what's wrong with the tomatoes?

I have a patio tomato plant. It is in a very large pot all by itself and placed in full sun. I have a very small heavenly bamboo and a purple Oxalis nearby.

The newest green tomatoes don't seem to have this problem, but they all get damaged at some point later. There is hardly any undamaged part left by the time they ripe.

Can anybody please tell me what is wrong with them? Is this a disease? Can I still spray the plant and cure the problem or should I get rid of the plant? This is the first time I have ever tried to grow a tomato plant, and can really use some advice.

Thank you.

I'm certainly no expert (far from it...I'm just starting out on this wonderful garden path) but it looks like blossom end rot. From what I understand it comes from inconsistant watering. Try watering more often and see if that helps. Good luck:)

It looks more to me like the end results of sunscald. Stickfigure, are those plants out in direct sun? And with very little foliage covering the fruit? The light colored areas around the black part look like evidence of sunscald, which is fairly white; the scald will cause rot and browning later.

There is no spray for that, if that is what it is. Can you tell us more about the growing conditions? (Temperature, amount of sun, etc.)

Hope we can get you some good eating tomatoes soon. Don't get rid of the plants yet!

Shoe

I agree that it certainly looks like blossom end rot. Regular watering and calcium added to the soil should help. I had some problems with it last year on one heirloom-the others were okay. So far this year everything looks fine. Good Luck!

Debee

O.K.--I'm going to make it two for two. I think it's sun scald. If you look, the black area on one tomato is on the side, not the bottom. And I agree with Horseshoe, there is still some of the typical whitish area evident around the black areas which would indicate sun scald.

Thanks for your response. The tomato is in direct sun the entire day I water it about everyday, but it might get dried out some times since it is in a pot. There are quite a lot of leaves on the plant.

There are some brown spots on the stalks (will post pics later), but the leaves are mostly healthy. Some older leaves seem to get curly with a bit of brown around the edges. Those leaves don't turn totally brown and fall off. Instead, they stay that way. I don't know if it is too much water, too little water, too much fertilizer, or a disease. I must admit that I never grew a tomato plant in the past and never observed one closely. Cannot tell if the browning is normal.

I have harvested 4 tomatoes so far. Two of them had some damage. They are delicious nevertheless -- first time ever eating tomatoes grown by myself :-)

Here is a picture of the stalk with brown spots.

This one shows curly leaves.

This message was edited Aug 1, 2008 2:20 PM

It looks like blossom end rot to me too, tho there may be sun scald also. Keeping a lot of leaves around the fruit will help with the sun scald. Add a tablespoon of Epsom Salts to the soil - that usually prevents blossom end rot. Just discard the fruit - no need to kill the whole plant. Potting soil often doesn't have enough minerals in it.

Tomatoes need about an inch of water a week. Your soil might be getting a little hot in those black pots. Try wrapping them in foil or white something to reflect some of the sun. But the Epsom salt treatment is what I would try first.

"Add a tablespoon of Epsom Salts to the soil - that usually prevents blossom end rot."

Sorry, tesaje, but Epsom's has no affect on BER. A lack of distribution of calcium to the tomato is what causes BER; Epsom's is only magnesium sulfate and wouldn't come into play here. (Epsom's sure does green up a plant nicely though, doesn't it! And helps with flowering, helping to create more fruit! Yay!)

As for the potting soil, 'tis true they seldom have enough nutrients (even the ones that tout time-released fertilizer). Normally when you grow tomatoes in a commercial potting mix (preferably a mix as opposed to a potting "soil") you need to add lime in increase the calcium level. Donnerville (hey, didn't you used to be Stickfigure?) it's hard for me to see many details on my computer via pics so I have a hard time seeing all the fine features. However, your curly leaves may be environmental stress from excessive heat, over-watering/underwatering, etc. If the plants aren't showing anymore signs than than I wouldn't worry. I'm at a loss as to what causes your brown spots on the stems though unless we're seeing symptoms of a potassium deficiency. (I mention that due to the yellow edges on one of your pics, a sign of K deficiency.)

A good foliar spray of fish emulsion will do justice to your plant, helping it through a stressful time and also offering a tad bit of N and a quick dose of potassium.

Hope you get some more yummy tomatoes soon!

Shoe

Thank you for the advice. I think I will first move the pot from the edge of the patio to the ground so that the pot will not get too hot during the day. You can see trees in the background in one of the photos, but the trees are rather far away from the tomato and provide no shade until early evening when the sun is very low. I will also find some good fertilizer with more minerals.

HorseShoe, no, I was not Stickfigure. I am brand new to the group. Wouldn't mind having a stick-like figure though ;-)

A "stick like figure", eh? Yeh, we all wish we still had our School-boy/School girl figure, right!? :>)

donnerville, a hearty WELCOME TO DG! Hope to see you around the site. And really hope we can get you some good eating tomatoes!

Happy Gardening!
Shoe

Thank you for the welcome, Horseshoe. I will try to be a good member of the community.