One Hundred Dollars a Month

I have the most amazing readers, and most of the time, it is me learning from you, but every once in awhile, someone sends in a question that I think, “Hey, I bet lots of people would love to know the answer to that.”  So, I am going to try to feature some of your questions and answer them, the best I can.

Shell writes:

Hey Mavis, my tomatoes have yellowing on the leaves…is that a nutrient deficiency? I planted them with egg shells for the calcium. What is also good for them? No bugs, slugs, or other creepy crawlies on them either…I’ve been watching closely.

Good question Shell.  Unfortunately, the answer isn’t super straight-forward.  There could be a couple of different things going on, so you may have to read through these and see if any apply.

Right off the bat, I would want to know the climate in your area when you planted them.  If you plant tomatoes too early, the cold soil and weather will sometimes cause a shock that causes their leaves to yellow.  You could try to use a plastic mulch or black paper to warm the soil the best you can.

Next, if the temperature isn’t the issue.  I would check your soil for two things:  nutrients and pH level.  Check the pH level first.  Tomatoes like a pH level between 5.5-7.5, depending on the variety.  The reason I would check it first is that there is no reason to fertilize if the issue is the soil pH.  You can raise or lower your pH using sulfur {to lower pH} or lime {to raise pH}.  If you are good there, you may need to find an organic fertilizer or high quality compost that will add nitrogen into the soil.

Let’s see, what else?  Are the plants getting enough sunshine.  If just the lower leaves are turning yellow, the top might be shading the plant from getting enough sun.  You can try trimming back some of the top leaves–if your plant is big enough.  {Also, I am assuming you are watering enough, but not so much your tomatoes are constantly sitting in water?}

Finally, if none of those seem to be the issue, you could have a fungal or bacterial issue.  There is a whole host of tomato diseases that each require different types of action, so you may want to take a couple of the leaves to the local nursery and get their opinion if you think a disease or fungus is the problem.

Those are pretty much all of the basic problems that come to mind.  Let me know if any of these help.

Happy Gardening,

~Mavis

The New York Times 1000 Gardening Questions and Answers: Based on the New York Times Column Garden Q & A is awesome. I own it, and it’s pretty darn awesome.