Tomato heat stroke

[xpc]

I rescued the last 2 small tomato plant seedlings that walmart had about 6 weeks ago, they were sad sacks and only paid $1 for the 4" wilted girls. I nursed them back to life with miracle gro and are now getting fairly large (24") and now has a few tiny flowers, I even had to put the "wire basket" around them.

The high heat we have been having lately has been wilting them and causing the lower leafs to shrivel. They are out of the direct sun and water correctly to where the soil is only moist as they are in a 5 gallon bucket.

Any suggestions?

 

[~gd]

I rescued the last 2 small tomato plant seedlings that walmart had about 6 weeks ago, they were sad sacks and only paid $1 for the 4" wilted girls. I nursed them back to life with miracle gro and are now getting fairly large (24") and now has a few tiny flowers, I even had to put the "wire basket" around them.

The high heat we have been having lately has been wilting them and causing the lower leafs to shrivel. They are out of the direct sun and water correctly to where the soil is only moist as they are in a 5 gallon bucket.

Any suggestions?

Bury the buckets in the ground to keep the roots and lower leaves cooler? This is a guess, not even an opinion.BTW the blooms will not set fruit if the night temperature is too hot.

 

[reinbeau]

They need sun, don't keep them out of direct sunlight. Too much water and too little sun isn't any good for them. Those lower leaves may be reacting to the change in conditions, you can pull them off if you want.

Do shade the buckets, or as GD suggested, bury the pots. Stop with the miracle grow, that will promote leaves instead of flowers. The flowers that are on there now will set fruit only when the temperatures are below 90. If you're suffering with the heat wave many of us have been enjoying (not!!) things will get better once it cools down.

 

[xpc]

~gd,
As You may know sometimes being too smart for your own good can backfire as I never thought about the ground being a heatsink for summer too. I did not plant a garden this year because of getting the yard ready for a "curb appeal" sale.

My dirt is super hard compressed clay which did seem to suit the tomatoes the last 2 years (freezer full) but didn't want to bury this year and may have to reconsider. I guess I could sweat that out for a hundred dollars in fruit.

reinbeau,
The area where it is now is perfect in as it gets both sun and shade by just sliding it from under the oak tree, I have been pinching off the flowers and wilted leaves as I believe it is too young for that kind of tom foolery.

 

[Farmfresh]

Sun drenched top halves and cool moist roots is what a tomato loves best. Don't get any water on the leaves and mulch the dirt (even in a pot) to help conserve moisture and keep the roots cool. You can prune all of the leaves below the first flower bud. And I would stop picking off the flowers. It is amazing how fast they can make tomatoes this time of the year. I have one in a pot on my porch that is probably 20 inches tall and already it has a nice sized green tomato on it and more little ones just starting out.

 

[xpc]

Damn ~gd and his old world alchemy ways, I just spent an hour at 11pm in 80F & 80% humidity trying to dig a 18" hole, 12 is all I got in this hard root infested clay that besides my backyard only found under the base of Mount Everest.

I transplanted the girls anyways, only time will till now and as mentioned before by the city biddy we don't cool off much at night anymore 75-80 at coolest. Only the love for overpriced red bulbous succulent fleshy fruit drives me to task as I gobble them like forbidden apples.

 

[~gd]

Damn ~gd and his old world alchemy ways, I just spent an hour at 11pm in 80F & 80% humidity trying to dig a 18" hole, 12 is all I got in this hard root infested clay that besides my backyard only found under the base of Mount Everest.

I transplanted the girls anyways, only time will till now and as mentioned before by the city biddy we don't cool off much at night anymore 75-80 at coolest. Only the love for overpriced red bulbous succulent fleshy fruit drives me to task as I gobble them like forbidden apples.

Yep blame me because I don't know your soil! I live on red clay which is well used for Commercial Brickmaking. I predig a few holes during cool weather when the correct soil moisture allows. Mostly these are for final resting places for varmits although I have switched to bird feeding on a larger scale and let the buzzards feast on them now. (Is that PC for Ecology? who cares I just love to see those huge wings up close and it keeps them from being road kill as they try to feed on road kill)
Back to the main subject, Since my clay is as bad as your clay, I usually bury my 5 gallon pails (with plants) in straw or moldy hay. With our weather there is always moldy hay that people want to get rid of. After a few years use it makes nice soil to fill new buckets. The idea remains the same cool the roots and the lower part of the plant and to hold moisture to deliver to the holes drilled in the bottom of the buckets. Too much water at the wrong time will cause the tomatoes to split, they thrive on steady moisture. ~gd

 

[xpc]

~gd I was making light of your chemical background and age, your info seems good and will follow as I just did by "making a hole and making wide"

I don't care much for PC and only do this to save "me" money and not for nothing else. My children will have to figure it out along with the Chinese as they have perfected sticky rice, in a few years the butterboys will have it beat - I don't put much credence in Africa helping a lot as they still live in mud huts, in a nice ebola way (the 200,000 year head start didn't seem to help either).

 

[kcsunshine]