Tomato Plant problem has me stumped

[Michael]

Hi all I'm new here,I'm from New Hampshire and have recently just got into gardening. all my plants started as seeds. I'm growing cucumbers Jalepeno's tomato's, green peppers, strawberries and watermelon.

but just this morning i noticed 2 tomato plants looking odd, but went to work then came home and took a peek at the garden and seen that those 2 plants were alot worse. I have pictures to show what im talking about.

anyone have any idea why they would do this? i really hope my tomato plants don't die off






any help is greatly appreciated.. Thank You!

[Mommagreen]

Water them and feed them, if that doesn't work then I am not sure what else it could be. Mine get droopy if they don't get enough water.

[Michael]

Water them and feed them, if that doesn't work then I am not sure what else it could be. Mine get droopy if they don't get enough water.

i don't think its fertilizer or water, if anything im thinkin it could be from to much water, or fertilizer. but its not the normal droopy if u look close, u can see that the leaves stems have wrapped around the tomato stem. if that makes sense. i appreciate the input though.

[opabinia51]

What fertilizer are you using?

And how often are you watering?

Also, how much light are your plants acquiring?

[Michael]

horse manure is mixed into the soil, and once a week i've been watering with miracle grow, also my dad threw something called 10,10,10 in there.

and i water them nightly.

[opabinia51]

Once a week isn't to bad for a salt based fertilizer...... though you say that you use miracle grow and a 10 10 10. What is the NPK value on the micacle grow? If you using two salt based fertilzers, you may have burnt your plants.

I don't recommend using any synthetic (salt based) fertilizers because they can harm the plants and they definately harm the soil. Furthermore they only feed the plant and the soil is left starved for nutrients (and therefore the plants are left starved for nutrients).

Manure, kelp meal, blood meal, rock phosphate, used coffee grounds, mulched leaves (except walnut) are all great soil ammendments. Also for weekly fertilizing liquid seaweed and liquid fish fertilizer is great for tomatoes.

Contrary to common belief used coffee grounds do not have an acidic pH, they are actually closer to that of neutral.

Anyway, I would recomend adding some composted manure to your plants and only water them a couple of times a week. If you local watering restrictions allow it, leave the sprinkler on them for an hour no more than twice a week.

If they need more than that, give them more. But, test the soil first to see if it is damp.

I think you've been overwatering if you water everynight. What could have happened is that the excess water has caused the cells in the plants to swell and rupture. That would explain them drooping.

Incidentally if you add mulched leaves to the area in the fall they will add both micro and macro nutrients to the soil and leaves hold between 300 and 500 percent of their mass in water. This will reduce the amount of watering that you will have to do.

At a glance, your soil looks like it is clay based, the leaves will also increase the pore size of your soil and prevent water from pooling which could also be a problem.

I add dozens and dozens of bags of leaves to my garden each fall along with manure and used coffee grounds (from local coffee shops) with rock phosphate.

Maple
Apple
Pear
Cherry
Oak
Linden Tree
Are all great but the list goes on....

[cottonplant]

The pictures have all the signs of 2,4-D herbicide damage. The horse manure made me think of my neighbors exerience with his garden. After much research and sending samples to MS State Univ. the problem was finally traced back to hay treated with 2,4-D during growing season, then fed to horses, manure, then used to fertilize his garden. I have seen cotton plants damaged by 2,4-D that have a similar appearance. Not sure there is a solution except to stop using horse manure. Maybe send a dirt sample to your state land grant university for analysis. Hope this helps.

[Michael]

The pictures have all the signs of 2,4-D herbicide damage. The horse manure made me think of my neighbors exerience with his garden. After much research and sending samples to MS State Univ. the problem was finally traced back to hay treated with 2,4-D during growing season, then fed to horses, manure, then used to fertilize his garden. I have seen cotton plants damaged by 2,4-D that have a similar appearance. Not sure there is a solution except to stop using horse manure. Maybe send a dirt sample to your state land grant university for analysis. Hope this helps.

wow, i hope i don't loose all my plants thanks for the input ill keep you guys up to date with what happens with the plants

[opabinia51]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-D


http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp

2,4 D is a pretty nasty herbicide with toxicity to mammals and everything down the food chain. Here in my city, companies (and individuals) are allowed to use this product in their yards. Really nasty stuff.

Not recommended.

[Michael]

the plant itself seems to be returning to pretty normal, ill take pics and post tomm. is it still possible that its 2,4 D? and if it is, will the tomatoes still be safe to eat?

[opabinia51]

I'm going up to the University this morning and i've written down to look up 2,4 D so, hopefully I'll have an answer for you this afternoon. PM me later today so that I don't have to search out this thread again.


But ask your local health authority as well.

[cottonplant]

Michael:
Certainly glad your tomatoes are doing better. I would like to encourage you to contact your county extension service. I'm not sure if every county has one now with all the cut backs lately. You can also contact the University of New Hampshire cooperative extension service directly if you don't have any luck on the county level. They will be glade to help you. I'm not sure what type testing my neighbor had done that ultimately confirmed he had 2,4-D in his garden. All the testing that I have had done was pretty cheap.

[opabinia51]

Was busy researching other material and the available computers were shut down by the time I made it to them tonight. I'll get back to you. Let us know what you find out from you extension office.

From the standpoint of plant biology I would be a little concerned about bioaccumulation but, have no peer reviewed material to back up my suspisions as of yet.