Tomato Problem? :[

[thecarnage]

Hi,

My tomato plants were beginning to bud and flower so I put them out into the greenhouse.

I put them in grow bags in bottomless pots, fed them and closed the greenhouse (this was on Sat morning and the weather was lovely in York).

It got a bit cold yesterday (only 11 degrees) so I put a fleece over the tomatoes.

Things is, I looked this morning and the new shoots/new leaves at the top of the plant have blackened and curled.

Is this just the cold? I'm worried about blight and I've raised these since seedling so am very worried....

[zazen999]

Did you harden them off first or were they straight from indoors?

[thecarnage]

Hi, I didn't harden them off as I was told that if they went straight into a Greenhouse then it would be ok.

I've looked at this site: Tomato Leaf Disorders - Tomato Problem Solver | Aggie Horticulture and none of those seem to be the problem.

It's just the ends of the leaves at the top which have blackened a little and curled.

The flower buds seem ok.....

[Flummery]

Sounds like a cold problem to me. As long as the growing tip is undamaged it's purely cosmetic and the plants should be ok. However, they do seem to have suffered a shock. I'm not far south of you and mine have been in the cold greenhouse day and night for a couple of weeks with no fleece. However, they spent several weeks being carted back and forth each day so they spent the nights in the house. I planted out 6 of them into the greenhouse border on Sunday - the rest are still in pots. I think it's the hardening off that's the problem. I hope they are still going to keep growing for you.

[thecarnage]

Sounds like a cold problem to me. As long as the growing tip is undamaged it's purely cosmetic and the plants should be ok. However, they do seem to have suffered a shock. I'm not far south of you and mine have been in the cold greenhouse day and night for a couple of weeks with no fleece. However, they spent several weeks being carted back and forth each day so they spent the nights in the house. I planted out 6 of them into the greenhouse border on Sunday - the rest are still in pots. I think it's the hardening off that's the problem. I hope they are still going to keep growing for you.

Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated.

If it is shock, will they be ok?

[zazen999]

I'd give them a warm feed, water or seaweed if you'd got some and bring them in. Then, harden them off during the day for a week before leaving them in the greenhouse.

I find the longer they are indoors, the longer they need to be hardened off. My method was to put inside white plastic containers with bubble wrap in when they were quite small and the nights were not so cold [it was quite rainy so cooler in the day but not so cold at night], and 3 weeks later they went into the greenhouse.

[Flummery]

Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated.

If it is shock, will they be ok?

I should think so. You'd be very unlucky to lose them completely in those temperatures. You might need to cosset them a bit but as I said before, if the growing tip is still ok - the leaves may be a little blackened but lower down, near the stem, if they are still green - then they should be alright. Good luck!

[thecarnage]

I should think so. You'd be very unlucky to lose them completely in those temperatures. You might need to cosset them a bit but as I said before, if the growing tip is still ok - the leaves may be a little blackened but lower down, near the stem, if they are still green - then they should be alright. Good luck!

Thanks you Flummery and zazen999.

Very much appreciated. I was very distressed but now I can look forward to pampering them a little.