Tomatoes have stalled ......?

[Bill HH]

I bet you drove your Mum nuts....

Lol
Being a good son my Mums word was gospel, but later in life it was my teachers that despaired for their sanity.

[redser]

Ok but what about plants put outside in the ground, no pot sides to touch there?

I always thought the issue was with the amount of water the compost holds versus the size of the root ball. In the ground outside water drains freely so the roots are not sitting in too much water. Whereas if you pot up a seeding with a small rootball to too large a pot, it cannot drink up enough water fast enough, sits in too much water, and the roots are at risk of becoming unhealthy and dying off. The plant may recover but will have been set back quite a bit.

[Bill HH]

This pot size issue is at the very heart of basic gardening and I can see some sense in what you are all saying. But I am an awkwad old bugger and I have been and gorn and planted my toms from 3 inch pots into their final buckets. Let mother nature unleash the dogs of war, time will tell.

[Penellype]

I sow seeds 2 or 3 to a 3.5 inch pot, pot them up into individual 3.5 inch pots when they have their first true leaves, and then after that, once roots start to show through the bottom of the pot they get put into their final pots or outside positions. I find that tomato plants that have been potted on at intermediate stages need staking and are extremely awkward to repot. Occasionally I will plant out a larger one into the garden, but I try to avoid it if possible.

[redser]

I agree penellype. That's why I only go for an early bush type (maskotka) for my earlies. No need for staking. My main crops are cordons and I started them in early march, 10 sown to a small takeaway tub. Moved on now into 3 inch pots and they'll stay there until planting into the ground some time in may.

[Bren In Pots]

Not sure how I managed this but last potted on my toms two got left behind in the GH so instead of living on a sunny bedroom window sill those two have been subjected to 4 or 5c overnight

There's a big difference in size compared to those indoor, anyway I've potted them on and bought them back inside be interesting to see if being neglected makes a difference.

[ourarka]

Great discussion as always, thanks. Seems like I am not the only one and that the 'mysteries' of gardening continue. I have never had this problem before, and pretty confident I haven't over potted so I'll leave it to the tomato gods. Always amazes me how subtle changes in weather, that we don't even notice, seem to trigger/stall growth on a whole range of plants.


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[Mikey]

We are quite fortunate that most of us don't live outside anymore, if we did I'm sure we'd soon notice the subtle changes in weather....

I find while plants are small its useful to spray with water, as its less likely you'll over water a large pot this way. If they look healthy and happy, then i wouldn't worry too much, they are like children they have growth spurts.

[Aberdeenplotter]

as an example, I find that onions like the roots to be well in contact with the side of the pot and they thrive best when that is the case. I always pot them on before they get root bound though because that would cause a check in the growth. No idea whether other plants have the same preference as onions but it is true that seedlings thrive best going in to the next size pot up and do less well in larger pots

[Potstubsdustbins]

I always pot on stage by stage with my toms mainly because I like to plant them deep at each stage. I find this gives me a stronger plant with more roots.

Potty

[Kristen]

But I am an awkwad old bugger and I have been and gorn and planted my toms from 3 inch pots into their final buckets. Let mother nature unleash the dogs of war, time will tell.

What you should have done Bill was to do half like that, and half potted on in stages, so that you could convince yourself that Kristen's Way Is Best

[ourarka]

I've attached some pictures now - still no sign of any real movement. Think I am going to have to go and buy plants, which is very annoying, as I just don't know why they have stopped. Chillis/peppers looking even more pathetic than the tomatoes!!

[Kristen]

The Tomatoes look like classic symptoms of cold to me. IME they take ages to get going again, even when the weather warms up, after than and I think there is a risk that they will be more prone to disease etc. as a result of the stress they have had.

Be interested in other folks opinions though.

[poly]

Could well have been the cold that first started to stress them, but to me the leaves now look quite yellow with purple veins and the lower leaves look quite reddy purple. Which would suggest they are lacking in nutrients? I'd give a spray with Epsom Salts or seaweed and give a feed of tomato fertiliser. Might be a good idea to cut back on watering and keep them on the dry side until they start to perk up, water each one individually as and when the compost dries.

[Kristen]

Could well have been the cold that first started to stress them, but to me the leaves now look quite yellow with purple veins and the lower leaves look quite reddy purple. Which would suggest they are lacking in nutrients?

To my mind that's the effect of the cold stress.

The cold makes the roots less efficient and that reduces their ability to take up Potassium or Phosphate (I forget which), that impacts on the plant's ability to produce sugars by photosynthesis and to move them around the plant - net effect is that they look starved.

I suppose giving them some feed might help - making it more readily available for the plants to absorb - but to my mind the damage is done.

I keep my Tomatoes above 10C come hell or water! otherwise, as I see it, the gain of sowing them early is lost.