Reader Questions: Tomatoes Shriveling, Yellow Leaves
By Vanessa Richins
Wendy:
“The top of my tomato plants are shriveling up, but the new growth seems to be a little healthier.
Should I cut the tops off so the bottoms get the nutrients?”
Hi Wendy. How old are your plants? Are they determinate or indeterminate?
I’d want to figure out what is going on with your plant first. Are the leaves turning any color or just shriveling up?
Where is the new growth? Has it been raining a lot? Do you see any signs of insects?
The problem with removing the tops is that this would halt growth. If your plants are older and already have tomatoes, this wouldn’t be such a problem. In fact, some suggest topping off your tomato plant before frost comes so that the plant directs all of its energy towards ripening the fruit that is there.
However, before that, it will stunt your plant and affect production. Please let us know more about your plants, or call your local extension office. You could show them pictures or take in a sample and they could help you identify them. Good luck!
Michele:
“We have one tomato plant in the middle of our garden (out of about 20 plants) that turned yellow and died. I was replacing that plant today and noticed the plants on either side of them are starting to turn yellow and wilt. What could this be?”
Hi Michele. There could be a number of factors causing this. Since it seems like this particular location may be having problems, it likely could be a nutrient deficiency.
First, you can look for any evidence of a nutrient deficiency. Two common possibilities are nitrogen or iron deficiency. A nitrogen deficiency will show up in the older leaves first. The stems themselves could also start turning yellow.
Iron deficiency, on the other hand, will start on your new growth. Is your soil alkaline? If the pH is high, it makes the iron inaccessible to your plants.
There are some other nutrients that can cause yellow leaves. Check this list for symptoms. You may want to send off a sample to your local extension office.
If you don’t have a nutrient deficiency, check out some of the other possible causes of yellow leaves. I hope you can figure out what’s going on!
August 28th, 2010 at 4:26 am
My sister recommended trying alkaline water instead of tap water. Something aboutchanging body pH or something like that is supposed to alot healthier for you.