Tomato leaves fadeding

[Paul Haas]

Hi folks,
I'm pretty new in gardening and absolutely to this forum
I planted 3 tomatoe plants and since 2 weeks ago I noticed the leaves fade. I googled the issue but could not find what causes the problem. I've attached some pictures. Please help me to find the best way to rescue the plants.
We are in Houston, Texas.

Thanks
Ph

 

[Chuck]

Hi folks,
I'm pretty new in gardening and absolutely to this forum
I planted 3 tomatoe plants and since 2 weeks ago I noticed the leaves fade. I googled the issue but could not find what causes the problem. I've attached some pictures. Please help me to find the best way to rescue the plants.
We are in Houston, Texas.

Thanks
PhView attachment 12426View attachment 12427 View attachment 12428

From the pics it seems like your plants are in 5 gallon buckets with 4 gallons of soil and that the pics were taken in the afternoon. Your soil is too dry and most of the nutrients have leached out during previous waterings. Assuming that there are drain holes in the buckets it would be best to COMPLETELY saturate the soil while at the same time add fertilizer and a quick release nitrogen source such as bloodmeal. A very slow drip for a few hours would be great. The yellowing of the leaves is more than likely a lack of iron and/or nitrogen although it could possibly be early blight although from the pics it doesn't seem so. The extreme wilting is from lack of water. Wilting in the afternoon heat is normal but not to this extreme. If these pics were taken in the morning hours they really need to be saturated.

 

[Paul Haas]

Chuck,
Thank for your great advice. Here in Katy Texas we had 3 days of rain and tomorrow will be rainy too. I thought too much water caused the problem, That's why I turned off the water. Those pics were taken around 11 am this morning. As you said I'll start very slow drip this afternoon. I fertilize on biweekly basis with Home Depot shelf fertilizer. But would you please tell me how often I have to water them and for how long?

Thanks again.
Ph

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,
Thank for your great advice. Here in Katy Texas we had 3 days of rain and tomorrow will be rainy too. I thought too much water caused the problem, That's why I turned off the water. Those pics were taken around 11 am this morning. As you said I'll start very slow drip this afternoon. I fertilize on biweekly basis with Home Depot shelf fertilizer. But would you please tell me how often I have to water them and for how long?

Thanks again.
Ph

If they have been rained on DO NOT WATER ANYMORE. They may be water logged. Do the buckets have ample drain holes in the bottom

 

[Chuck]

Wilted tomatoes in the morning usually means they are thirsty. However too much water for too long will do the same thing. Didn't Houston have a big flood or floods recently? I think maybe you should put more holes in the bucket or even better put in a larger container. Tomatoes of that size will have a big root system meaning that they use up nutrients a lot faster in a container than in the ground and will also need to be watered more often, but if you have been having a lot of rain the yellowing is caused by lack of nutrients. Tomatoes like to be slightly damp not moist or wet. When the soil is dry about 2 or 3 inches deep it will probably need to be watered. To make sure stick you finger into a drainage hole and see how much moisture there is. If wet don't water at that time. And when you water, saturate the soil. I would also fertilize more often

 

[Beth_B]

I agree with Chuck. In my experience when tomatoes are badlly wilted from heat and lack of water, they perk up visibly after a good soaking within 30-60 minutes.