At what time of day do you water? AM or in the afternoon or evening? It also appears that your plants have early blight. There is really nothing you can do now about the early blight except remove the dead limbs but the wilting is a different problem. Also, please update your profile by clicking on your name at the top of the screen, go to account details and fill in all the boxes to let us all know where in Texas you are located. Texas is a big place and has different weather and temperatures from area to area.
I water mostly in the evenings. I also had another guy tell me that I water them too much? I use the sprinkler method and not the drip method.
What’s the wilting from?
I’ve also been told it’s root rot??
When it gets hot outside in the afternoons plants naturally stop or slow their transpiration, thus they wilt. Wilting in the heat of the day is normal, especially on plants that are overwatered. You should water in the morning hours ONLY when the plants show a need for water. They show a need by wilting but only in the mornings before it gets hot. I doubt if it is root rot although it is possible from the over watering, but, if it is there is nothing you can do about it now. Just stop watering until the plants are showing a slight wilt in the AM and when you water COMPLETELY SATURATE the plants soil. Water slowly until water stands on the soil surface, probably about 20 minutes with a slow trickle from a hose. You will water about every 7-10 days. Watering by sprinkler IS NOT A GOOD THING. You get the entire plant wet. When this happens you are inviting fungal problems i.e. early blight plus other fungi that are just as bad or worse. You do not want to have the foliage wet especially at night. It isn't so bad during the dayight hours because the sun will dry the leaves. Most fungi is transmitted to the plant by water splashing up onto the leaves and the fungal spores are in the soil so try to avoid this. There is no such thing as watering too much at one time but you can and will kill a plant by watering too often.
So do you think I’m screwed for this year as far as tomato my tomato plants? Next yr I may put circle dams around them to keep to water to certain plants as they need it since some don’t need it as much as others
You are very lucky that you still have tomatoes this late in the year. Cherry type tomatoes are the only tomatoes that will set fruit and obtain normal size this late in the year. Any other type of tomato will still ripen on the vine but their growth will be limited. Pretty soon insects will attack, mostly stink bugs, but others as well. Remove all dead and yellowing plant material and burn it. Those wire cages you are using are just about useless for anything except some determinate tomato varieties, peppers, eggplant and tomatillos. The following pictures will give you some ideas about how to stake your indeterminate plants. I use rebar and garden twine but there are numerous other things to use too. My plants get 5 or 6 feet tall and I just keep going higher with the twine and tying up stray limbs. I also do not prune but I do remove the lower limbs, not the suckers.
I’m not understanding what the twine and rebar is for. Don’t the cages just hep hold the plant up when it gets heavy? My garden is only about 10ft square. I don’t have much room for very much.
In your pictures it shows the tomato plants have extremely grown over the top of the cages and are hanging down, probably to the ground.. This causes reduced air circulation and enhanced fungal growth, both of which you don't want. You want your plants to grow up and not be damaged by the top wire of the cage of which yours definitely are. I thought your growing space was larger but it makes no difference how large or small it is. When you plant your plants next year just get something like a broom stick and pound it into the ground next to the plant and as the plant grows just keep tying it to the stick with twine. You might need 2 sticks or even 3 per plant, but, keep your plants off of the ground and remove the lower foot or so of limbs, not the suckers. This will reduce the chance of early blight by keeping the leaves high enough to not have the soil splashed up on the leaves. It also makes checking your plants for pests much easier and when you water each plant also much easier.
