Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Growing in Greenhouses & Polytunnels => Topic started by: NeilH on May 16, 2017, 12:13
-
I' ve got a problem with my tomatoes. I grow them inside a conservatory in pots I store inside empty in winter and only use for this purpose (along with cucumbers). Last year no problems good crop. This year the plants leaves are shrivelling up. This is happening from the bottom up and working its way up all the plants. I'm growing them in levington tomato compost. The leaves are green but curl then shrivel. There is no sign of virus or blight. Whatever is affecting them has left the Coleoptile leaves alone. This problem affects plants in two pots. I have overwatered (see https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile?pid=391) them and the temperature varies in the conservatory from day to night markidly but this has not been a problem in the past. The seed is a mixture of last years and new.
Of three cucumbers growing in the same growth medium one is stunted and looks a bit odd but is far from dead and the others are growing away fine.
Any help appreciated never seen anything like this before.
-
Any chance of some pics? It's difficult to diagnose a problem without them.
-
The look very soft plants to me, that is to say kept warm and well fed for maximum growth at the expense of hardening them up. At a guess the damage looks to be excessive heat or light.
Id shade them a bit if you can, remove the damage leaves and they should be fine.
-
cheers this does make sense. I had a similar problem two years ago due to a very poor spring with very dull light (although not cold) the plants did not ever thrive although the symptoms were different. We did some fruit but a lot less than normal. Cucumbers also suffered. The damage seems to be slowing anyway....
-
I'd say uneven / over watering and temperatures too low / high.
Perhaps potting them on so there's new / more nutrients in the growing medium will help.
I have some that are beginning to look less than 100%...... mine need potting-on into their final growing place. I add a sprinkle of pelleted chicken manure - gives good healthy dark green plants. Too much results in loads of foliage and fewer flowers. A balancing act until they get going.
-
try repotting a lot deeper. If using grow bags, cut a deep pot bottom off and place over plant and fill with compost up to the first leaves if poss.
-
Do the leaves brown at all before they shrivel? If so, this is a problem I have. I think it's caused by starting the plants in the house - the leaves become tender then scorch when exposed to stronger light. Not a serious problem though, as new leaves will be tougher, and the plants will grow on healthy.