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PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2005 11:55 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2003 8:59 am
Posts: 20
Location: Joshua,TEXAS
What can I do about this. Ir is almost like someone put a string around th eleaves and tied it tight to cut off theor food supply. It did not happen until we got hail damage to the plants. Whaat can i do to get rid of this problem? :cry: :arrow:


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 Post subject: Wilty tomato plants
PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2005 10:59 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 21, 2003 5:33 pm
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Location: Dallas,TX
Sounds like mid-summer wilt but it's awfully early. Try a good folar feed of seaweed & garlic and most definitely cornmeal at the base. My rule of thumb is a cup of cornmeal per 1 foot in height of the plant and it's rare that I use more than 2 cups. Do it right away because the quicker you do the quicker you'll get positive results. I always plant my tomatoes with cornmeal and I don't get this problem anymore.

Kathe :D


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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2005 1:45 pm 
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Location: Dallas,TEXAS
how often and for how long do you water?

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Texas Certified Nursery Professional
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2005 6:40 pm 
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Location: Joshua,TEXAS
sandih wrote:
how often and for how long do you water?


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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2005 9:04 pm 
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Location: parker county, texas
Sounds to me like possibly early blight. I use cornmeal tea sprayed one or two times weekly and it has worked very well for the past three years.


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 Post subject: Watering
PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2005 10:02 pm 
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Location: Dallas,TX
Usually I water twice a week for 45 minutes, every 3 or 4 days, and that changes if it rains. Once they are well established (mid-June) I usually stick to once a week for a solid hour and a half.

Yeah, it was blight I mean, not wilt. Cornmeal defeats it every time. Like I said, I put the cornmeal in the soil when I plant and I don't need foliar application of anything but normal compost tea & seaweed or Garret Juice.

Kathe :D


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2005 6:31 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2003 8:59 am
Posts: 20
Location: Joshua,TEXAS
I planted 4 plants in a sweetfeed black barrell. it is about 26 inches across and 18 to 20 inches deep. I filled it full of miracle grow potting soil. The plants were about a foot tall in march when we got a bit of show at joshua. as soon as I ealized it was snowiung I covered the plants with a thick black plastic bag and they lived. they are blooming and about 4 feet tall now. Yesterday i put cornmeal around them in the pot. The plants are in full sun on my patio. would too much heat cause the bottom leaves to turn brown. where do i find seaweed? I appreciate all the replys. two of thew plantts are the grape tomatoes and I really did want them to grow.


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 Post subject: Black Tub
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2005 5:53 am 
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Location: Hubbard,TEXAS
Did you drill a hole in the bottom of your tub?

Pat Akin


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:03 pm 
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Location: parker county, texas
I tried cornmeal as a soil additive for the past couple of years to no avail. I have had great results spraying with cornmeal tea for the past three years. I get seaweed spray from a local feed and seed, but I would imagine most any organic nursery carries it.


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 Post subject: Seaweed for Joshua
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2005 11:12 pm 
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Location: Dallas,TX
Hey, I say as long as it's organic - whatever works best for you!
Ooh, try to stay away from the miracle grow potting soil from now on. That high nitrogen can cause you problems later on. Cornmeal just has the most positive effect on vegetables and herbs, ornamentals too. I'll never plant anything without it ever again.

If you are in Joshua, you can find seaweed at the Old Blue House at 807 Henderson in downtown Cleburne, 817-641-9933. It's a cool place, so give yourself some time to look around and talk to the owner, Shari Chastain. She serves all natural/organic foods too so if you're lucky and go early you can have a really delicous lunch there too. She's also got a great selection of plants so if you need anything get them while you're there. Tell Shari I sent you!

Growing potted tomatoes, I always had the best luck if they got sun all morning and shade after 1:00 p.m. or so. It gives them plenty of photosynthesis time but they don't burn up so badly in the hottest of the summer. Keeping the soil from getting too hot for the roots in mid summer is your biggest problem. I had a friend who grew them in styrofoam coolers in west Texas - effective she said because they kept the roots cool! I don't feel so good about the styrofoam part, but she had a point.

I hope your grape tomatoes grow tall and fruitful. I had an excellent plant with bountiful production last year, and my family were always begging for me to bring them a basket. So this year I put in two plants and my brother in law got one for his birthday! 8) :lol:

Happy gardening!
Kathe


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:54 pm 
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Location: Joshua,TEXAS
I drilled holes all around the bottom about an inch from the bottom and 6 to 8 onches apart. I have put the cornmeal in the soil and a calcium soak but the leaves are wtill turning brown. I think this pot of plants is going to be a loss. I will try different next year.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:25 pm 
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Location: parker county, texas
Please try the cornmeal tea before you give up. It will take a couple of weeks for your plants to recover, but honestly, I have had excellent results using a foliar spray for the past three years. Before I started using this method, I lost about half my plants to early blight. Last year, I didn't lose any. I saw some signs of it again about three weeks ago. I started spraying weekly, and all look good now. You can't reverse the leaves that have already turned, but maybe your plants can survive the disease and continue to grow and produce. I add about a cup or two or cornmeal to a gallon of water and let it sit for a day or two, then strain that into a 2 gallon sprayer, add another gallon of water, and spray early in the morning or late in the evening.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:31 pm 
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Location: parker county, texas
I also meant to add something else. It sounds like you have too many plants in that pot. I would only plant one in that size, two maximum. Remove the two or three unhealthiest plants.


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 Post subject: Problems, problems...
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 1:03 pm 
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Location: Dallas,TX
BINGO dragonfly. I think you have focused on her biggest problem. That's way too many plants in such a small container. I didn't catch that until you focused on it. I agree one plant would be plenty for a container that size.

Between the crowding and the miracle grow synthetic nitrogen start...well, it's a setup for problems, I'm afraid. As a last try, take out all but the one plant you really want, mix some compost into the soil and use cornmeal or cornmeal soaked juice as either is effective.

Otherwise, you're right to start again...next time use natural or organic potting soil with no miracle gro, mix in some cornmeal (one handful is plenty for a pot that size), water it in & spray it with seaweed, and give it a little handful of organic fertilizer once or twice over a four month period. You will have one really healthy, robustly producing plant that will give you as many or more tomatoes as four sickly ones. Plus you won't have the frustration or heartache you got with this bunch. It's all in the learning curve.
Kathe :D


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 9:12 pm 
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Location: parker county, texas
It took me many years to learn about tomato overcrowding. I kept thinking that planting two plants per cage, with cages spaced three feet apart would produce more tomatoes. I finally, quite by accident after losing plants to late frosts, ended up with one plant per space, and lo and behold, the production from one plant was more than I had ever had from two plants spaced closely sharing a cage. Surprised the heck out of me, and made me feel really stupid, lol. Anyway, that's the only way I plant tomatoes now. They get lots of space and do much better, both healthwise and productivity-wise.


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