Tomato woes!

[Potstubsdustbins]

When the second truss is set I up my feeding to once a week not every two weeks. As the plants are in buckets, watered from the top every day the feed is diluted in the bucket and so I don't get the sodium problem.

Colin

[Anna Stox]

Thanks all,

Germinatori - I had a pretty good look at the roots when I took a plant out of its pot a short while back and I didn't notice any crystals, though as I was looking to to check the roots hadn't rotted I may have missed them. Also I had only bumped up the feed in the last feeding (I was worried I wasn't feeding enough and misunderstood someones comments about doubling the dosage), and the problem had started a few weeks before that. Thank you though, and I will keep an eye out for that problem as well in future.

Colin - I promise it is not just the leaf curl! While some of the leaves are curling (I have presumed that is a result of the cold nights), the ones I am worried about are definately floppy, not stiff. They have a 'drape' to them like a fine piece of cloth would, and can't support themselves at all. They just flop there looking sorry for themselves! The leaves I was concerned about are in the top of the photo, rather than the middle, and there are further pictures if you click on my name once you're on the flickr page.

Taff - my answer was no to all the first questions - I'd checked and tried all that when they first wilted a few weeks back, but it had not helped! Also when I tipped one of the pots out it didn't appear to be too wet (or dry) either. Hence me posting, as it had me stumped! Really, going by all of the symptons it has to be a lack of water reaching the leaves, but as they are not too wet (as far as I can tell), and giving extra water to some of them (by sticking them in a bucket, and additional frequent watering from the top and making sure an inch of water stayed in the bottom of the exterior bucket as a reservoir) did not seem to help over the last few weeks, I really am stumped.

Anyway, thank you everyone. I'm glad to see that my initial thoughts about the problem seem to be backed up by what everyone else has said, the only problem is the solution! I will definately perservere with the suggested approaches on all of the toms (whcih are very similar to what I have been trying already on one or two of them), so fingers crossed!

[rustylady]

Think you may be worrying too much Anna. Relax and see what happens.

[Anna Stox]

Think you may be worrying too much Anna. Relax and see what happens.

Thanks Rustylady, I will! Just a bit frustrated as I had amazing looking tomato plants which even impressed my farmer father, and now they just look sorry for themselves! At least they still have toms on them!

[Lotsaveg]

Thought I'd post a couple of pictures of the tomato crop this year. Moneymaker in the middle (2 plants per pot), Black cherry on the left (can't really see them) and Balcony red on the right (on the floor). Think I've finally got the watering and feeding regime spot on this year!




Hopefully these will be ready to pick in a week or so:




If anyone knows a simple way to post thumbnail images, I'd really love to know as I'm not too sharp with the computer!

[taff]

Are they floppy all the time, at different times of day, and in different weather conditions?

[Potstubsdustbins]

Well this one is going to run and run.

Couple more suggestions Anna, (a)Is your green house shaded it could be they are over heating. (b) Cut of an affected stem and place it in a glass of water, your looking for a milky stream coming from the cut end, this should happen within minutes.

Colin