Tomato plant dying

mturner777

Marc @ Jacksonville Beach FL
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I am trying to help my parents save their tomato plant. Will someone please look at the pictures and tell me what to do. It's in a pot tied to a fence with twine, and I know the string could be broader, like a bed sheet, but what else can I do?
 

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Welcome to the forum @mturner777

In no way am I very knowledgeable on tomatoes, my husband looks after ours.:)(y)

There aren't any fruits on it that I can see.....have you had any??
You don't mention in your profile were you live in the states, so we have no idea of your climate.To be brutally honest I think they are well past saving at this late stage in the season......but that's my season,your growing season could be very different.To me they already look very dead. :(
 
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@Becky is correct. it is too late to do anything even if you live in a state where it never freezes. It appears to have a disease called late blight but without more pictures of the stems and closups of everything else it will be impossible to say for sure what it is. Whatever the case, pull up the plant and dispose of it, preferably by burning. And please update your profile.
 
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I love your cats too, but sure wish I knew where they lived! If you are below the Mason Dixon line, you can cut the tomato plant back by about 1/2, remove the remaining dead leaves, give it a light fertilizing and hope for the best. You may get a small crop this fall (here in central Texas we do this and get some tomatoes).
If you are north, give it up, and next year plant in a larger pot or, better yet, in the ground. Old worn-out tee shirts cut into 1" wide strips make great tomato ties!
 

mturner777

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thanks marlingardener, you're advice is the most positive so far and kinda what i was thinking, so I am glad to have hope. My location was put in my profile when I put the pics in, Jacksonville Beach Florida. When you click on the picture it says my profile and I posted it in the profiles section. I have never seen a "profile" posting section. I better not receive any weird mail! -joke

What about digging a hole and remove the potted roots and shake them out a little and put them in the hole with good fertilized soil from the garden center?
 
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Replanting the tomato probably won't be successful. The plant is stressed now, and replanting is even more stressful.
How about looking at local garden centers for tomato starts? We take cuttings in September (healthy cuttings) and pot them up to plant in October. A good nursery or garden center will most likely have tomato plants in pots for transplanting.
If you " put them in the hole with good fertilized soil from the garden center?" you will be creating an in-ground pot. The roots will not venture out of the fertilized soil, and not spread naturally.
About your location--you can post your location on your avatar which will help anyone responding to your posts without having to resort to looking up your profile.
 

mturner777

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Just in case anyone has any last minute ideas, I have some new pictures.

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So do me a favor and hit the show as full sized image for me, it is a nightmare on a phone to look at the gallery version. @Becky could that just automatically be defaulted to full size?

Go here as see the differences between the very common disease. I did not see stems effected but I could not see well at all so it may not be late blight. I did see insect tracks on one photo. Also it is in potted soil of some form, and that also helps preclude late blight which can come to a plant through insects biting at roots in natural soil, such as a nematode puncture. In fact insect puncture is a very common pathway for a lot of problems so learn to spray pyrethrins. @Chuck has a brilliant sequence of organic insect fighters. The leaf drops do look like late blight but you should see other attack beside the leaves, and the plant will die quickly to boot.

The plant needs more sun, and the roots must be cooler, think about a tiny shade tent over the pot in a sunnier spot. But it should not get too hot. 90f is trouble. It melts the pollen. Not that that is a problem since I see no flowers really, so flower boosting fertilizer might help. Do not over do in a big blast rather use mild concentration but frequent spraying. @TomatoTango lives in south Alabama and might be attuned to the temperature challenges down your way.
 

mturner777

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Thanks so much for taking time to look into it for me. It was flowering before we moved it 4 weeks ago so I think it's just not getting any sun,,,as well as all the rest of the issues. Growstrong!
 
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I looked closely at it and it is not late blight. In fact I could find no pathogens at all. All I could see was light to moderate damage from leaf miners. I presume that this is a cherry type tomato, if it is there is a chance you can make it produce again. You are in hardiness zone 9b or 10 and your average first frost is from mid December to early January.
The days are getting shorter and tomatoes need all of the sunshine they can get. Move it away from that fence corner into full sun. Cut the plant in half or to just above where all of the main dead stuff is. It really needs a much larger container but that one it's in will suffice. Fertilize first with a liquid organic fertilizer such as HastaGro. NOT MIRACLE GROW. Then apply and organic pelleted fertilizer such as Medina or Espoma. This plant will have a massive root structure tightly bound in that container so watering will be an issue. It would be best to plant it in the ground but I will try to explain how to water it. I think underwatering is the cause of all the dead portions.

Cut it basically in half and remove all of the dead stuff, fertilize and begin watering, a slow drip and let it drip for hours. It will be difficult to water all of the roots because they have basically grown into a ball, therefore the slow drip, but all of the roots must be fed and watered. It would be better to water from the bottom up so if you could place the plant into a wheelbarrow or something and fill up the wheelbarrow with water. The soil in the container will soak up the water and when water stands on the soils surface you know you have watered every root. But if you can't do this a slow drip will have to work. You may have to water like this more often than normal. Only water when the plant is droopy or slightly wilted in the morning hours
 

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