Tomato and aubergine help!

[newgardengirl]

Dear all

I've been really pleased with the progress of my garden but the tomato and aubergine plants have really started wilting ever since I transplanted them onto the main vegetable patch outside, last week. Some of them have such wilted leaves that they look practically dead

Is there anything that can be done? I have applied some tomato fertiliser the other day but it didn't seem to help.

[balliol]

I will be interested to see the replies as my tomatoes look very sad too Im puttingit down to too much rain last week, the stems are upright though so Im assuming the best!

[Cutecumber]

newgardengirl - what has the weather, and particularly the temperature, been like?

Did you harden off the plants before planting them?

[newgardengirl]

A few of them were hardened off but sadly a lot of the others got a shock by being moved outside suddenly - I didn't plan to do it that way, but I had to suddenly move all the plants outside one day due a problem in my kitchen. However, some of the smaller plants I've put under cloches (home made ones out of old bottles), so sadly it might be part of the problem

[tinyvine]

hello
I would agree with that. Assuming the roots weren't damaged in planting out and lets face it, you'd probably need an elephant trampling on it to make a difference(!!?)
Then I would suggest either shock to the system, ie not hardening off or the line I was first on, where the roots aren't drinking up the water properly in the soil. I tend to pot out in the late afternoon and water in the hole first. This tends to give the roots a chance to settle in and spread out/down before the sun comes out. I Don't know what other people do?
But main question has got to be did you harden them off? As its probably this plus the emense heat we've been having.

Just seen your response.If you can't bring the plants back in, then can you provide the ones you've put out, with some kind of shade?

[valmarg]

newgardengirl, you say you planted your aubergines and tomatoes outdoors 'last week'. You do not give your location on the site, but here in North Staffordshire we had a good (depends on which way you look at it) frost on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning!!

They would not have enjoyed that!!

valmarg

[smallblueplanet]

I'm not convinced your aubergines will enjoy being outdoors in the UK, they crave heat, ours are in the greenhouse, good luck with yours I'll be interested in the type if you do get any fruit. Our outdoor toms are also looking a bit sad - it was fairly cold here last week, but I'm sure they'll recover now the temps are better.

[Flummery]

I think it's the wildly fluctuating temperatures, added to the iffy hardening off. My aubergines will stay in the greenhouse. I once grew them outdoors but in a very sheltered patio area. Give them some TLC and shelter - you might be ok.

[rustylady]

Wouldn't consider planting aubergines outside in UK, unless in pots on a very sheltered and warm patio. Tomatoes should be OK once they get over the shock of transplanting. As the others say, dig a hole, pop plant in, water well and let the water soak away (give another soak if the ground is dry) then firm in. Some sort of shelter (fleece or a windbreak) is good for the first few days.

[newgardengirl]

Thanks everyone - I'm in London and we haven't had any frost for ages (seems like ages anyway).

I did specifically buy outdoor varieties of everything. A couple of the aubergine plants are starting to perk up now so I'll hope for the best.

[vegman]

Did you soak the pots and water the hole before you planted? If not, the dry surrounding soil will rob the roots of their moisture. Pile in the water until you get a balance


Sometimes the hot sunshine will wilt and burn the leaves. These kind of plants still need shading from really strong sunlight even tho they like it warm.

[Glasshousevirgin]

those tomato / aubergines

some good tips there and in my experience tomatoes ok here in eastern uk and survive all but serious cold / wind .
I tried some aubergine last year and they did well at first when warm to hot but didn't like wind and cooler change we had in June. They went all yellow , the leaves died off and fruit stopped developing. I put up wind breaks and they had a nice second wind come August when it hotted up again with a late crop in Sept/Oct.
This year I am keeping one in green house and 2 outside with windbreaks from the start. So far, so good and they compare well to each other. No flowers as yet and this gloomy weather may be a decider.
Tomatoes are struggling (?with excess heat) in hanging baskets in Ghouse so just goes to show the limits apply both ways.

[newgardengirl]

Oh, thanks for the tip - I'll try and install some wind breaks to keep the air a bit calmer around the plants

[Cutecumber]

I grew some aubergine plants outside once... I'm afraid I wouldn't do it again.

The plants weren't very happy, it took a very long time for fruits to develop and they were very bitter.

Since then I've grown them in a greenhouse and there have been no problems.

I think it's a bit of a gamble outside unless it's really sheltered and warm. Do your best to protect them.

[Wossername]

I'm growing aubergine for the first time this year and have some cracking plants, but I am keeping them all in the greenhouse in large pots. I have three that I started on the windowsill very early in the season that are in a growbag. The growbag candidates are all very sorry looking specimens, although one has a couple of flowers on it. Those in the pots are looking really good and I'm hoping for several fruit.

All that said I caught my first sign of aphids on them today, they have been dispatched.