Tom's Yellow Wonder-need help.

[michael johnson]

I am growing this tomato for the first time this year from seeds via Tom.

Everything started out ok and the plant was robust and easily equal to all the others and growing fine- until I planted them out, all the other plants are doing fine and growing nicely and are well established,as is also the TYW plants- but for some reason or another all the main leaves up the stems are turning yellow except for the top foot or so which is still green and normal.

I tried a mix of seaweed and micro nutriants trace elements etc, but no change so far, I cant for the life of me see any cause for this, especialy since plants either side of them are doing so well.

Is it normal for this plant to have these yellow lower leaves three quarters of the way up the stem, the strange thing is that the leaves in question look fairly normal otherwise- other than the fact that they are yellow- no green veins, no brown patches etc, I am truly mystified.

[elkwc36]

Michael likewise my seeds are from Tom and so far I haven't seen any of these signs and mine have been looking great. Just had a couple of days of high winds and haven't done a detailed going over but will and report back if I notice anything. Jay

[Tomstrees]

Michael Johnson ? You screwed up ~ lol ~ I'm just kidding.

Seriously, out of all the plants in my garden over the years this plant has been the only 1one to out-battle the rest when "problems" arise.

Could you post pictures ?

Mine is doing great and other here and else where have fruitset already.
Lemme know how it grows ...

~ Tom

[Tomstrees]

MJ ,

Here is a picture of mine from today:



~ Tom

[amideutch]

Michael, maybe one of the local dogs mistook it for a fire hydrant. Ami

[michael johnson]

Very funny Ami, lol, but seriously though, I just cant understand it at all, and I was really looking forward to this plant producing though, the really daft thing is that the top foot or so of the plant has nice green leaves which look perfectly healthy,

But on closer inspection the yellow bottom ones are definatly wilting and withering lower down, its the strangest thing I have ever seen, and I am fighting it and pulling out all the stops to try and stop it, it looks so odd in a row of perfectly green leafed tomatoes this one has yellow withering leaves up three quarters of the stem,-it only seemed to happen after I planted them out- it might have been the excessive rain followed by a few cold spells that did it, or it might be a root damage problem- although having said that -it came out of the pot ok full of healthy roots when I planted it out,

I am not too worried though as I still have some seeds left for more plants next season- but rather a little peed off because it happened at all. its really got me wondering on this one -not quite beaten yet- but struggling- I might do something drastic if all else fails and cut off the top foot and re-root it hoping the problem dosn't follow on.

[michael johnson]

I have been having a bit of a think about it, and thinking back to the day I planted them out -I seem to remember that on tom's yellow wonder -that as I was turning it upside down to extract it from the pot as the plant was top heavy by then, the whole plant bent down at an angle and buckled the stem a little near the base, I bet that is what it is- it broke lots of the fibres in the mainstem and it got at the main leaves before it had a chance to repair the stem damage.

Therefore I might build up a little heap of earth around the base of the stem hoping it puts out water roots to compensate before taking off again- darned funny blighters these tomato plants-takes some fathoming out sometimes.

[amideutch]

Michael, give it time, it will bounce back. Don't need the paramedics yet. Ami

[bigcheef]

The lower leaves are not supposed to be yellow???

I thought that was why they called it “Tom’s Yellow Wonder”.


Seriously though, I suspect you may have some environmental factor causing the discoloration of the leaves. Almost all of my plants lower leaves turned yellow and fell off last year. The remaining majority of each plant was healthy and never skipped a beat with regard to production or vigor.

Hopefully this will not happen to you Michael, but just wanted to relate a similar situation.

Good luck, and here’s a pic of one of 2 TYW’s I have growing:




RIK

[Ruth_10]

Originally Posted by Tomstrees

MJ ,

Here is a picture of mine from today:



~ Tom

OMG, TYW is a zinnia! Who knew? All this time I thought it was tomato.

Nice looking plant, Tom.

[Tomstrees]

Thanks Ruth ~ lol ~ I came home from work the other day and the Mrs. bought some plants to make the garden "look pretty" ~ lol ...
So in went some flowers for "color" (for now, lol).

MJ -
Maybe take a sucker cutting (if all else fails) and give that a try.
Really though, its ususally a strong healthy plant. Do try to "keep up with it" ~

Tom

[michael johnson]

Thanks tom- I think I now know what is wrong with it- I am pretty sure I broke some fibres in the main stem when it keeled over from the weight of the top as I was trying to get the pot off the roots ready for planting it out, and I bet those fibres were were just the ones that carry the water and feed up the stem, as it buckled right over at the time- but I straightened it up and planted it and tied it up firmly to the stake, but I am afraid the damage had already been done, I shall just have to live in hope that it will repair itself in time,just like a graft, -but the weather has been cold of late so it very slow.

[michael johnson]

A few more days have passed since I last posted on this post, and I am rather happy to report that the TYW has now started to pick up and grow again , I removed all the yellowing leaves from the bottom to half way up the plant fed it with plenty of trace elements in a seaweed solution and a little fish emulsion and the blighter started to grow again and looks in good health now,-well I am blowed

[Tomstrees]

Great news MJ !
Glad its perking up for you. Is there anyway you could post pics of it ?

~ Tom

[keithaxis]

Can someone lead me to the thread that is for Tom's Yellow wonder? There was a thread last year when seeds were being passed around and we were to post info/pics in that thread, but I have searched and searched and only find this thread about tom's yellow wonder...

Thanks,

Keith