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Old October 24, 2017   #1
murihikukid
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Hi...When the plants came into the gardening centre I was rung up with the message " I have put the best Two Tasty Toms aside for you....They are in the office"

So I rushed up and bought both $8 each and transplanted them...Surely nothing could go wrong ??

Well one is growing beautifully while the other ...Well it does not look right in the head area...both have been watered correctly...but I wonder if one has Sun or Heat stroke as one day I recall my Greenhouse was too hot...although both were beside each other....The head leaves to me have turned and are feeling slightly brittle and no buds etc ...
So I would be sincerely grateful if anybody could take a good look at my photos and let me know if they see anything.....To me the plant does not look right in its conformation?
There are 2 photos of the plant in question while the 3rd is the 2nd plant purchased...

I have done nothing to either except I took some laterals off both a few days ago which I hope will grow roots...
Thanks Ron..
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Old October 25, 2017   #2
clkeiper
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the middle picture looks as if it was exposed to 2,4-d. it doesn't have to be sprayed to be exposed either. just smelling the weed killer in the garden center is enough to do this. the volatiles in the air can be high enough concentration imo. I have had the damage in my garden from the neighbors having their lawn sprayed or sprinkled or whatever they were doing. ruined a perfectly fine tomato crop. I sprayed with neem oil once in my greenhouse and that happened too. it was too hot when I sprayed I guess.
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Old October 25, 2017   #3
ginger2778
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Agree,herbicide damage in the 2nd photo. Probably exposed before you ever got it.The center you bought it from should replace it if they do good business practices.
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Old October 25, 2017   #4
Salsacharley
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You say to took off "laterals" hoping to grow roots. I'm not sure what you consider a lateral. Regular leaves will not grow new plants. Only the suckers with growing tips will grow new plants.
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Old October 25, 2017   #5
Nan_PA_6b
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Hi, Ron.

Short answer, that could be tomato leaf curl virus; look up pictures on Google & see what you think.

Longer answer: This past year I had two plants with what looked like herbicide damage (more gnarled growth than the pictures of leaf curl virus), but when I took off the "damaged" parts, the new growth grew in "damaged" looking, too. One of them was in my basement the whole time with no possible herbicides, on a table with a zillion other healthy plants. The second one was a larger plant, outside, next to other plants that weren't growing damaged-looking parts.

The larger one I just kept pulling off the gnarly growth until the new growth eventually grew out right. I probably pulled off about two feet of plant all told. I was desperate to save that big plant, and I did. But if you have what I had, I'd suggest you toss yours unless you need it very badly, as mine made a lot of bad growth before it finally grew right.

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Old October 25, 2017   #6
MissS
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How long have you had these plants and when did you replant them? Also where have the been kept while you have had them?
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Old October 26, 2017   #7
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Herbicide is a clear possibility.
But also, it has been talked already around here, as some of you don't remember, there are very similar symptoms due to incorrect feeding. I could go right now on my balcony and take pictures of some of my tomato tips, while they are still alive, that people would swear are herbicide. But they're not. This is what happens when noobs like me try to go hydro style (so chemicals) but don't understand that closed hydro is very difficult (and almost nobody uses it). Salt buildup, wrong pH, some element unbalance, things like that, hard to say exactly what happened to me (well, all of them, but not sure what exactly is the direct cause).

I would flush the bad plant with rain water well first of all.
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Old October 26, 2017   #8
murihikukid
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Hi all ..First for salsacharley... laterals here in NZ... suckers in the USA..

Thank Goodness for my Diabete test notes that also serve for special Tomato events....hence I found out that the two plants were bought on Sept 4th and looked after inside because of the cold and still likely hood of a late frost ...Both plants were then transplanted into my greenhouse on Sept 24th after a sliding glass door had been fitted and blanket removed ..they have never been shifted.. Now I have found earlier photos ..one taken early on when they were inside and probably not long after being purchased and later when transplanted ...One can see the difference from early on between the two but I just thought it was ?? Just Tomatoes growing at a different rate...... ...There is simply no way it could be a herbicide and if it was surely both plants would have been infected......Both plants have had the exact same food IE Mycorrhizae sprinkled when transplanted and Miracle Gro...
Maybe somebody can spot something in my photos.. ...I did uncurl part of the head today and its a different colour IE lighter green.... Quite Strange ...
I am sending photos to the centre who picked out the best Two Tasty Toms for me ?? and see what they think...Nothing can replace any plant at this stage ...apart from the "mature" plants growing at the growers that I have on order...In the last photo where one can see both plants I feel I can see something strange ..The head just does not look right comparing it to its brother behind it..Or is it sister...Thanks for your comments Regards Ron
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Old October 26, 2017   #9
clkeiper
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Just from experience of being exposed to herbicide drift and the too cold (frost).... toss the plant and start another one. even if you can't get tasty tom....grow a different plant. the plant will just never perform well.
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Old October 26, 2017   #10
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I am concerned that you have more than one issue going on here.

Your first photo shows leaf curling on the new growth of both the main stem and a lateral. It also shows some yellowing that is starting to occur in between the leaf margins on your older uncurled leaves. I am more concerned about the yellowing than your curling. Sometimes when plants have been in cool wet conditions they will curl as yours have. That is not to say that a virus can't be ruled out, but at this point I would wait to see if the plant grows out of it as conditions improve. If the space between the growth nodes becomes erratic, then I would suggest that you have a virus and dispose of the plant. If the nodes appear normal, you can wait it out and growth at sometime will revert back to normal. There are many viruses that can result in a curly top. None which are curable. If you say that these plants have been indoors and have not had a chance to be in a herbicide drift, then that diagnosis can be ruled out. You have been in possession of these plants long enough that this could not have occurred from the garden center where they were purchased. If something happened, it happened while you had them.
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Old October 26, 2017   #11
Cole_Robbie
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I sell a lot of tomato plants. I have hardly ever gotten a return, but if I did, I would replace it immediately. If that wasn't possible, I would do whatever I could to make it right. That's just good business. So your plant vendor may help you out somehow, even if they do not have a similar plant in stock.
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Old October 31, 2017   #12
murihikukid
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
I sell a lot of tomato plants. I have hardly ever gotten a return, but if I did, I would replace it immediately. If that wasn't possible, I would do whatever I could to make it right. That's just good business. So your plant vendor may help you out somehow, even if they do not have a similar plant in stock.

Hi..Well I have just had a reply from the vendor ...bare in mind that she is forming an opinion from photographs.....

I have had a good look at your tomato tasty toms. First of all I think you may have used to much of the miracle gro. No 1 tomato looks like you have taken the centre out of it. That is why it is not growing .

Well I never expected much else....I certainly never used too much MG and I never took the centre of it out....The only thing I did do in my greenhouse that does concern me was I bought an eco friendly spray can of Raid fly/insect killer ...my concern was the number of spiders and cobwebs in my green house and I gave the odd spider a spray and the odd cobweb ( I do not want bumble bees getting caught in spider webs)..this was round the inside of the glass ..I certainly never sprayed in the air everywhere as i was aware of what sprays can do...I carefully targeted each Spider Web.....the tomatoes are in the centre but of course spray is spray and I have no guarantee drift never got on my tomato (s) but why only one and not both...Another lesson learnt...
I certainly will persevere and see what happens ....I removed the laterals before i realised i had a problem but there is a couple of side shoots that may develop....
I often looked at both of my plants and one always just never looked right ...It seemed to be slow in growth and was always smaller than the other.....I will just move on...this Time last year I had a Campari and a Black Cherry inside and they were basicly had it...yet months later after being stretchered out into my greenhouse they were tremendous producers right through to July when the cold finally got them so I very rarely give up ..The laterals i removed I am trying to grow...of course if it is a spray they will be affected like the parent...
Oh re weather...Some time back my initial thought it was "heatstroke" I really noticed the head after a particularly hot day when i failed to open the door for air circulation...til I went into the greenhouse and got a "heat blast"....I now have fans etc going due to the mini heat wave ??

Thanks for the opinions ..Regards Ron

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Old November 1, 2017   #13
Cole_Robbie
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Yeah, that's a ridiculous response. The only way you could have done that with MG would have been to apply it like a paste to that plant top. Too much MG in soil will cause the soil ph to acidify. Then nutrients start getting locked out, and that is generally visible over the entire plant. Some nutrients are non-mobile and the deficiency will begin appearing where the light is strongest, but that's not what I see at all in your pics.

In my area, the marketplace for plant sellers is very competitive. There's a farm store across the street from my market, as well as stores like Wal-Mart and Lowe's. The big stores all offer free replacement on plants, so it is just customary here.
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Old November 1, 2017   #14
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Not to say that too much fertilizer was applied in this case but it is possible to have that effect from too much fert. This year, a friend used soil mix and also added more fertilizer to that mix that was already fertilized. Her plant tops looked just like the curly top plants affected by herbicides. They did grow out of it eventually. Can't remember if she managed to change any of the soil.
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Old November 1, 2017   #15
murihikukid
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Hi...I must take another photo..it is growing but no sign of flowers etc....The one beside it has fruit on it so I really cannot work it out .. although all i can think off is the raid eco Insect spray I used but I never sprayed it around like they used to do on International airplanes as they arrived in new Zealand ...I directed it at a spider if I saw it or at the web....NOW I was told to burn sulpher on a shovel to sterilise ones greenhouse....??? Have you ever heard of that one in America....I was frightened of what it would do.Although I had no plants in the greenhouse there was bags of soil for my new plants when they arrived out there...Everything like growing drums/pots/stakes are put in a big drum of water with bleach in it ..then taken out and left to dry so I am pretty particular with getting everything clean and disease free.....Anyway...From now on I will use a stick to take off any spider web and knock them on the head if they appear ...My frame is of recycled tube steel and they breed inside it....The Bumble Bees are very scarce as it is without getting caught in spider webs....

This situation is a perfect example of why this year I am waiting for the mature tasty toms ..they cost more but I have none of the issues I continually face ....Regards Ron
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