What to do with sunburn tomato leaves?

[GrowerC86]

I purchased a few 12-15" or so high tomato plants from a local nursery a few days ago and they have been outside in the sun ever since. I figured they had been hardened off by now since these tomato plants were outside with some shading but had sun exposure. Well it has been very sunny the past few days and most of my plants I bought have sunburn on the leaves, or at least I think it is sunburn. Well they have looked like this for about 3 days now and I just need to know when/if I should cut the leaves or the entire branch of the leaves off? Some say leave them on awhile because they still provide photosynthesis for the plant. I see others cut them off sooner. What should I do?

[applestar]

Start by moving the plants to a shadier, more protected/sheltered spot. Just like when you have burned skin, they are more sensitive now. I would give them about 3 - 4 days in just rising sun and filtered sun -- dappled through tree branches, lattice, or cloth shade -- too let them heal and recover. Those hurting leaves are attracting sucking pest insects.

Once the burned leaves scab over and dry, it will be possible to assess what part of the leaves are salvageable and what would be best trimmed off so as not to create breeding ground for fungi. Slowly bring them out into more sun and for longer prior of exposure.

Once they are fully acclimated to full sun, you can plant them in their permanent large containers or locations in the ground as long as the weather is favorable in your area.


...those light colored patterns look a little bit different than what I would have expected for just sunburn. Did you spray them with anything?

[GrowerC86]

Start by moving the plants to a shadier, more protected/sheltered spot. Just like when you have burned skin, they are more sensitive now. I would give them about 3 - 4 days in just rising sun and filtered sun -- dappled through tree branches, lattice, or cloth shade -- too let them heal and recover. Those hurting leaves are attracting sucking pest insects.

Once the burned leaves scab over and dry, it will be possible to assess what part of the leaves are salvageable and what would be best trimmed off so as not to create breeding ground for fungi. Slowly bring them out into more sun and for longer prior of exposure.

Once they are fully acclimated to full sun, you can plant them in their permanent large containers or locations in the ground as long as the weather is favorable in your area.


...those light colored patterns look a little bit different than what I would have expected for just sunburn. Did you spray them with anything?

Thanks for the advice. Yes I did spray them with baking soda diluted in water, but they already looked like this before I sprayed them. Its possibly the flash from my phone's camera that made it look brighter or different.