Tomato plants - leaves (and some fruit) suddenly curled and discoloured... Help!

[Russel Sprout]

Hi all

Our tomatoes are about the only thing that have been doing well this year.... Up until now that is.....

On inspection 2 days ago (Sunday) all seemed well and dandy. Yesterday (Monday) I forgot to open the greenhouse before leaving for work and it therefore remained closed until 3pm. I opened it then and it was obviously VERY hot in there. One of the plants was wilting but the others all looked ok. Compost a little dry, but left it until the evening to water.

This morning I've opened it up and most of the plants have wilting/curling leaves with discolouration. One or two green tomatoes have been affected but the rest are ok. All are still green at the moment.

Here's a pic of how things looked on Sunday:



And here are some pics of the problem as it is this morning:







If anyone can offer any advice as to what the problem is and what we need to do, I'd really really appreciate it.

Many thanks

Max

[Russel Sprout]

Sorry - I'm trying everything to get my images to show properly in the post above but having no luck.

[Bigmallly]

Hello Max & welcome to the Jungle although it appears you have one of your own.............I'm hoping it is not blight but just a watering problem as something is definitely going on with the tomato in the 2nd photo.................how & how often do you water & feed them?

[jacob]

My guess is that's a bit of sun scorch; it gets hot, the plants can't keep enough water in the leaves and they get damaged. If so, it's unattractive, but no real long term harm done. Are they well watered?

[veggiechicken]

Hello Max and welcome to the Grapevine.
Your images are fine!

You've packed a lot of plants in there - so there will be very little air circulation and any disease will spread quickly. Looks like one of your tomatoes is diseased.
I'd move some of the plants outside. cut off all the damaged leaves and keep the door open for the next few days until it cools down.
Good luck!

[bario1]

Just looks like they got a bit frazzled to me, nothing to worry about. I agree with others that you have too many plants in there though.

[Russel Sprout]

Thanks so much for the quick replies and the warm welcomes. It does feel like a bit of an emergency so your urgency is much appreciated!!!

I so so hope it is just sun/heat damage and/or a water problem...

Before posting I looked up briefly on line as to what the problem might be and feared that it might be tomato wilt or some kind of fungal disease. I was worried because if it is something like that I read that there would be no hope, and that it spreads alarmingly quickly. Do you think it's possible it could be something like that? Or is it looking like it is definitely just that they got to hot.

how & how often do you water & feed them?

Are they well watered?

For watering I tend to stick my finger in and water if dry. While the weather hasn't been great, that has amounted to every 2-3 days at a guess. I water with a watering can over the soil and also into a bit of hose that I put into the pots down to the bottom of the pot.

For feeding I'm using a liquid tomato food and have been applying about once a week. I was about to increase that now that they are of decent size and producing fruit.

Any tips on watering feeding most appreciated as it is all new to me!

You've packed a lot of plants in there.....
I'd move some of the plants outside

I agree with others that you have too many plants in there though.

What we've been doing most days - especially if it is hot - is moving all of the plants in the middle row out during the day to create more space (to help circulation), but also so that I can get to them to water, feed, etc. Then just popping them back in at night and shutting the door. I'll keep the door open overnight for the time being and any time it is warm/hot over night. But should I put that central row back in at night time, or should I leave some outside permanently?


Many thanks once again. Chuffed I've joined this forum

[Bigmallly]

What I would be tempted to do is take a pot at a time outside, remove any diseased fruit & foliage. Check that all the armpits have been taken off & thin out the leaves from below the first flower truss.

[bario1]

I just spotted that mouldy fruit in the second pic - I doubt that is heat related, Id definitely trim off that fruit and any other brown bits, and maybe keep that plant away from the others.

[solanaceae]

The leaves look like they are more of a shiny grey rather than a dull grey, for this reason I'd guess the problem is Sun scorch. Is this your first year growing them in their current environment by any chance?

[Bigmallly]

I'm not sure Scorch would cause this:

[Jungle Jane]

There's some more flowers that are pressed up against the plastic,with my plastic blowaway it's the same,don't let any leaves touch the plastic because of the condensation that can cover the thing,making the leaves wet,then scorched. The same could've happened to that fruit,it might not be because of disease?

[jonny the plant pot]

They look like mine did and sorry to say all died within 24 hours id take most outside and prey

[Scarlet]

Yes, looks like blight on that one tomato plant for sure. Personally I would get that one out pronto and check the others.

Can you take some more. Photos, have you got any browning on the stems?

[MarkPelican]

I'd be surprised if there was blight starting on just one tomato, in my experience, it usually affect the leaves first and only gets to the fruit when the whole plant is going.

I would suggest its too hot and damp. If the plant/fruit are up against the plastic then they get damaged by rubbing the plastic as it moves about, they're also most likely to get damaged by slugs and the like and finally the moisture will sit on them and rot the fruit.

I would suggest moving half of the plants outside permanently (unless you're on an allotment where there's blight about) that way you give the ones indoors a better chance and the ones you leave outdoors will still (probably) do OK.

I don't think you need to close the doors on your greenhouse, the nights aren't cold. My polytunnel door has been open all the time since the middle of June the only thing I do is put a net over the doorway to try and stop the moths.