Issues with Tomato Plant (Gardener's Delight/Sungold - can't remember!)

[Garden_Chris]

Hi guys,

I've got a problem with my tomatoes. They seem to be floppy and generally limp. They also have some yellowing in the leaves and around the new growth at the top of the plants.

The area they grow in has recently been dug over after 10+ years of a large rosemary/thyme bush (not sure which) living there. It has had new top soil, new compost and (this weekend) a layer of well-rotted manure (from the garden centre) place on top of it.

I've fed them with tomorite in the required dosage.

I've given them an iron supplement too.

I've checked the soil and it seems moist enough after a good watering.

I've also uploaded a picture of my runner beans which are right next to it... that seems to be thriving!

Any clues on what I should do next? Thanks in advance!

[bramble]

Hi Chris, have you just recently planted these out.
Where were they started off.?
Have they been indoors before this.
If you have only just planted them out, perhaps they need some time to settle in.

[Garden_Chris]

Hi Chris, have you just recently planted these out.
Where were they started off.?
Have they been indoors before this.
If you have only just planted them out, perhaps they need some time to settle in.

They started off in individual pots, roughy 10cm in depth. Sewn indoors in a conservatory and gradually hardened off outdoors. They’ve been planted outside for about 3~4 weeks now.

They potentially spent a bit too long in pots before being planted in the ground but not for months on end.

[Jungle Jane]

I wonder if it’s sun damage as it’s on the young leaves at the top etc when my plants were hardening off I had to put them in the shade because the direct sun was too hot & it would do this to leaves. A shade cloth will help next time in a heatwave. The leaves are very tender they might not have been hardened up to cope with the sun in the heatwave? What area of the country are you out of interest of weather etc

[rary]

My first thought that when i looked at your photos was lack of water, I would suggest giving one of them a good soak to see if things improve, the other possibility is something eating the roots but i would go with the water first to see if that helps

[smallblueplanet]

Odd.
I'd be tempted to remove the top leaves and see what the next lot look like. There's is little bits of 'yellowing' lower down.

I disagree with the lack of water, if anything they look very damp. Not sure I'd have added (even commercial) manure straight off, there's sometimes 'nasty stuff' left over in it. If the plant is Sungold they are big and vigorous with leaves/branches that do bend downwards, but the yellowing is something else.

I guess if there's nothing nearby likely to be troubled by the toms if they do have a virus then I'd leave them and see if they grow through it.

[Jungle Jane]

I don’t think it looks like a virus,I was just looking again & second photo,this looks a bit brown,I would check the plants carefully for blight over the next week just incase. I would now remove that leaf & any lower leaves that touch the ground,wet soil can pass on fungi & bacteria to the plants.

[Garden_Chris]

Odd.
I'd be tempted to remove the top leaves and see what the next lot look like. There's is little bits of 'yellowing' lower down.

I disagree with the lack of water, if anything they look very damp. Not sure I'd have added (even commercial) manure straight off, there's sometimes 'nasty stuff' left over in it. If the plant is Sungold they are big and vigorous with leaves/branches that do bend downwards, but the yellowing is something else.

I guess if there's nothing nearby likely to be troubled by the toms if they do have a virus then I'd leave them and see if they grow through it.

Thanks for your advice. They have definitely been well watered. I've checked again this evening - the old finger in the ground checker. The ground is still moist.

[Garden_Chris]

I don’t think it looks like a virus,I was just looking again & second photo,this looks a bit brown,I would check the plants carefully for blight over the next week just incase. I would now remove that leaf & any lower leaves that touch the ground,wet soil can pass on fungi & bacteria to the plants.

Thanks for your advice. I'll go over and nip away any part that is touching the ground.

I checked this evening and they are ever 'droopier' and limper than yesterday. It's as if all the moisture has been sucked clean out of them.

[Garden_Chris]

My first thought that when i looked at your photos was lack of water, I would suggest giving one of them a good soak to see if things improve, the other possibility is something eating the roots but i would go with the water first to see if that helps

Thanks for your ideas. The ground is definitely moist. Dug my finger down to where it joins my hand to check. What might be eating the roots?

[smallblueplanet]

Thanks for your advice. They have definitely been well watered. I've checked again this evening - the old finger in the ground checker. The ground is still moist.

Ah I meant that it's possible they are too moist - rotting roots? But I was suggesting there have been 'drugs' remaindered in manure that have caused plant problems previously - tomatoes and drugs left over in horse manure I think it was. This link might be a bit extreme but this is my overall point:

[Plot70]

The "horse drugs" are a herbicide used to get rid of ragwort from pastures as it is poisonous to horses. The residue in the manure is mostly bad for beans.
As the plants were recently planted out from pots it is likely to be a pot bound root ball in normal soil.
You may need to somehow inject water into the root ball until some roots made made it out into the normal soil.
I had to do it with some squashes this year due to holding back on planting out in the cold.

[smallblueplanet]

The "horse drugs" are a herbicide used to get rid of ragwort from pastures as it is poisonous to horses. The residue in the manure is mostly bad for beans.

This is what I was referring to (but couldn't remember the name of), although I don't know how relevant this still is.

"Aminopyralid (AP) and its close ‘cousin’ clopyralid (CP) contamination have been increasingly detected in compost this year – a real headache for market gardeners and domestic growers. It can have devastating effects, wiping out entire crops. Key symptoms are distorted leaves and growing tips on tomatoes, potatoes and other veg affected by the herbicide.

This is a particularly potent herbicide. It does not degrade in composting, it is found in hay, grass and silage cut from sprayed fields and the chemical passes through feeding animals into their manure..."

[Penellype]

I don't think this is aminopyralid damage, because if it was then the beans would be looking very sick, and they look healthy. My guess would be overwatering, which can make tomato plants wilt and go yellow. Given the amount of rain we have had it wouldn't be a complete surprise if they had got too wet.

[rary]

To combat pesticides in your garden or compost, try covering the contaminated area with fresh henpen or worm juice if you can get it, or try making a microbial solution which you can shower the contaminated area with, I dont know how long it will take to clear the pesticide up but it may save a lot of work