After growing tomato plants for over 40 years, I still find them an invaluable plant to grow year-on-year because of their nutritional value and their pure versatility around the kitchen – they are also very easy to grow even for the novice grower!
However, like every living thing, tomato plants are prone to having their ‘off days’ and in my own experience I find that you must attend to them daily to prevent problems arising.
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If I encounter a plant that is dying or at least not looking as healthy as it should, the first thing I do is determine the cause of the problem.
If you are looking to save a dying tomato plant, there are many signs to look out for. Fistly you must determine the ‘root cause’ of the problem before an effective treatment regime can be undertaken.
Things to look out for in a dying or sick tomato plant.
- Wilting leaves: The very first thing I check when I see leaves wilting on the vine is the water content in the soil. Tomatoes are thirsty plants especially when fruiting, and any drop in water levels in the soil will immediately result in drooping leaves.
- Yellowing leaves: Leaves yellowing on the vine can be a sign of over-watering, especially tomato plants dying from the bottom up, or it can be a sign of disease or lack of nutrients (specifically nitrogen) causing the plant leaves to go limp and yellowing.
- Leaves discoloured and rotting: This is most probably tomato blight which causes the leaves to become yellow and discoloured and eventually leads to rotting and collapse of the vine itself.
- Tomato fruits rotting at bottom: This is a common problem called blossom end rot which is also common amongst zucchini, cucumber and squash.
- Tomato stem rot: This can be caused by overwatering or more likely a bacterial infection called Pectobacterium carotovorum which infects damaged plants.
- Eaten leaves: Watch out for leaves that have obvious signs that something is munching on them. This may well be the Tomato Hornworm, slugs, or the cabbage moth caterpillar. Check out the tomato pest section below.
How to tackle tomato plant diseases
In my gardening career I have encountered many of these diseases or problems, and have to say that mostly they are simple to put right and restore your tomato plant to good health.
Going through these points one by one in more detail I will begin with…
Wilting or drooping leaves: Tomatoes have to be watered regularly – but not over watered! Whenever I see my plants drooping sadly, I immediately check the soil for moisture content.
This is not ‘rocket science’ and can be done by simply pushing your index finger into the soil up to the second knuckle.
When you remove your finger it should come out with some soil sticking to it and be damp, especially up to the first knuckle. This is our beginners guide to growing vegetables.
If your finger is soaking with lots of soil sticking to it, then there is too much water.
Over or underwatering is the main cause for drooping leaves on tomato plants. In my case I usually find it is underwatering as the plants are indeed thirsty and can drink over a half pint of water per day.
A sure sign of overwatering is that the leaves will not only droop and go limp, but they will also become yellow and eventually die away.
I find that in order to keep my plants healthy I water them twice per day when the fruit is growing – early morning and evening on a regular basis to avoid this problem and the problems associated with blossom end rot (later in article).
Tomato leaves going yellow: As mentioned, this is often caused by over watering which results in rot and a diluting of the vital nutrients that the plant needs to thrive.
If you’re convinced your watering regime is not the cause (knuckle test), then the problem is likely to be a nitrogen of calcium deficiency in the soil.
Fungal disease such as early and late blight is also a common problem with tomatoes and potatoes – which should never be grown in close proximity for this reason.
If indeed the soil is too dry and the plants are thirsty, then the leaves will perk up within about 30 minutes of watering. If not then you know at least that underwatering is not the problem!
Leaves going yellow and tomatoes rotting. Blight is a fungal infection which lives in the soil and infects the plant. Early blight shows as spots or lesions on the bottom leaves themselves, whilst late blight affects the whole plant including the tomatoes.
Late blight is by far the most destructive and can be difficult to stop completely.
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To treat blight I would remove infected leaves and take away to burn them. After this I would treat with a commercial treatment such as Bonide Liquid Copper Fungicide concentrate.
I then apply mulching around the base of the plants with straw, grass or other mulching materials to help prevent the spread of the fungus.
Unfortunately tomato blight can live in infected soil for several years, so if you are troubled with blight you may have to reconsider your planting area to a blight-free area of the yard.
Since I grow my tomatoes in Raised Beds, then it is easier to just clear out the bed entirely of soil, treat the surrounding timbers and start from fresh the following Spring.
Tomato fruit rotting at the base: This is a very common problem amongst tomato growers, called Blossom end rot, and fortunately one that can be easily fixed.
It is caused by a calcium deficiency which can be due to a lack of calcium in the soil, or by over watering and diluting the calcium content before it gets to the fruit.
The solution is to first of all be sure that you are not overwatering your plants using the tests above.
To be sure you are feeding the plants just right use a liquid fertilizer as per the manufacturers instructions, or better still use a good organic natural tomato feed made with comfrey (instruction in this post).
Comfrey provides an excellent mix of minerals including the 3 ‘biggies’ nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as high levels of calcium.
I have grown champion tomatoes in only six inches of soil using only a home- made comfrey feed which costs me nothing 😊
To improve the calcium levels you can also add some crushed egg shells into the soil for a ‘slow feed’ of calcium.
Best way to effectively crush the shells is to pulverize them in a food processor to a fine powder.
Tomato stem rot: Also known as sclerotinia stem rot, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, usually appears as the flower develops and starts rotting the small stem that hold the growing tomato.
The rot will continue to eat away at the main stem particularly around the base of the plant.
This is a difficult condition to control as it is a fungal infection which can stay in the soil for up to 10 years!
It is mainly caused by hot overly humid or wet conditions, mixed with poor or inadequate ventilation.
Treatment is similar to the treatment for blight with immediate removal and burning of infected plants, then treating remaining plants with a commercial fungicide.
Ultimately since the spores can remain in the ground for such a long time, rotational planting or moving the tomato plants to an area well away from the infected spot might be the only solution.
Fortunately for me, I have never encountered this problem personally – and hope I never do!
Pests that cause tomato damage
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Of course there are other reasons for tomato plant damage that may well result in the death of the plant if it is not dealt with.
These pests range from aphids that cause plant damage and fungal disease, to the voracious tomato horn worm that can devour virtually a whole plant overnight!
Below is a list of the tomato pests that will cause real damage to your tomato plants, along with some natural remedies to help prevent the worst happening!
- Aphids: Blackfly, whitefly and greenfly aphids not only suck the sap from your plants, but they cause fungal infections and disease. Spraying with a garlic water mix or chilli water mix should fix this.
- Slugs: The gardeners worst enemy especially in Scotland it seems! They will cause devastation on plant leaves if left unchecked. Physical removal at night time is the best solution. Alternatively lay cardboard near the base and lift in the morning to reveal the hiding slugs.
- Tomato hornworm: This is a huge caterpillar that is very well camouflaged and able to keep hidden despite its size. It will strip your plant of leaves in no time so seek out and remove by hand is best remedy.
- Stink bugs: The adult and aphids love to suck the sap from fruit and stems of the plant causing distress and death if infested. Garlic spray should remove these pests.
- Cabbage moth: Although I have not found these to particularly like tomato plants, they do on occasion lay their eggs on the underside of leaves. I remove the infested leaves immediately before they hatch. A solution of garlic water will help deter the cabbage moth.
- Cutworms: These feed on the stems of many young plants at night including tomato seedlings, and cut the plant away at the stem. This of course results in the death of the plant. Putting cardboard collars around the base of the plant sunk into the soil will prevent this pest.
For more details on natural pest control check out this post.
Tomato plant health care
One of the most important aspects of tomato health care I find is good ventilation or air flow around the plants.
I live in Scotland and so all my tomato plants are grown inside under a polytunnel (hoop house) as it is just too cold, wet, and miserable outside for most of what passes for Summer in Scotland!
One of the main issues I have found in a crowded polytunnel is that of high humidity and poor airflow, if things are not kept in balance.
This can result in all sorts of fungal issues and pest infestation.
The obvious solution to poor airflow is to open a door at each end of the tunnel.
However as far as tomato plants are concerned, another remedy is to strip away the leaves from the bottom to 2/3rds of the way up the plant.
This will not damage the plant and will create a free flow of air around it. Doing this will also improve the tomato yield as most of the energy goes into feeding the fruits rather than just growing leaves.
Stripping away leaves also gives less places for the pests to hide or lay their eggs, and therefore increases the overall health of the plant.
True, it doesn’t look very pretty – but like a shorn sheep, the plant will be healthier for it!
Summary:
Personally I find that I cannot go a year without growing my own tasty tomatoes! They come high on my agenda for plants to grow in the vegetable garden or in the tomato plant case – the polytunnel.
Tomatoes are just so versatile for use in the kitchen, or indeed straight off the vine, in my mind they are the 1 must-have vegetable (actually a fruit) to grow.
I usually grow a mix of heritage, hybrid, and cherry tomatoes, with Brandywine being my favourite heritage tom.
Hybrid beef tomato ‘Gigantomo’ is my next favourite, and as for the cherry varieties I much prefer the ‘sun gold’ for its sweetness and volumes of tomatoes from just 1 plant.
So how to help a dying tomato plant, has as much to do with prevention rather than the cure.
As is usually the case with most things in this life!
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Category: WHY
