late afternoon.

I've watered it every morning around 6:30am til the soil seems moist but not dripping wet. Typically, the next morning, the soil is still kinda tacky to the touch. Not wet, but not dry as desert sand either.

I guess I'm gonna try it again this weekend and see what happens.

[PunkRotten]

How long did the plant live before it died? Did it die right away right after transplant?

[rainbowgardener]

Putting a little plant like that in a 3 gallon container and then watering every day, is a bad formula. It would have been better off to stay in the little pot a while and then just step up to a 6" pot for awhile. The trouble with the 3 gallon pot is that much soil holds a lot of moisture and so it stays wet awhile. Eventually if your tomato plant made it, it was going to need to be in a 5 gallon container, but it doesn't work just to stick it directly there, even though it seems more efficient.

That was my other thought, that I didn't manage to put in my first post, because I was thinking about the desert, but either under watering or over watering can cause the plant to look like that. I'd check the soil at the bottom of the pot and see how wet it is. If the pot isn't draining well, you may find it kind of soppy at the bottom.

For future reference, water thoroughly, until water is coming out the bottom and then don't water again until the top couple inches of soil are dry.