Hello All,
I currently have 3 heirloom plants growing, staked, in a large cedar planter on my roof in NYC. The plants have been growing a lot lately, especially up, and after a long wet and cold spring, have begun to poduce a ton of flowers (one has about 7 or 8 fruits, one with 2 or 3, and the other with none but a lot of flowers which seem to be about to turn to fruit).
Anyhow, we have had 3 1/2 days of 95+ heat and extreme humidity (as well as a lot of sun). The first two days were great - the tomatoes grew literally a few inches/day. However I got home today to findthe tops of all 3 of my plants wilted. I watered the plants a little this morning, and the soil was barely moist a finger's length down at 6pm. I ran a little water into the planter at this point, but not much (about 4 cups worth).
Is the wilting a product of the heat? Anything I should do?
Thanks,
Tom
Also, any reccomendations on the fact that my plants have 4 separate stalks grwoing flowers? should I trim the plants so they are restricted to 2 stalks which are growin/flowering?
You'll need to water them thoughly. Apparently, they wilt because of hot sun and lack of water. If the sign of wilt appears frequently, the plant will get stunt. In hot sunny day, you'll give them plenty of water every day for potted tomatoes - especially when they are planted in wood boxes. Lacking of water may cause deformed fruits later (catfacing) because there is not enough calsium that can be carried up to the plant by water.