A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum tall sickly plants

planted beefsteak and cherry tomatoes the end of May in RI. Plants quite tall, giving some tomatoes but I notice the bottom branches are dying off. Any suggestions?

It is normal for the bottom leaves and even branches to turn yellow and die. Are the plants bushy and healthy looking otherwise and especially on the upper part. If so you are probably ok. You will learn from experience how to tell the difference in diseased and just normal aging and dying off. Without pictures and more information it is hard for me to say for sure. JD

Most tomatoes (but not all) are "indeterminent" meaning that they will continue to produce new vegetative growth and fruit as long as conditions are favorable, like a lot of other annuals. So lower leaves that wither, turn brown, and fall off is to be expected I think. They are the oldest, and the plant is in some sense "self-pruning". I'm thinking about geraniums and they loose some of their oldest leaves and stems as well, but still continue to produce flowers. So I don't think it's anything to worry about so long as the new growth looks healthy.

I just got done trimming off some of the older (brown or browning) leaves on my tomatoes yesterday. Part of it was just to tidy up the tomato garden, but I think it might improve air circulation since my plants too are getting awefully tall (but still are producing).

Also-- if our plants are tall but not producing as you think they should be, sounds like N-P-K ratio might be out of balance-- too much nitrogen, not enough phosphorus. I'm not a fan of Miracle Gro but you could try throwing some tomato-specific fertilizer at them if you still have time. What you're looking for is something like 15-30-15. At least something that has this ratio. Bone meal is a good source of organic phosphorus. That alone might promote increased fruiting.

Good luck!

They are still producing some but honestly do not look "healthy". not bushy. :(