I have been growing tomatoes in pots at North Sydney for the last 10 years. Each year is more problematic and depressing than the previous even though I sterilise pots and use new potting mix each year.
Plants start off very healthy then about the time that fruit set, the plants start yellowing from the bottom and within a few weeks they are history.
This year was interesting in that I placed the pots on a second story balcony well away from previous plantings on the assumption that whatever was killing the plants near the ground may not exist on the balcony. I planted in September, great plants until mid November when they did the same thing - started yellowing from the bottom up and ended up basically dead after a few weeks.
I took one of the plants (Mighty Red) which was dead except for one small leaf about 10mm above ground level. I cut the plant off completely immediately above this leaf and planted it in a new garden bed we have recently created in the area where we had previously used pots.
For a couple of weeks nothing happened then the plant started growing and now in mid March we have just picked 3 large tomatoes off a very healthy (large) plant with another 15 or so tomatoes still on the plant.
I still don't know what causes the problem but the experiment with this 'Lazarus' plant is nothing if not interesting.
17 Mar 19 Gerrard Kavanagh (Australia - temperate climate)
Have harvested lots of good tomatoes including green ones yesterday. Most plants dried and look like they are dying back.
However some appear to have started some healthy looking new growth. Do I pull them all out and get ready for peas or other nitrogen rich crop or see what happens with the new growth?
Yellowing leaves mean it is underfed which happens easier in pots. Feed with lots of compost and dynamic lifter. Use liquid fertiliser as well. A quick acting and compost and dynamic lifter will keep the plants going longer term
Its to hot and humid in Sydney to grow tomatoes well in Dec /Jan
Get your plants going early inside and grow from Aug to Nov then have a break then start again in Feb when temps just drop a little .Cherry tomatoes will do much better .All tomatoes don't like being moved so try and seed them where they will stay and don't water the foliage and smokers shouldn't touch the leaves or the plants at all they hate it.And the ones you neglect and that come up by themselves will always do better than the ones you put your heart into. They also need calcium (egg shells).Dont touch them!
I live on the lower north shore in sydney and every year I plant my tomatoes and they start to flower in abundance as there a no bees here I go around with a small paint brush and try and pollinate them going from flower to flower but being as careful as I can doing this exercise ,I disturb them and they fall off and only a few make it to a tomato stage where am I going wrong a frustrated tomato grower.
To be honest, our water supply is polluted with high concentrations of fluoride. also, persistent con trails being sprayed over the city and coast are detrimental to the the health of the plants. Try using filtered water and keeping them out of the rain.
Hi i have been trying to find out earlyest date i can plant tomatoe seeds in perth western australia would it be after the shortest day of the year? I can bring them up on a window sill if its to cold just wondering about the sun longth.
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