Your comments and tips

06 Jun 10, Ken (Australia - tropical climate)

I have had this problem, and was told it was nematodes. I am now going to grow them in pots, in the dry and see how they go in the wet. I am 220 km down the track from Darwin. Good luck

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23 May 10, (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

@Robert, could the heat at the sunny end of the bed be 'cooking' the young plants? Have you tried shading some of them to see if it makes a difference to survival? Another possibility is some sort of fungus/virus/pest if you've grown tomatoes in the same bed previously. Maybe try a cover crop of some sort to disrupt the pests?

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26 Apr 10, gary (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Leila, as far as I know tomatoes are annuals and should be pulled up in April/May after they finish producing. I've never heard of them growing again from the same plant, but you may get a stack self-seeding if fruit has fallen off.

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24 Apr 10, Leila (Australia - temperate climate)

I have had a few different varieties of tomatoes planted since august 09 and they have all done very well howver I am trying to find out do tomatoe plants only last one season or once they have died around winter time will they come back? My plants are all still green and alive at the moment and producing fruit still as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

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01 Apr 10, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi Anna, If you squash caterpillars on the plant it discourages others from laying eggs there. Put a pot with flowers next to your tomatoes to encourage predators of the caterpillars. Also, I suggest you dig down to see if the soil is too moist towards the bottom of the pot - sometimes tomatoes wilt if their roots are too wet. If so, empty out the water in the 'self watering' and give them a little less water. Do feed the soil with seasol/fish emulsion, or worm wee if you have a worm farm - the nutrients should help make the plant more healthy. And don't worry - it's not you, it's just that tomatoes are notoriously susceptable to diseases and pests.

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31 Mar 10, Anna (Australia - temperate climate)

I'm trying to grow tomatos currently, I planted small Roma plants about a month or so ago (I don't know anything about tomatos) and now I plants about 1m big with around 10 small green tomatos which are being eaten by big green grubs (cabbage moth, I think). The leaves are drying out and falling away and the whole plant seems to be dying. I've got the two plants in 2 large self-waterig pots and I water them every second day. At this stage I'm afraid the plants will die before the tomatos ripen. For the grubs, I sprayed the plants and tomatos with cold coffee - it worked on slugs. My question is: what am I doing wrong?

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31 Mar 10, Joel (Australia - temperate climate)

For years my father has used string instead of stakes to support his tomato plants which seems to work extremely well. If there is anything to tie on to above the plants (such as framing for shade cloth) run a string from near the base of the plant (secured with something like a tent peg) to the overhead tie off point and then as your plant grows simply twist it around the string and this will support the weight of the main stalk

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29 Mar 10, Ian (Australia - temperate climate)

Aster read my posts of March 14th and 27th. I did the same thing as you - cut a dying plant off at the ground and now have had the best crop of large tomatoes ever. Difference is I also transplanted the cutoff plant into a garden bed rather than leave it in a pot. Barb and Pete have suggested the problem was tomato russet mite and I think they are probably correct. Good luck with your new cutoff plants.

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27 Mar 10, Ian (Australia - temperate climate)

A tip regarding staking. Lots of people seem to use strips of material for tieing to stakes or use commercial ties of various types. I find that Chux kitchen wipes (or equivalent). The material that they are made from has a 'grain' in one direction so it is easy to tear off narrow strips by hand. These are very soft but strong so they don't damage the plant at all. The strength is obviously a function of the strip width you tear off but I find strips about 1cm wide are strong enough for standard ties and will last a full season.

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27 Mar 10, Ian (Australia - temperate climate)

An update on my post of 14th May regarding the 'Lazarus' plant. I have now harvested about 14 beautiful tomatoes ranging from 250 to 320 gm and have at least another 12 or so to go. The plant just keeps growing and setting fruit. I think the comments from Barb and Pete regarding my problem being tomato russet mite fit the evidence. Presumably if this was the problem, by cutting the plant to the ground in mid December and replanting I removed the infestation.

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