Tomato Growing 2024

I planted mine out maybe a week and a half ago. Dwarf cherry tomatoes in pots. They were still quite small. Since then their leaves turned purple and it doesn't look like they're growing. I planted them in the same mix as my other one planted earlier - compost, manure pellets, grit. This one is perfectly fine. I'm not sure if it's the weather that's causing it and will they recover or maybe did I do something wrong?

 

Purple foliage tends to happen in cooler temps, and small plants will be affected more easily.
It's not necessarily a problem, and it's why any I have outside [just spares really] are tucked against a house wall, and sheltered from the worst of the weather as well.
I also wait until they're a good size before I do that - at least about 9 inches to a foot, so that they can cope more easily. They're acclimatised a fair bit too- out for most of the day, and in at night, for a couple of weeks, depending on the weather conditions.

 

I agree with @fairygirl - I have 8 in my greenhouse all doing relatively well with nice healthy green leaves.
I have 4 outside (of the same variety) and they have a lot of purpling in the leaves - entirely down to cool temperatures.
They will recover quickly - if it warms up

 

Yes I'm trying cucumbers for the first time this year. Mine are still tiny though, barely more than seedlings. They're progressing so slowly that I decided to sow more seed in case they give up altogether.

I sowed the seeds a week ago Sunday and they were all up by the following Thursday - a big difference from the first batch I sowed. I did some more French beans at the same time and they were just as fast. What a difference a bit of warmth makes.

 

Thank you. They were in their 9cm pots for a while and they seemed to stop growing, so I thought it's time to move them. I acclimatised them for around 2 weeks before that. I might move them closer to the wall, maybe that will help a bit with the wind.

 

@Escarpment I'm finding that the Beth Alpha cukes are doing best this year. I sowed mine in April and I've managed to pick 4 so far.

Wish my toms were doing as well as them. All fruiting but very slow. Doesn't sound like a move to Surrey is worth it this year then

Agree with @fairygirl and @Pete8 - the purpling leaves occur when they are a bit too cold. ( My fingers do the same !! )

 

Did you pot them on from the 9cm pots @KarolinaW , or did you plant them out at that size?
Mine are never put out, or planted in the gr'house, from that sort of size.
They're really too small if that's the case, even at this time of year, unless there's reliable warmth.
Normally, you'd be able to plant outdoors by the end of June, or earlier if going in a gr'house, unless you're in a much colder/more exposed part of the country than me, but the plants need to be big enough to cope. Mine are usually potted on from their original pots into a 6 inch size or so, before planting in the gr'house about mid to end of May - approx. 2 months from sowing.

They were slower this year because the winter was so mild, and the heating wasn't on as much in the house, and that's what pushes them on more quickly. Once they got going in their final spot, they were fine though.

 

@fairygirl
These 3 tomatoes on the right side were in 9cm pots before I planted them out on the 23rd of June. Posting photos so you can see the size. That one in the back was in that pot for ages and just stopped growing. Two smallest ones also stopped growing although they are a bit younger (and different kind). Maybe I should've waited longer with them, but the smallest one started forming flowers and I just rushed I guess.


This is how the look now:


I'm thinking maybe I started to harden them off too soon, so that's why they stopped growing nicely. It's just not warm enough! One day I'll have a greenhouse

 

Tomatoes need the minimum outside average temperature not to drop below about 13c for them to grow normally.
Although it's not far off that now around here at least, my outdoor ones are growing slowly again now it's cooler.
They did put on a few inches when we had the heatwave just recently - which now seems like a distant memory

 

@KarolinaW To my mind, the little ones have been potted into much larger pots than necessary for their size. It's often difficult to assess but gradual potting on ( a bit of a PITA I know ) is often the best way to go. It avoids too much wet/dry compost around their roots.
Not the easiest plants to grow without a GH tho so hats off to you for getting this far

 

This is something that confuses me for a couple of reasons
- when I pot small tomatoes into large pots, they always do really well - new strong fast growth.
- a larger pot is surely likely to have the effect of moderating the extremes of temperature and moisture levels, much more effectively than a smaller pot.

I'm starting to wonder whether to put: "don't pot into too large a pot" in the same category as: "watering in sunshine will burn the leaves...?

 

It always depends on your conditions though @Stephen Southwest. In a heavier mix, and in a wetter spell, or with too much watering, a small plant [of any kind] can be sitting for a long time in a lot of wet soil which isn't good. In drier areas, pots dry out more quickly, so it's less of a problem, and a lighter mix means drainage is sharper, so it's easier to avoid too. In late spring, if temps are less consistent, it's always better to be cautious, and that's why many people in the south are finding their plants much slower this year, and it's all a bit hit and miss. For those of us in cooler, damper parts of the country, it's pretty normal, so we either need a greenhouse, or some basic protection for toms to get a reliable harvest and good growth.

I'd agree with @Philippa that the smaller plants in your pic look overpotted @KarolinaW , and as @Pete8 says, a cooler spell for toms, especially those night time temps, can make all the difference in terms of growth, and that purpling foliage suggests that's what's happened. They'll come away when temps are better. I don't know whereabouts you are, but many people get blight on outside toms, so you may need to keep an eye out for that, and others will help you with all of the signs if that's a possibility.
I'm wondering how that plant top left is so much further forward though - it's huge compared to the others!

 

The reason I like to pot on in stages is because the plants get to use more of the compost.
The roots always go out to the outside of the pot, at which point they are using all the food and most of the compost, you then pot it on and the same process happens again.
Until you reach the final pot size.

 

@KarolinaW I think what has happened is that the small purple ones have stalled, once that happens it takes a lot to get them moving again.
It's almost like the plant has to grow a new root system before growth can start again.

 

Dipping into this forum has cheered me up no end. I have never had such an awful year growing tomatoes.
Mine have stopped and started growing, some have turned blue and none have grown steadily, I usually pot on several times before putting mine into their final big pots but some are still only a few inches tall so still in comparatively small pots. I was only thinking the other day I doubt if I will have any crop this year.
The awful long winter, dark wet Spring, blistering heat wave, then wet and gales, followed by another heat wave and now cold North wind has taken its toll. None of my tomato plants are outside but it hasn't helped very much this year. I have one plant which was sown very late and has spent its life in the conservatory which has grown "normally" so I might get a few tomatoes from that one.
I have never lost so many seed sown plants, damping off etc. I have 2 replacement cucumbers in the conservatory which look pretty healthy so I am tempted to continue growing them there rather than move them into the greenhouse. Not something I really wanted to do.