Jake with a rake
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 09, 2023 5:52 pm

Tomatoes are turning yellow.

Hello there. I am fairly new to tomato growing. These Tomatoes were started indoors and transplanted to a greenhouse. And planted in the first of May. The lowest temp this spring since I planted them has been 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
The leaves were full and green before transplanting.

I’ve added some coffee grounds, bonemeal, and a bit of lime to the soil at the base of the plant and have been watering daily.

Out of the six tomato plants three are struggling and three are Doing great.
Can anyone help me with this? I’m open to all help
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imafan26
Mod
Posts: 14002
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Causes of yellowing
over watering
under watering
fungal disease
nutrition

over and under watering can both lead to nutrient problems when roots are compromised

If added nutrients it depends on how much and what the base soil was like.

Tomatoes are heavy feeders. It really depends how the yellowing progressed and what kind of yellowing, marginal, interveinal. starting from the top or the bottom of the plant.

If the soil is too akaline and you added more calcium it would show up in a couple of months. coffee grounds is a source of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and chromium. Bonemeal would have phosphorus and calcium, lime has calcium and magnesium. Alkaline conditions could make micro nutrients less available. Also nutrients too high can affect the availability of other nutrients. Without a soil test it would be hard to tell what effect all your inputs had. It is also easier to put things in and much harder to fix it when there is too much.

Before you add fertilizer it is a good idea to go light or get a soil test first and only add what you need in the amounts needed. Potassium and nitrogen get used up fairly quickly, but phosphorus and calcium can hang around for a long time. Even if you have micronutrients available in the soil, it may not be available to the plants because of the tie up from interactions with other elements. If this is not an over watering problem, you can try a water soluble fertilizer with micro nutrients and see if there is any improvement. If it does improve, then you may have to balance your soil or dilute it.

https://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/crop- ... -of-tomato

Jake with a rake
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 09, 2023 5:52 pm

Thank you for the information.
I am happy to report the tomatoes have ceased turning yellow.
The yellow branches have died off but the rest of the plant looks good.

What I did was I stopped watering them, and I added some miracle grow to add some micro nutrients. I think the problem was over watering, the soil they are planted in is dense and we live in a wet area. Next time I may make a raised bed and try that.

Thanks for your very helpful information.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 14002
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

It would help if you updated your profile to include where you live and your planting zone. It helps others when you ask questions as all gardening is local.

All plants benefit from a well prepared bed. It only gets better over time. A raised bed helps if you have drainage problems or compacted soil. But it still needs to have good soil in it.

I don't consider tomatoes a beginner plant, but a lot of people like to start with it and can be successful if they learn to provide what the plant needs

Tomatoes like temperatures between 65-75. Unless you have a heat tolerant tomato it will stop producing in the heat, and get BER. Adding calcium to the soil helps, but the problem is really because of uneven watering and the plant's inability to take up calcium from the roots even if the soil is rich in calcium. Planting in SIPS solves the problem of uneven watering.

They like water, but not too much or too little. Over watering is the most common watering problem.

Tomatoes are very heavy feeders. If you are doing organic fertilizers, the bed should be prepped well in advance like up to 6 months in advance on a brand new bed. You will also still have to supplement with fish emulsion, or kelp meal. Tomatoes and other longer lived plants may have different nutrient requirements at different stages of life. Young seedlings that are actively growing will require additional nitrogen to support growth. Later, less nitrogen will be required and more phosphorus, potassium and micros for fruiting. Water needs to be controlled. Uneven watering or too much water will cause cracking and bland fruit even if you have a good variety. Non heat resistant tomatoes are more prone to BER.

Provide a trellis when you plant the tomato. Prune or not to prune depends on the type of tomato and how you are trellising them. I use cages, so I don't have to prune much.

Tomatoes have a lot of pests and diseases as well as nutrient problems if the fertilizer or pH isn't right. You will have to stay on top of those.

Depending on where you live and how long your growing season is, you will have to choose suitable varieties. If you have a short season, it is hard to grow tomatoes with long maturity dates unless you plan ahead and start inside early on time. Where I live tomatoes live and produce for up to 10 months. Others have only 120 days in a growing season, so late maturing plants will hardly have time to develop before frost comes to kill them.



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