Tomato doctor needed to identify possible pestilence

Hi

My wife bought on a whim a tomato plant in IKEA a few weeeks ago.
Given I had some space in my new vertical planters, I offered the new arrival a place on top of one of them, sharing with strawberries some good quality fresh soil out of bags, so hopefully pests free.

I had to trim some dry and spotted leaves after a few days, which I put down to the plant having taken some damage in transit.
But now I noticed some gray spots on leaves otherwise healthy.
The plant seems to do fine for now, the trusses keep growing and I removed some of the leaves.

Could you please tell me what it is?

My problem here is that tomorrow I am waiting for delivery of 6 healthy tomato plants, and three more over the next weeks.
My garden is small and the most sunny bits smaller still, so I cannot afford to plant the new plants far away.
Dependently on the severity of the thing, and how contagious it might be, I would rather get rid of the plant entirely. But being a present from my wife, I would rather be sure that it is really needed before bagging it tight and chucking it.

Sorry for the awful photos, I had to take them with my phone late evening today.

 

Not exactly sure and sure someone with more knowledge will correct me if I’m wrong but it looks a lot like sunburn damage to me I had something very similar recently did you put it straight into the greenhouse? If so may have needed to acclimatise first
My plants recovered well and are growing strong now
Hope this helps

 

Thanks!
I really hope that is the case, it would be a relief if it is not some fungus or infection.
Even if my wife just authorized me to take drastic measures if needed, but I hope it will not be..

I have no greenhouse unfortunately, so it has been outside all the time..

 

Have you by any chance watered or sprayed your wife`s lovely gift while the sun was shining ? Come on Aldo - own up

 

Uuuupss...
It wasn't me, I swear!!
Now that you mention it, we might have done something like that.
My kid watered it on the first days and I vaguely remember my wife telling him that no, he needed to water the soil but not the leaves. But I did not pay much attention to that..
So, that's the reason?
Anything I can do help it healing, aside of steering clear of the watering can during daytime?

By the way, is the best time to water tomatoes the early morning?

 

I agree with Tetters it's water/sun damage. I always water my mine in the evening after sunset so they have night-time to absorb without drying out in the sun. Secondly if any leaves are wet they will dry before the following day.

 

Thanks, I will do that then, and see if it gets better!

 

You're welcome Aldo. If you don't wish to water that late wait until the sun has moved off them for the rest of the day and water then.

 

Does that mean they've been planted outside?

There appears to be ripe tomatoes in that image above, so I suspect they've been brought up in a protected environment then planted outdoors during a period of agressive hot, bright sunshine which will scorch the leaves (even if avoiding getting water on them) unless they're slowly introduced to life outdoors, possibly covering with a sheet of newspaper for part of the day.

The same thing will happen to indoor grown French/runner beans, squashes and cucumbers unless they're acclimatised to outdoor conditions.

I've only been to one IKEA, and didn't see any outdoor plant sales area, only an instore indoor sales area that would make plants vunerable to outdoor conditions (and lots of the plants looked like they were suffering from being there too long).

 

Thanks for pointing this out.
I am very ignorant about gardening, so I never really considered that in the end putting outdoor a plant which always lived in a greenhouse must be quite traumatic. A bit like taking myself and putting me living outdoor after a lifetime of cosy houses, I guess

I did some reading now, so at least I learned that there is such thing as "hardening" a plant.
Even the seet peppers I planted from plugs two weeks ago have been struggling. Actually one was found today cut in two by something very sharp, a bird's beak is my guess.
I have received my 6 plugs of Hundreds and Thousands from Suttons and I planted them all in small pots and they seem to be doing ok and growing fast on my windowsill, if I am careful of protecting them when the sun is too strong.
At least I am learning a bit, hopefully they will find repotting outside a bit less traumatic than my previous victims :D

And yes, I think IKEA plants are grown to look good and purchasable, and probably not really meant to be planted outdoor.
Still, despite of my clueless mistakes, the plant seems to do not too badly. It flowered again, and is just started working on its fourth truss despite of the damaged leaves, so perhaps there is hope still

Thanks so much for all the info, very helpful!

 

Thanks John!
Yes, it seems to be doing better now, and my new tomato plugs have been put indoor for the moment, and shaded from the sun, so to grow a bit stronger before potting outside.
I will try and harden them up a bit over the next week, with some days out in the garden

The sun has been a bit less intense over the last days, perhaps it is a good thing for the moment..

 

We all make mistakes which we learn from Aldo, especially as gardeners. Your plants sound as if they're recovering so let's hope you have a fine crop in a few weeks.

 

Totally agree started my toms off user powerful grow lights then onto window sill still burnt when they went into the greenhouse s**t happens to us all the most important thing is that you learn from it and enjoy it

 

Thanks so much Sheal, appreciated!
Actually, productivity is not something I can complain about right now.
The little thing came with three trusses, put another one and it is working on number 5 and 6.
And the taste of the tomatoes improved a lot since first planted.
I am not sure if it is the molasses feeding, the aspirine spraying or perhaps some Swedish voodoo, but for now I really cannot complain