New Growth Turning Yellow

[xoxo]

We've had a large garden every year pretty much my whole life, but honestly, I don't know a secret for every thing we grow in the garden! I just do the basics and hope for the best, and normally, that's good enough. However, I need to learn more about caring for tomatoes. We have about 32 plants this year, and normally, we do 40+. They always do just good enough for us to fill our jars for the year, and enjoy them each day in sandwiches and salads. Yet, I don't know the secrets to growing them!

This year, a few of the tomato plants on the ends of the rows have started doing this.
(new growth turning yellow)



Wondering if I have an iron deficiency? Or also, could it be from Round Up? We do spray it some on the edges of the garden, and so far, it's mainly the ones on the ends being affected.

Plus, this Spring has been cooler and wet than normal, which is hurting the whole garden. However, it hasn't rained in about a week now.

Also, I raise chickens, and I was wondering how and if I should add egg shells to my garden for the tomatoes. I have some in a bucket dried out already that I could crush. Each year, we have a little trouble with a few tomatoes rotting on the bottoms of them, so wouldn't that help with calcium? Just a thought.

Thanks for reading!

[imafan26]

The damage to new leaves is typical of herbicide damage and is very probably due to roundup over spray.

[ruggr10]

Were the plants hardened off? Could also be from sun damage.

[hendi_alex]

Damage could be any of several things, but IMO limited in scope and of no real threat to the plant.

[rainbowgardener]

No, sorry, but not sun damage. Sun damage would usually be on the outer parts of the leaves where the sun hits and would never leave the green veins showing like that.

If there has been herbicide sprayed near it, imafan could be right about that. Otherwise chlorosis, which is a nutrient deficiency. Could be iron deficiency - which is usually caused not by lack of iron in the soil, but by acidic soils locking it up so that it is not available to the plant. Have you checked soil pH?

Other nutrient deficiencies can cause chlorosis, including magnesium and potassium.

Good compost made from a variety of materials provides all those trace nutrients, which are often not present in synthetic ferts.

[hendi_alex]

IMO the plant is in general, too healthy a green color to be suffering from chlorosis. And the pattern of yellowing is all wrong. I believe that it is suffering from some localized condition caused by some irritant. Could be chemical, could be water scald from water hitting during the hot part of the day. Anyway, it doesn't look like some condition that will be spreading, is just a localized injury that will not affect the plant in any meaningful way. If the affected areas spread, then my guess is likely off the mark.

[xoxo]

Thought I should update.

The yellow color hasn't spread at all. Not on any new plants or on the plants it was already on.

And the newest growth that was appearing yellow has darken to a greener color.



Thanks for the replies!

[CaliforniaGardener]

I noticed this on some of my plants shortly after planting them from pots. I am wondering if it has something to do with stress on the plant that they don't produce the green pigments, chlorophyll as usual. The plants kept growing fine and the white parts disappeared just as you observed. I know it wasn't from a pest or any spray so thats why I was thinking transplant stress. Also as was said sun damage is easily noted usually on the outer portions of the leaves.

Interesting though.

[imafan26]

Since your plants that were damaged were on the periphery where roundup was sprayed, it is most likely herbicide damage. The fact that the new leaves show no further damage and the plants in the middle were not affected makes it less likely to be a nutrient deficiency, assuming the plot is homogenous and was amended the same. A zinc or iron deficiency would show up on all of the plants, not just the ones on the outside. The yellowing pattern should be more prominant on the newest leaves. While the plant may survive it will probably not grow as well or be as productive.

https://pamlico.ces.ncsu.edu/2011/06/her ... on-tomato/

On further reading, I looked up iron deficiency in tomatoes. It can have symptoms similar to what you describe and if iron is applied the leaf color could recover as yours did. It is still strange that only some of the plants would be affected if they all are growing in the same conditions.

https://5e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=t&id=289