Unhappy Tomato Seedlings
My tomato plants seem to be unhappy, and I can’t figure out why. They’re planted in a nice sandy loam mixed with plenty of horse manure compost, they’re mulched, they’re watered regularly without being overwatered, and in general they seem to have a gifted life.
Note the purple back of the leaf.
But their purple stems and spotted leaves tell another story. They also seem to be growing and making new leaves slowly … I think these have been in the ground for three weeks now. I’m THIS close to giving up and running over to Lowe’s for a couple of nice half-foot tall tomato starts, since I’m growing hybrids anyway and because our spring growing season might be cut very short due to drought.
The leaf on the right hand side is rather spotty.
Any suggestions on how to save these guys?
Update: Here’s a few more pictures. I ended up just buying some plants from the nursery. Waiting until my favorite nursery restocks on Wednesday so that I can buy a plant with better resistances.
The weirdest thing is that the variety of Sweet 100 I bought from Burpee is supposed to be resistant to the virus…
Close up (click for expanded view) of the blighted leaves and purple stem.
Oddly, the veins aren't purple. (Click to see larger.)
Another view of the stem, also showing the back of the primary (seedling) leaves.
I think the purple underneath may just be due to the variety of the tomato plant. The light patches on the top of the leaves though might be sunscald. Did you properly harden them off before putting them out to live in the Texas sun all day long? You might give them a little light shade for a few days until they fully harden off. Good luck! My tomatoes are volunteers from last year and are already 1′ tall and flowering – your garden might be much farther ahead this time next year!
I did harden them off, including a few nights that got down into the 40s and they came through decently well. I’m finding a few references to TPLD – Tomato Purple Leaf Disorder – as I’m researching this, cause still unknown. It doesn’t match tomato mosaic virus or anything else.
I’ve purchased some small tomato plants from the nursery and I’m going to put them out in the same garden area. At $1.49, I can afford to make a few mistakes. ;) If they acquire it or die as well, I’ll try a different area of my yard.
It’s because the soil is probably not quite 60 degrees yet. They start thier growth when its warm. If it’s not warm enough they will just sit there, esp. if the night time temp is still 50 or below. If you have volunteers like the above poster, they are already used to your climate because they grew there last year. The purple underneath is most likely due to thier variety.
maybe too much nitrogen? you said you used plenty of horse manure, but how much is that? too much nitrogen can stunt growth, cause discoloring (the color sometimes depending on soil pH), and foliage deformities.
Oh, I really should update. The VF100 is fine. It’s growing strong in the container and is now actually larger than the nursery-bought plant.
The Big Momma is not doing well; it seems to have died back just in the last week or two, but before that was doing really well. I’m thinking I overwatered it, and I hope it recovers soon.
The third plant in the ground, the Big Boy, is also doing well but has had periods where it was touch-and-go.
I was just wondering what ever became of your plants last year with TPLD? Did they survive, or produce. I have about 40 plants, all with purple leaf. dont know if I should scrap the project and buy new.