QUESTION: Should you cut the bottom leaves off tomato plants?
ANSWER: Once your tomato plants have reached 12 to 18 inches tall, you may notice that some of the leaves are dying or turning yellow. It’s fine to remove those leaves as long as they are below the first set of flowers on your tomato plant.
You can also remove the “suckers” that grow from where the branches of the plant meet the main stem. With determinate tomato varieties, only remove discolored or dead leaves and suckers below this first set of flowers. Indeterminate tomato plants can take heavier pruning that extends higher up the plant.
What causes leaves to yellow?
Could be several things causing leaves to yellow. Early or late blight. Over or under watering. Too little nitrogen. Too much manure. Not enough fertilizer or the wrong kind.
Bugs. Worms. A tomato variety that’s susceptible to yellowing. Aren’t tomatoes fun?!
I trim off the yellow leaves and bury them so whatever is causing the yellowing won’t affect my tomatoes. I spray my plants with a mix of copper sulfate and fish emulsion the day after a rain or a heavy watering. This gives them a foliar feeding plus helps prevent the blights.
I was just wondering if I should do that. Thanks
Question…
What makes the tomato turn red?
My tomatoes are getting a round black spot on the bottom of some of the tomatoes…almost like a black mold. I have already pulled about 5 off and thrown them away. I have 4 plants…two early girls and two beef masters. What can I do????
Try this article: https://www.gardeningchannel.com/tomato-diseases-fight-blossom-end-rot/
Epsom salts is magnesium sulfate. Egg shells are calcium.
Needs calcium , egg shells that are crushed works well when buried next to the plants .
End rot is from a lack of calcium in soil
Might try calcium there is a calcium for tomato and squash/ zucchini rot. Also Edson salt
I was told to add lime to the soil.
It’s epson salt works great.
What you have is blossom end rot. You need calcium, either as a liquid sprayed on the plants or mixed into the soil. If you use the liquid, make sure you spray early enough so they dry before being hit by the sun.
Adding garden lime to your soil before planting helps nip this in the bud as well 🙂
Happy Gardening!
Called Blossom Rot. To late Now. Put Bone Mill or Calcium under Plant When you Plant It. Also A Tablespoon Of Epson Salt Helps.
Lack of calcium. Grind up egg shells and add to soil. I dig in a teaspoon of powdered skimmed milk around the plant then water in.
This condition is known as blossom end rot. Usually this condition is the result of irregular watering habits. Tomatoes require about one inch of water per week. Slightly more during extended heat waves.
Consistent watering is the key to maintaining healthy plants.
Another cause of blossom end rot is a lack of calcium. A soil analysis is necessary to know your soil condition
For blossom and rot I put a half a teaspoon of Epson salts in to 2 quarts of water and water my plant it’s from growing too fast and the calcium doesn’t have time to reach the tomato and turns it black
You should also strip the leaves back by cutting maybe the last third of each leaf stem off. This allows the plant to put more goodness into the fruits, allows better air circulation stopping mildew and allows more light to get in aiding ripening. This is a little used technique that I was taught by my grandfather, who was a commercial grower, many many many years ago.
Your plant need calcium
My tomato plants were looking very healthy and then all of a sudden one after the other they started to wilt. They have good sized green tomatoes on them why are they wilting. I know it’s not from under or over watering. I put eggshells when I planted them and fertilize every other week
HOW U TELL IF U GOT DIFFERENT MATOR PLANTS?? INDERMINATE? OR THA OTHER 1.
CELEBRITY IS WHAT I GOT
THANKS
My plants grow tall but not bushy and full. I have some flowers at the top third. What is the problem? I did pull the bottom suckers fandom added Epsom salts to each plant
Determinate varieties are those which grow into a specific or “determinate” shape, such as bush or trailing varieties. Celebrity are determinate. Indeterminate varieties will just keep growing in a straggly manner unless carefully managed. (I only leaned this the other week from Gardners’ Question Time on UK BBC Radio 4, and I’ve been growing toms for years!)