smaller size tomatoes and yellowing leaves

[amkind2life]

my soil has been treated for its acidity, have added lots of cornmeal
and alfalfa, sprayed with molasses, can't yet find seaweed,
and I have nearly sold my soul to get my tomato plants
to look green and healthy again. No matter what I do, they seem
puny in their leaf color and are still yellowing. I live in the
wonderful hill country where he soil is almost pure sand, no
matter how much organic compost I have added. :cry:
Anyone there that thinks there's some magic for my maters? :wink:

[jmeier]

pots :P

[drchelo]

Dear amkind - what varieties of tomatoes are you planting? There are some varieties that do better in Texas heat than others - the "Merced" and "carnival/Celebrity" are favorites of mine, and they do all right with the heat and humidity here.
I don't know about Hill Country dirt, but native Dallas dirt had me beat - so I built a raised bed. The "raised bed" is actually four recycled-tire boards with sides that fit together and is 3 X 3 by 12" high - and I made my own dirt, using compost, some lava sand, some potting soil, a little bit of Dallas Dirt..stirred it up with some more topsoil...some more compost, and mulched - and this made all the difference. The raised bed I ordered through Gardener's Supply - and you can also get a drip irrigation system to go with - it is so easy that even I was able to put it together in about 15 minutes. That way I could prepare the dirt, just the way I like it - the right pH, enough compost, enough mulch and no nematodes. I am planning to put in another one of these for next season - for peppers, and this fall I am going to try using it for mustard greens and other fall greens..

[amkind2life]

:D Dear doc,
Thanks for the advice. I am very new to all of this, and haven't
a clue what is a recycled tire board. I am interested in your
creative "brown stuff" and your homemade mixture. Perfect
PH huh? Now there's a pretty desirable result, something I
would certainly would love to create, in my garden for sure,
not just for my tomato plants, but for my body as well. I am
quite certain this body would never see any type of disease
nor perhaps age if that perfect PH would remain a constant
and not fluctuate with every thought and little thing I ingest.
Lava sand seems new terminology for my brain. Is this
something found at say Home Depot, or a specialty item?
The types of tomatoes I planted are Celebrity and Early Girl.
Don't have the faintest which is which at this time.
Amkind

[CaptainCompostAL]

Using lots of mature compost is definitely number one for mixing into the soil under tomatoes. This gives the tomatoes lots of micronutrients and humus for beneficial soil microbes to breed in order to build the soil, thus feed the plants.

Also all tomatoes love phosphorus more than nitrogen. Phosphorus helps make better and bigger fruit and seed development. My favorite source of phosphorus is bone meal. My second economical favorite is using any product make from "seeds" like corn meal or old dried beans.

Using seaweed products helps give plants more potassium and about 40-60 other micronutrients. Seaweed is also good for root development and fighting off most plant diseases.

For tomatoes, what seaweed doesn't get, using lots of corn meal and some powdered sulfur gets, when it comes to fighting fungal diseases on tomatoes, especially during heavy rainfall weather.