Tomato plant wilting

[Chuck]

Did you take pics of the plant at or before death? That root ball is only a small portion of the total root system. Most of the roots are smaller than a hair but I agree that being root bound is not an issue in this case. What did the plant look like? Color change? Fungus? Wilting? Weather? It looked great a month and a half ago.

 

[fixit7]

Did you take pics of the plant at or before death? That root ball is only a small portion of the total root system. Most of the roots are smaller than a hair but I agree that being root bound is not an issue in this case. What did the plant look like? Color change? Fungus? Wilting? Weather? It looked great a month and a half ago.

Here is a pic when it was wilting.

I found some very thin roots going down about 6 inches.

It produced tomatoes, but they never grew to maturity.

https://imgur.com/a/sGXTpJf

 

[Chuck]

Here is a pic when it was wilting.

I found some very thin roots going down about 6 inches.

It produced tomatoes, but they never grew to maturity.

https://imgur.com/a/sGXTpJf

Plant looks healthy, what happened? It looks slightly wilted but that is normally

Here is a pic when it was wilting.

I found some very thin roots going down about 6 inches.

It produced tomatoes, but they never grew to maturity.

https://imgur.com/a/sGXTpJf

easily fixable. At this time of year getting any tomatoes at all is a little tricky, especially with an indeterminate plant. Did you water like I advised? Very very slow, almost a drip for 2 or 3 hours, completely soaking all of the soil in the entire bucket?

 

[fixit7]

Yes, I watered like you said.

I grew peppers and never had a problem. ??

 

[Chuck]

How are tomato plants on a farm watered ?

How are tomato plants watered on a commercial farm? The old way was by flooding the furrows but the modern way is by drip irrigation. They completely saturate the soil at least a foot deep and then when the soil is dry to a depth of about 3 inches they saturate it again with water and a liquid fertilizer and any minerals their tests show as needed.

 

[Chuck]

Yes, I watered like you said.

I grew peppers and never had a problem. ??

There is a world of difference in growing peppers and tomatoes. What makes growing tomatoes difficult is the correct temperatures for fruit setting and growth of which peppers are not nearly as restrictive. Or climate is not the best for growing tomatoes. We get too hot too soon for good tomato production.

 

[fixit7]

Thanks for the advice.

I have time to consider what I will grow next summer.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for the advice.

I have time to consider what I will grow next summer.

Just a little advise on what to grow in our climate. Stick with determinate tomatoes except for cherry varieties. Bell type peppers normally do not produce as well as non-lobed peppers or two lobed peppers. Hot peppers, even mildly hot peppers produce better than sweet peppers. Sunshine is the secret. The more the better.

 

[fixit7]

Just a little advise on what to grow in our climate. Stick with determinate tomatoes except for cherry varieties. Bell type peppers normally do not produce as well as non-lobed peppers or two lobed peppers. Hot peppers, even mildly hot peppers produce better than sweet peppers. Sunshine is the secret. The more the better.

So are determinate tomatoes less "needy"?

 

[Chuck]

So are determinate tomatoes less "needy"?

No, they are grown exactly the same but determinates produce all of their fruit in a fairly short period of time, where an indeterminate produces its fruit over an extended period of time. When nighttime low temperatures reach about 74F both determinates and indeterminates cannot reliably set fruit. Determinates have a concentrated fruit set, indeterminates do not. This does not apply to cherry varieties as they will set fruit until it gets really hot, 95F+. After a determinate harvest you pull the plants and plant something else like okra or a pepper. With an indeterminate like you had you try to just keep it alive during the heat of summer until it cools off enough to set fruit again usually late Sept-Oct. and hope it doesn't frost before the fruit is mature.

 

[fixit7]

Thanks. I may grow some cherry tomatoes.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks. I may grow some cherry tomatoes.

The best varieties I have grown here are Sun Gold, Large Red Cherry and Sweet 100's. For a good determinate type tomato Celebrity is hard to beat. You can usually get these as transplants at any nursery.

 

[powermjp]

I would say the reason is because the plants root system is too big for the container and when you water it not all of the roots recieve enough moisture. The roots are in a ball which restricts water. A 5 gallon bucket is the minimum size for a tomato plant but that is for a determinate variety and yours is an indeterminate. If this picture was taken in the AM hours the plant needs water but if taken in the PM hours maybe not. To water a plant like this one takes at least 15 minutes of a slow stream of water or much better a steady drip over 3 or 4 hours.

Agree with this, i had a similar issue in the past, and this was my fix

 

[fixit7]

Agree with this, i had a similar issue in the past, and this was my fix

I do not know what killed my tomato plant. But it grew like a weed for around 3 months, getting to almost 5 feet tall.
I dug it out when I realized it was a lost cause.

The root system looked healthy but did not go down more than about 8 inches. The soil was not compacted and I also fertilized it.

Here is something I found humorous. I cut a branch off that plant that had a tomato on it that was about 1 inch in diameter.

It landed on a piece of shrubbery.

About a month went by.

I saw the cut off branch and the tomato was red.

I can not believe it had no rotted after a month.

 

[rahulvattya]

The most common and simple cause of tomato wilting is lack of water. Make sure you water your tomato plants well. Tomatoes need a minimum of five inches (5 cm) of water per week, dry out more after watering, but they can be susceptible to fungus. Downy mildew on dried tomatoes is caused by Verticillium wilt fungus or Fusarium wilt fungus.