My tomato plants look like basketball players

Could this be uneven watering? Maybe not enough water? The get really tall, fruit isn't usually good, but a good amount of it. all the branches at the lower part turn yellow, die and fall off.

However, the older plants are over 8 ft tall. The new ones are pencil thin stalks as well. Still producing though.

I don't have a watering system so I water from a hose and usually just water good around the plant, not the entire box. Water saver idea, may not be a good one. Honestly, some days I miss.

And this pic is of the new plants. Nice and tall, no foilage except the top. :(

Wow, tall and skinny.

Seems extremely leggy. Not enough sunlight? How big were the plants when you planted them?

I've never seen tomto plants growing in such a manner? What kind are they as you forgot to mention? It seems:
1) They don't get enough sunshine and are reaching for it! Probably the late afternoon sunshine.
2) They are getting an overdose of nitrogen fertilizer.

Overwatering will not promote excessive growth. On the contrary! It will kill the plant. Losing all your bottom leaves tell me that your plant is not getting enough sun and the bottom part does not get sun so the plant discards them and uses the energy to push up to the sun! Healthy veggie plants need at least 6-8 hours of full sun per day. Any less will result in poor quality crops and you say that the tomatos don't taste that well?

I'm curious as to how you planted them. I'm a newbie tomato
grower this year and I followed the instructions to bury 80% of
the plant, with only the top 20% above ground.

June

That is the proper way, June and welcome to DG. We are all here to help you with any challenges such as the above situation. Tomatos need full sun and and a low content of
nitrogen fertilizer. Below 10 if possible. Whether organic or not. Such as 10-10-10 or
7-7-7, 10-6-4 etc. The first number is nitrogen content. Keep it low or you will have excessive growth and minimal tomatos. Lack of sunlite makes for tall plants such as above with some exceptions.

I'm not thinking over watering. Uneven. I think they are not getting enough then I give them some and so on. The leaves that fall off are wilty and yellow. They get full sun most of the day. They are never in shade and the sun starts for them about 10:00 a.m. and ends at the end of the day.

I wonder if a system with a timer wouldn't help in the future so that they get the same amount on a set schedule.

Someone on here did say that the tomatoes in Florida do get taller, but I just wish they would keep their branches.

Oh, they are Rutgers, Parks big whoppers and Roma grape, Red Beefstake and one other that I can't remember. I would go out, but it's FINALLY raining.

Wow, those are some tall ones. My first hunch would be too much N and not enough P and K. Have you posted this on the tomato forum? There are some great experienced tomato folks over there.

What about fertilizer? What formula? How much do you use? How often do you fertilize?

I don't think it's a nitrogen issue or there'd be lots more foliage. I know when I had that problem, I had such thick, dense foliage that I needed a machete to get through the garden. All that, and very few tomatoes.

I too wonder how you planted them? Were they leggy when they went in the ground? If they were buried or trenched, I think they'd be thicker and fuller. If they were loeggy to begin with, you might have a very weak root system, and THAT would inhibit water intake.

I also agree that you'll get better results if you move this thread to the Tomato Forum!

Love the analogy re: basketball players. gave me my chuckle for the day!

I don't know that much about tomatoes, but in Arizona we plant 80% of the plant and I always lay mine down horizontally, covering the 80% with soil and leaving just the top out, this gives your plant even water coverage. Also, if they get too much water they will grow but not put on tomatoes. The variety you have need a lot of root space; I've read that tomato roots can go down several feet. I would also test your soil, if it's ok, then I would give them equal but deep water and fertilize once a month with Miracle Grow tomato fertilizer. I've always been told to stress the tomatoes to make them bear, here that means lay off the water. Hopefully your plants will have so many tomatoes they'll be tossing them through those basketball hoops!

I noticed oak trees around your garden area. Oak is noted for souring the soil and lowering the PH factor. Your PH should read 6 - 6.5 for happy tomatos. Did you lime your beds? If you have adequate sun, water and fertilizer then the only thing missing is mineral content which dolomite lime will help adjust. Other than that "I give up!"

Point taken, I will post over there as well.


T: I have terrible soil so I made the raised beds. Then I layered peat, top soil, MG garden soil, and organic compost (commercial) and before the top layer I dusted a fine layer of lime. I got that recipe off of Dave's here somewhere. The soil is approx 14 inches deep. I soaked heavily a day before planting. The tomatoes were all planted 80% in the soil. Let me go out and take a better pic of the upper foilage that has fallen prey but not fallen off.

It's raining, so the next shots aren't the greatest, but I think they'll help.

I noticed some spots on the yellow leaves that haven't died and fallen off. Could it be black spot? I did have to be gone for 2 weeks while my husband had open heart surgery, so the watering was minimal but I was able to keep things alive. Maybe this is the result. Anyhoo. The peppers are doing great and very tall. They are taller than a typical tomato cage. The Roma Grape has 24 tomatoes on it and several more ready to go but the yellow leaves in my hand are on her. The tops are good, the bottoms are empty. Notice, however, on two of the plants totally new growth is coming in at the bottom. Almost like a brand new plant.

I want to put 2 more of these beds in, but now have to wait till hubby and I get back to work.

another

and

A close up

another shot

The new growth

The tiny white spots are rain.

The grape roma

also grape roma

Nice top, This is the top of the one that has nothing until the very bottom and then new growth

A healthy pepper in the same box

An overall of the three boxes.

I hope this helps. I am such a newbie and really want to learn. Thank you for the time you are taking to help.

They really are fascinating!

I'm sure Carolyn, Farmerdill, and/or 'shoe will have some answers over on the tomato forum.