Tomato leaves limp & yellow

Hello

HELP ...I need some advice here and quick ! I've been growing "tumbling toms" in hanging baskets and until a couple of days ago they were doing really fine,flowering nicely,good colour , strong looking but suddenly they look to be dying :cnfs: the leaves & stems have turned all limp and dangling down,some of the leaves have turned yellow (not dry though,just limp)and they seem to have an overall yellowish look to them.... the flowers are drying up too...

The weather recently has been really hot and they are in full sun from midday onwards but I check them regularly and water them generously in the evening... now they're dying... :(

Have I overwatered ?
Is it a disease ?
Too much fertilizer ?
Anything I can do or is it too late in either case ?


Can anyone help ?

Thanks so much

 

Hello Helen. It sounds like magnesium deficiency. A common problem with tomatoes.
Go to the chemist and buy some Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate)
Dissolve 1 tablespoon salts in a pint of water and spray (or pour) it over the leaves every day for a week.
If it's magnesium deficiency you will see results from day 1.

 

Is it possible that you have actually overwatered, I doubt it though.

Overfeeding could be the problem.

A few yellow leaves is not a problem, I cant understand them being limp if they are not dry at the roots.

 

Hello Alice & thanks for your reply...

I have a few questions about the epsom salts :
- if it isn't a magnesium deficiency would it harm the tomatoes ?
- I was told by many people to avoid getting the tomato leaves wet as they hate it , so it's ok to spray them with the solution ?

and finally (and this is just a thought) I thouroughly checked out the plants to see if there wasn't something obvious causing the wilt and I saw that on the top of the soil there seemed to be like "salt cristals".

The fertilizer I use is a special tomato fertilizer in the form of "pink grains" which disolve over time when watered, these "grains" do lose their pink colour after a few waterings and turn white ( I hope you can follow this,it's not easy to describe !) ... could these white salt -like cristals be just the fertilizer maybe too much fertilizer and that's causing the wilt ?
I ask because as it looks a bit like salt I'm worried about adding more...

Sorry if my questions seem a bit silly but I'm a complete novice at this !

 

Hello Pete

You maybe right about the over feeding... it's difficult to judge how much to give especially since they're growing in baskets with limited space and soil...
I did indeed feed them quite recently and the wilting has only occurred since then....
As far as the watering is concerned, it's possible too, I've not watered them for almost 48hrs and the soil is still moist (!) and quite cool to the touch... surprising since it's so hot at the moment...

If in either case it's too much tlc (guilty!) are they lost or can they still be saved ?
I'd appreciate your opinion on this... how about epsom salts ? This was suggested to me also...
Thanks

 

If you have not watered for two days and the soil is still moist it suggests to me that the roots are dieing.
For whatever reason I cant think, but the overfeeding would seem likely to me, too much feed at once will kill roots.
Are you sure you followed the instructions?

If the roots are dieing, I dont hold out much hope I'm afraid.:(

 

Check out your watering Helen. Too wet, too dry ?
Beyond that I wouldn't recommend spraying the leaves if it was going to damage them.
You asked and you got.
Hope your tomatoes get on great.

 

I didn't mean to vex you... I was just repeating what I'd been told about wet leaves... and I do appreciate your ideas ... as I know nothing about growing tomatoes ...

 

Instructions were very vague : "put a handful of fertilizer at the base of each plant..." I put 1/2 a handful per plant, obviuosly too much for a basket... and no mention of how often to repeat it either...

Actually I'm quite upset about it ,it was my first time growing tomatoes and grew them from seed ,had lovely healthy plants and now ruined...
oh well you live and learn....

 

Helen, I hope your toms, recover but next time it might be better to use Tomorite or one of the other liquid feeds. They have a measuring cap that gives the quantity necessary and quite detailed instructions on how often and how much to feed.:wink: As regards the advice about Epsom Salts. I found that advice on this site and now use it, not only for Toms but also for Brugs. It is really effective.