Are my tomatos ill?

[firefly]

Hi all,

Need advice here. I have 14 toms that are about 3 weeks old, they have been transported from seed trays into pots. Though for some reason since moving to the pots some of the older tomato leaves on most (if not all) of the plants are shrivelled/dry and seem to be dying. They did not have this problem when in seed trays.

I have not been under watering or over watering. I am also using miracle grow compost - could this be too rich in fertiliser? Thnough I have been using this fert also when in seed trays.

The other thought is if they have become diseased as I have reused my old pots without sterilising.

I have attached a 580K image so you can see the problem.

If anyone can advise this would be most helpful.

Thanks,
Andrew

[taff]

looks like the cold got them, there's a purple tinge under the leaves.

[firefly]

Thanks for reply taff. I take it they'll pull through. Are these classic symptoms of being bit by cold wether?

[taff]

purple tinge is, or has been for mine in the past [and will be in the future]. Shrivelled up leaves can also be scorching, it could be a combination of both.
they'll be fine, the central leaves look ok.
The trouble with diagnosing from photos is that one is just as likely as the other, only you know the conditions they've been kept in. Run through a checklist in your head of the conditions lately, see which one most likely fits the bill. If they've been exposed to strong sunlight and not shaded, it's likely to be scorching, if they've been in an unheated greenhouse with no extra protection, it's likely to be frost. If both, then both
Also there's no need to panic over theleaves not looking more than healthy constantly. As long as the main stem looks good, and the plant keeps growing, the central growing leaves are fine, your plant is healthy.
Some things like yellow leaves etc, when the plant is older, can be due to nutrient deficiency of one kind or another, but they're easily treated. The only thing really to worry about besides the basics of watering and feeding is blight/botrytis, but you don't have to worry about them until your plants are of a much more mature size, and you have to decide how many to keep in a greenhouse

[Two_Sheds]

The pot is too large for it, imo

I only go up one pot size when I transplant

[Florence Fennel]

I agree with TS, they get quite "swamped" if potted on into too big a pot.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I don't think the pot size would cause the problem though. More like moving into a cold position without hardening off first and possibly just too soon after being potted on. I think Taff has hit it on the head with his summation. I do agree that plants don't thrive the same if moved into too big a pot but they won't give up the ghost in so dramatic a fashion.

[firefly]

Cheers for response Taff.

I was starting to worry about this, this morning, though not anymore.

[firefly]

Granted pots are a little large. Will this impact growth?

[taff]

probably not but you might get a bit of green algae on the top. There's some on one I bought recently but I haven't watered the top, and it's in a similar size pot.

[Flummery]

The problem with overlarge pots is that the constantly wet compost not actually being used by the plant's roots, can go a bit sour and as taff says, algae can get a bit of a nuisance.

[Two_Sheds]

Granted pots are a little large. Will this impact growth?

The one thing guaranteed to kill anything is root-rot, caused either by the plant standing in water or by putting it in too large a pot (ie too much compost compared to the size of the plant in it).
If the new pot is much larger than the one before, esp. if the plant is slow-growing, there will be a large volume of soggy boggy unused compost around the plant and insufficient air getting to the roots. Algae and moulds can form and/or the plant could die.

[Kristen]

I think they've been cold. Have they been below 4C ?

[firefly]

Im not too sure. The plants have not yet ventured outside, they predominantly live on a south facing sil. So im not sure if the in-house temp would have gone down to around 4C over night.

[Kristen]

Ah, OK, if they are in the house I would think it extremely unlikely that it is cold then. They might get a cold draught at night - particularly if you pull the curtains and leave them between the curtain and the window - but I doubt it has got down to 4C inside in the last few weeks.

Perhaps the compost has been kept too wet (particularly given they are in a somewhat-large pot, and will need watering much less frequently as a result (not much root relatively to pot size, so the pot will hold more water than the plant can (yet) drink quickly)