Tomato Doctor needed for diagnosis

[rana]

I agree with Alice/Zazen, dump the peat pots and re-pot in decent MPC and your plants will recover. Unless kept perfectly hydrated peat pots cycle through being too wet then too dry, damaging the roots and compromising the overall health of your plants.

[Incy]

I totally agree about the peat pots. I have had loads of problems with them so I now sow directly into 3inch plastic pots (3 seeds to a pot) and go from there.
If you take off all the discoloured leaves and repot those toms in good soil they should be fine.
The other thing you can do is allow a few side shoots to get to a reasonable size on any that recover and then cut them off and pop them into a pot of their own. this will produce another tomato plant at the same stage of maturity thus replacing any that don't make it.
Bob Flowerdew recommends only growing 1 of each variety you want each year and propogating in this way as it is much cheaper and avoids having more than you need if all your seeds germinate.
Good luck

[Mac]

Hi All, sorry to jump in here, but am having a bit of a problem with my tomatoes and you guys sound like you know what you're talking about (my first year so no clue really!). I've got a tumbling tom and a gardeners delight that are both looking a bit sorry for themselves. The leaves are curling a bit and feel a bit papery and thin to the touch. They are in a greenhouse and are being watered regularly. They have both got flowers but don't seem to be getting much height. Any assistance would be much appreciated.

[pdblake]

I agree with Flummery, they look scorched to me.

[Incy]

Hi Mac,
What size pots are they in?
The tumbling tom doesn't get tall as it is a bush type suitable for hanging baskets so trails out and down rather than going up.
Gardener's delight can get pretty tall. Mine are over a metre already! But if they are flowering they possibly need to go into a bigger pot or their final positions as they may have used all the nutrients in the current pot or even be potbound.

[Mac]

Hi Incy
they're in their final pots - the infamous Morrisons ones. The tumbling tom is about 1ft tall but doesn't seem to be doing anything at all (ie growth wise) and the other one is about 1 1/2ft and while the stem looks like it is thickening and getting strong, there hasn't been much upward growth. On first appearance they look healthy enough, but the leaves curling and getting thin is worrying me.

[Incy]

Can you post a photo of them. my tom leaves have been a bit curled on the gardeners delight but I wouldn't describe them as thin. There are lots of people with loads more experience than me on here although I have had my fair share of tomato disasters so have picked up some stuff along the way
1 1/2 foot doesn't seem too bad depending when you sowed them. As for the tumbling tom. I planted mine out in their hanging baskets just over a week ago and despite being badly hit by the strong cold winds last week they are now going full steam ahead and really growing. The one that stayed in the GH doesn't seem to have continued to grow at the same rate so if your is inside give it try outside in this sunny weather and see if that helps ( at least during the day if it hasn't been hardened)

If it makes you feel better I am currently nannying my friend's toms (she is far more experienced than me) and they are only about 3-4 inches tall and will undoubtedly be fine.

[Mac]

Hi Incy
Here's a couple of photo's (pretty poor quality as only remembered quite late last night!) of the tumbling tom. I noticed that there was a root on the surface of the soil last night so covered it up with more compost. Gave it a good drink to see if it's been affected by the roasting weather we've been having. The Gardeners Delight doesn't seem to be as bad thin, curling leaves wise as this one. It's gone chilly and wet n windy up here today, so have left them all in the greenhouse with the door open. Any suggestions ??

[Incy]

I don't think you need to worry too much there.
It's a little difficult to see because of the light but I would say that the tumbling tom looks pretty similar to mine. their leaves do seem to be thinner and a bit more delicate than the other varieties I am growing.
The gardener's delight just looks as though it has been a bit hot and may need a drink.
A more experienced grape may be able to give better advise but I would say don't worry

[Mac]

Thanks for that Incy. I'm probably just being paranoid as it's my first year. The greenhouse certainly has that tomatoey plant smell when I walk in, so will just keep my fingers crossed.

[ckfe]

can plants recover from sun scorch? my tomato plant leaves are all scorched round the edges (think it must have been cos we had rain and then sunshine)

[OllieMartin]

Yes, these plants did. They're all doing fantastically now. I planted them out in the garden shortly afterwards.

I think I threw about 3 of the smallest/worst away. The peat pots definately didn't help their recovery process.

[ckfe]

Yes, these plants did. They're all doing fantastically now..

excellent.. i'm just repotting mine into morrisons flower buckets and was beginning to wonder whether it was worth wasting the extra compost but seeing as yours have made a miraculous recovery i'll give mine the benefit of the doubt

[Topcat36]

Interesting about the peat pots, i grew all mine in them no problems at all and i have some nice little toms on my Tumbling Toms even the 4 that got neglected while i was in hospital they somehow survived and are now growing happpily away in morrisons tubs.

[Topcat36]

excellent.. i'm just repotting mine into morrisons flower buckets and was beginning to wonder whether it was worth wasting the extra compost but seeing as yours have made a miraculous recovery i'll give mine the benefit of the doubt

Give it a go if you had seen the state of my 4 when i came out of hospital they were practically dead , somehow OH managed to avoid watering them plus they were just left out they were yellow and crispy but i thought oh well i'll see what happens so into the Morrisons tubs they went and now are doing really well.