How to Recognize (and Prevent) Problems With Your Tomato
Tomatoes are a popular addition to vegetable gardens, but they can be a real problem. From the moment your tomato seeds germinate to the day you compost the plant at the end of the season, tomato plants are surprisingly prone to problems. Now that most of you should have tomato plants in the ground, we will tell you how to identify problems with your plants, as well as prevent and treat them.
Stimulate more flower production
To grow tomatoes, you need flowers on your tomato plants, since it is the pollination of these flowers that creates tomatoes. They usually do this on their own, but if you notice there aren’t many flowers or you just want to stimulate flower growth, you can try using products designed to stimulate flower growth. Sea Magic Organic Growth Activator , made from seaweed, should be used in addition to your regular fertilizer program as it stimulates tomato flower growth. Sea Magic is easy to use and safe for the home garden. This set of tomato and vegetable bloom sprays contains the plant hormone cytokinin, which promotes cell division in plants, leading to flowering (the development of flowers on plants), fruit development and increased yield. This means greater potential for fruit set (the development of fruit on plants) even in less favorable weather, since more flowers mean more fruit.
Preventing and treating blossom end rot (BER)
The most common tomato growing problem in the world is blossom end rot, which occurs when the bottom of the tomato turns black, sunken, or shriveled.
BER is difficult to treat—the problem occurs long before you notice it in the fruit and is usually the result of the plant’s inability to absorb calcium. This may be because there is not enough calcium in the soil or the plant is suffering from another nutrient deficiency (too much nitrogen, not enough phosphorus/potassium) that is preventing it from accessing the calcium in the soil. It may also be due to drought or irregular watering. Inconsistent watering can mean overwatering or underwatering, so it’s important to consistently apply water directly to the tomato roots. Soil conditions, such as compacted or poorly draining soil, can also interfere with calcium absorption.
According to Nancy Avot-Trout, horticultural expert at Burpee Gardening, a key concern for gardeners is that BER symptoms, such as fruit rot, typically appear days to weeks after the initial water deficiency or nutrient imbalance occurs. The most critical time to prevent BER is the first two to three weeks after fruit set. Avoiding BER means testing the soil for a pH of 6.2–6.8 and adequate calcium. It’s important to avoid over-fertilizing, as it can lead to excess nitrogen, Avot-Trout said. Mulching at the base of the plants can help maintain constant moisture and ensure that each tomato plant has enough space (this will depend on the variety and should be specified on the seed packet or plant label, but at least 18 inches is standard).
Once you see BER, it will be too late for affected tomatoes, but you can try to treat the plant for future tomatoes using a foliar spray such as Rot Stop or Cal Mag.
Prevent viruses and fungi
Given the humidity required when growing tomatoes, as well as the density of the leaves, there is a high probability of the spread of viruses and fungi. One of the main ways fungi spread is by splashing out of the soil during heavy rain or overhead watering. Mulching and watering at the base of plants will prevent this problem from occurring. Providing adequate space around each plant and trimming it to create air flow can help mitigate the spread. Selecting varieties that have good disease resistance can also help.
Remember that in the garden you are the most likely carrier of disease. When you go out into the garden in the morning and touch all your plants while there is still dew, you can simply spread what is on one plant to all the others. For this same reason, it is extremely important to keep your pruning shears clean between plants. A spray of Lysol that you use between plants is effective.
Unlike other fruits, which have only a few noticeable problems, tomatoes can suffer from many different fungi and viruses. Septoria leaf spot is a fungus that appears as black spots on leaves and spreads quickly. The leaves gradually turn yellow and die.
Late blight, another common fungus, appears as irregular black shapes on tomato leaves.
Fusarium fungus turns yellow and then brown, starting from the outside of the leaf and extending up to the stem.
Anthracnose is a class of fungi that causes large black or brown spots to appear on tomatoes.
Bacterial specks and bacterial stains appear as small brown spots and are the result of bacteria in the soil that can overwinter.
Mosaic virus is likely the cause of leaf wrinkling, curling, and curling.
The most effective treatment for a virus or fungus is bold removal. Instead of treating plants, it is best to quickly remove affected plants and then place them in the trash rather than compost. If you wait, you risk spreading the problem to all the other plants around the affected plant, and in the short summer season, that risk is rarely worth it. While some fungicides can help solve this problem, you are then adding these chemicals to your food. It’s safer to accept the loss and hope things will be better with your other plants. Remember that fungi and viruses can remain in the soil during the winter, so crop rotation (moving crops around the garden each year) is important.
How to recognize tomato pests
As if viral and fungal threats weren’t enough, there are also a variety of garden pests that target your tomatoes. The best way to mitigate this is to check your plants daily, diversify varieties and plant repellents such as marigolds, sweet alyssum, dill and nasturtium around your tomatoes to help ward off these pests. The silver lining is that many of these pest problems can be treated.
Tiny white or yellow spots could mean spider mites are stealing chlorophyll from your plants.
Aphids, a common pest problem that you can actually solve, appear as tiny white raised dots on your plants that clump together and cause tomato leaves to curl. Spray them with water, plant trap plants such as nasturtiums nearby, and spray the tomatoes with soapy water.
Tiny round holes in tomato leaves are most likely caused by flea beetles and can be treated the same way: soapy water and nearby traps such as yellow sticky traps .
Hornworms are giant green worms on tomato stems that look like tomato stems but eat your plants. You can simply remove them manually.
Everyone thinks tomatoes are the first thing to grow, and few things are as beautiful as a sun-warmed, freshly ripe tomato that you grew yourself. But the path to healthy tomatoes is long and fraught with threats that can undermine fruit production. Knowing what these threats are and working to prevent them—and, if possible, mitigate their effects—will make this season more satisfying.