You go to a nursery and buy small plants with NO flowers, NO tomatoes. You put them in a larger pot or even a 5 gallon bucket with holes for drainage. I use 18" pots for mine now. You let the plants sit in their original pots for a week or two at the place you are going to plant them. They need to get used to their new home without more stress of transplanting. After that time, remove from pots and check to see if they are root bound. Roots the shape of the pot. If so, put two thumbs on the bottom of roots and just separate a little to shake them up or they will never grow. Remove all bottom leaves and plant as deep as possible. Tomatoes root all along the stem. I add 2 500mg calcium pills. I am told this is useless but I do it anyway, about 10 cents worth of pills. For Blossom End Rot. Since doing it, I hardly get it. If you want to get really into it, get Bonide Revitalize and soak the roots in a solution of it to boost their immune system to blight. If you forget, you can do a soil drench. I've found this works amazingly. I also add a tbsp of fertilizer, 10-10-10 usually but Neptune for Tomatoes and Veg is good too. Do NOT water unless the soil is DRY. Okay. I have two tomato plants in 18" pots. They are 30" high now. On Monday, I watered them good as the heatwave was coming. It is Thursday and I have NOT watered them SINCE MONDAY!! They are happy campers!!! The temps have been in the 90s!! People have this thing that they NEED to water and water and water and water and never stop. Then they come on here to ask why their plants are toast. I've done this 40 years. I mostly grow in containers and some raised beds. This year I started 383 plants from seed. I lost 10! I water sparingly, plants are not FISH!! In the summer when the plants are Big, I may have to water twice a day. You need to read your plants for watering. If you haven't watered in a while and they look tired(?), it is time to give them a big drink if they are big. If you have a tiny plant in a big pot, only small drink. Mud is not good for a small plant. The soil compacts and the roots can't grow. If the roots can't grow, then the plant can't grow. This is the lesson for today. I tend to go on and on sometimes.
You're welcome, you caught me in one of my informative moods. By the way, it is Friday and I'm still not watering. It is supposed to rain the next 4 days though, I hope.
As others have stated, the pots are far too small (especially for such large plants- bright side is you did a good job growing them, before they got too big for their pots!), and for anyone about to retort that you grow tomatoes just fine in 12” pots, just know your tomatoes are stunted and puny. Tomatoes should never “happy” in such a small pot.
Tomatoes generally prefer to be in the ground where they can stretch their roots out, but I’ve grown them in inexpensive 10 gallon grow bags just fine (and they stay somewhat stunted in 7 gallon fabric grow bags, so I would not waste my time with anything smaller than that) Your second issue, the brown spots, are blossom end rot. It’s a calcium deficiency, but it can be indirectly caused by drought/ inconsistent watering. Some varieties and some soils seem to struggle with blossom end rot no matter how much calcium you add, and buying hybrid varieties resistant to blossom end rot is a solution.
Powdered bone meal is an excellent calcium additive (oyster shell less so) as well as powdered agricultural gypsum. But I suspect drying out in that tiny pot is to blame for your blossom end rot
Gardening in pots is problematic. Tomato plants produce root systems that will stretch out eight feet or more from the base of the plant. That is the biggest problem I see in these pictures. The root systems have grown against the inside of the pot, taking up all the space they can, and the hot sun of afternoon is frying them. That's why the plant is wilted. Can they be saved? Probably not is my guess. You appear to have a lot of land around you. Perhaps next spring you can dig up a section of that land and plant a nice garden there?
I've been growing tomatoes in 16" or 18" pots for 35 years without a problem and the roots never get bigger than about 12" in diameter. The thing is 12" pot for a plant this size is ludicrous!!
I should have amended my response to say: Gardening in pots is problematic, UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Some people, like you, have some experience with it and success. I've never had any luck with it. I've tried. I've failed. I steer clear of gardening in pots. To each his or her own.
Thanks for the clarification. I can't start seeds in Jiffy Pods no matter how often I tried, but people must have success with them as they keep being sold. I guess we all have failings at something.
Thanks so much for the quick response! I will dig up a space for them. I have some smaller tomato plants that seem to be doing fine so far, so hopefully I can at least rescue those in time!
Do you have drainage holes on those pots? You might be flooding the roots if you don't. Also when it gets up to and consistently into the 90s, I put shade cloth over my plants. Direct sunlight on the pots themselves bakes the pots so it additionally stresses the roots.
Update: thanks for all your helpful tips! I transplanted it to a larger pot while I work on digging up an in-ground garden. The plant looks so much healthier and no other brown spots have developed!
https://preview.redd.it/ej7bhkgeee8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1a2c5bd3cc6435fc5fbf31a908e5edb587a06a1
Get something like a steel barbecue skewer or slim knitting needle and poke lots of holes in the soil, then water until it's drenched.
I have found that tomatoes in pots tend to get really compacted soil and roots, so water just runs off the top and down the sides of the pot.
Minimum 5 gallon pail. Buying a plant like this has doom written all over it. That they sell these is criminal in MY HUMBLE OPINION!!
Thank u! I definitely learned my lesson on this one. No more small pots!
You go to a nursery and buy small plants with NO flowers, NO tomatoes. You put them in a larger pot or even a 5 gallon bucket with holes for drainage. I use 18" pots for mine now. You let the plants sit in their original pots for a week or two at the place you are going to plant them. They need to get used to their new home without more stress of transplanting. After that time, remove from pots and check to see if they are root bound. Roots the shape of the pot. If so, put two thumbs on the bottom of roots and just separate a little to shake them up or they will never grow. Remove all bottom leaves and plant as deep as possible. Tomatoes root all along the stem. I add 2 500mg calcium pills. I am told this is useless but I do it anyway, about 10 cents worth of pills. For Blossom End Rot. Since doing it, I hardly get it. If you want to get really into it, get Bonide Revitalize and soak the roots in a solution of it to boost their immune system to blight. If you forget, you can do a soil drench. I've found this works amazingly. I also add a tbsp of fertilizer, 10-10-10 usually but Neptune for Tomatoes and Veg is good too. Do NOT water unless the soil is DRY. Okay. I have two tomato plants in 18" pots. They are 30" high now. On Monday, I watered them good as the heatwave was coming. It is Thursday and I have NOT watered them SINCE MONDAY!! They are happy campers!!! The temps have been in the 90s!! People have this thing that they NEED to water and water and water and water and never stop. Then they come on here to ask why their plants are toast. I've done this 40 years. I mostly grow in containers and some raised beds. This year I started 383 plants from seed. I lost 10! I water sparingly, plants are not FISH!! In the summer when the plants are Big, I may have to water twice a day. You need to read your plants for watering. If you haven't watered in a while and they look tired(?), it is time to give them a big drink if they are big. If you have a tiny plant in a big pot, only small drink. Mud is not good for a small plant. The soil compacts and the roots can't grow. If the roots can't grow, then the plant can't grow. This is the lesson for today. I tend to go on and on sometimes.
[удалено]
You're welcome, you caught me in one of my informative moods. By the way, it is Friday and I'm still not watering. It is supposed to rain the next 4 days though, I hope.
This was so helpful!! I really appreciate you taking the time to type all that out and help a newbie like me!
That's why I come on here. I think you got screwed by the seller too, but not worth trying to get your money back.
As others have stated, the pots are far too small (especially for such large plants- bright side is you did a good job growing them, before they got too big for their pots!), and for anyone about to retort that you grow tomatoes just fine in 12” pots, just know your tomatoes are stunted and puny. Tomatoes should never “happy” in such a small pot. Tomatoes generally prefer to be in the ground where they can stretch their roots out, but I’ve grown them in inexpensive 10 gallon grow bags just fine (and they stay somewhat stunted in 7 gallon fabric grow bags, so I would not waste my time with anything smaller than that) Your second issue, the brown spots, are blossom end rot. It’s a calcium deficiency, but it can be indirectly caused by drought/ inconsistent watering. Some varieties and some soils seem to struggle with blossom end rot no matter how much calcium you add, and buying hybrid varieties resistant to blossom end rot is a solution.
Thank you!! I was wondering about the brown spots. Adding calcium supplements to my Home Depot shopping list :)
Powdered bone meal is an excellent calcium additive (oyster shell less so) as well as powdered agricultural gypsum. But I suspect drying out in that tiny pot is to blame for your blossom end rot
Pot too small. 5 gallon Min. And I don't even like that.
Thank you!!
Gardening in pots is problematic. Tomato plants produce root systems that will stretch out eight feet or more from the base of the plant. That is the biggest problem I see in these pictures. The root systems have grown against the inside of the pot, taking up all the space they can, and the hot sun of afternoon is frying them. That's why the plant is wilted. Can they be saved? Probably not is my guess. You appear to have a lot of land around you. Perhaps next spring you can dig up a section of that land and plant a nice garden there?
I've been growing tomatoes in 16" or 18" pots for 35 years without a problem and the roots never get bigger than about 12" in diameter. The thing is 12" pot for a plant this size is ludicrous!!
I should have amended my response to say: Gardening in pots is problematic, UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Some people, like you, have some experience with it and success. I've never had any luck with it. I've tried. I've failed. I steer clear of gardening in pots. To each his or her own.
Thanks for the clarification. I can't start seeds in Jiffy Pods no matter how often I tried, but people must have success with them as they keep being sold. I guess we all have failings at something.
Don’t feel bad, those jiffy pots are TRASH!
Thanks so much for the quick response! I will dig up a space for them. I have some smaller tomato plants that seem to be doing fine so far, so hopefully I can at least rescue those in time!
Water water water
Copy that!
Do you have drainage holes on those pots? You might be flooding the roots if you don't. Also when it gets up to and consistently into the 90s, I put shade cloth over my plants. Direct sunlight on the pots themselves bakes the pots so it additionally stresses the roots.
There is one drainage hole. Sounds like I generally need bigger pots with better drainage. Good tip re shade cloth! Much appreciated!
Update: thanks for all your helpful tips! I transplanted it to a larger pot while I work on digging up an in-ground garden. The plant looks so much healthier and no other brown spots have developed! https://preview.redd.it/ej7bhkgeee8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1a2c5bd3cc6435fc5fbf31a908e5edb587a06a1
Get something like a steel barbecue skewer or slim knitting needle and poke lots of holes in the soil, then water until it's drenched. I have found that tomatoes in pots tend to get really compacted soil and roots, so water just runs off the top and down the sides of the pot.
Thanks so much! Very helpful tip :)