Tomato Casual » A Tomato Rescue Adventure

sad-tomato By Vanessa Richins

I was out running errands yesterday and stopped by someone’s house to pick up things from Freecycle.

As I went back to my car, I noticed that there was a small nursery across the street.

I told myself I didn’t have any money to spend, but the thought of walking among plants won out and I strolled over to browse.

I had been thinking that I wanted to plant something in my new Earthbox, so after visiting the annuals, perennials and herbs, I finally discovered where the vegetables were hiding. Unfortunately, it’s been pretty hot here in Utah and it showed. Many of the plants were in sad shape, wilting and yellow.

I must admit I have a soft heart for plants in trouble. When I go plant shopping, my eye invariably wanders to see if they have a clearance section. I buy them in hopes of rescuing them from doom. They don’t always live, of course, but at least I can feel like I have given them a better chance in life.

You do have to be careful if you go out rescuing plants. Check the leaves, roots and fruit to try and figure out why the plant is having problems. Sometimes you’ll see it’s just a nutrient deficiency. I saw lots of plants with purple veins, which can be a sign of phosphorous deficiency. Sometimes it’s just from being rootbound or too much heat.

Other times though, it can be a disease, which you don’t want to transport home to your garden. Spots on the leaves are often a sign of diseases. You may want to look over “Recognizing Tomato Problems” before you go shopping.

In my case, I was able to find two tomato plants to bring home. One is an unnamed, indeterminate cherry tomato. The other is named ‘Moby Grape’. I also came home with a lemon basil plant that day. I need to trim them all up a bit and hopefully get them on the track to better health.

Do you ever rescue plants?