Often, gardeners when growing tomatoes notice that something is wrong with the plants: either the leaves have changed color, then strange fruits have appeared on the fruits. What do tomatoes lack? What's happening? What are tomato leaves talking about? Is it possible to determine from them what tomatoes are missing? Why did the leaves change color or shape? What are the signs of micronutrient deficiency, deficiency of certain fertilizers in the soil? Is it a disease or not? Can I help the tomatoes? Need to understand. After all, inexperience can harm plants. Judging by the forums, even experienced gardeners have difficulty determining what tomatoes are missing.
For a long time you could familiarize yourself with the material published below on another page of our site - Tomato Diseases - description, symptoms, photo. Material and photographs were added, the volume of the article grew and it became increasingly difficult to open it to many users. Therefore, I had to create a separate page. Moreover, the title of that article did not quite fit this part of the material. After all, it was not about tomato diseases, but about signs of a lack of certain nutrients to our plants, about growing and care errors that can be either prevented or corrected if certain measures are taken in time.
What tomatoes are missing or signs of a lack of essential nutrients in leaves and fruits
If your tomatoes grow with any deviations from the norm, then not a disease can be the cause, but a lack of some nutrients.
First of all, you need to see in which part of the plant the problem is - at the top of the bush, on young leaves, or below, on the old.
If the problem begins with lower leaves, then most likely this is a shortage of the following nutrients.
Nitrogen is one of the main elements necessary for the growth of tomatoes. He is responsible for both the leaves and the fruits, too. With its shortage, everything becomes shallow: young leaves on the top of the bush become smaller. But nitrogen deficiency can also be determined by such signs: the old lower leaves begin to turn yellow, starting from the tip, and die off.
But nitrogen can be harmful when its excess. At the same time, tomatoes can simply “gobble up” - the leaves will become huge, greasy, the stems will be thick, and there will be few fruits or they may not be tied at all.
Phosphorus - is responsible for providing the plant with energy, for the development of the root system, resistance to cold, mechanical damage.
Potassium is an element of cell youth. It increases resistance to diseases, frosts, droughts, makes plants stronger, stronger, improves the quality of fruits.
Zinc - is responsible for phosphorus metabolism, the synthesis of vitamins. With a deficiency of zinc, spraying with a solution of zinc sulfate will help.
Magnesium - increases the intensity of photosynthesis, the formation of chlorophyll, is necessary throughout the entire growing season. Recommendations: foliar top dressing (spraying) with 0.5-1% magnesium sulfate solution. But it is also possible that there is enough magnesium in the soil, just something prevents the plant from assimilating it in full. This may be a violation of the acidity of the soil, low air temperature or a weak root system. Consider all these nuances when making a decision about feeding. Excess dressing can only do harm. It may happen that the temperature rises and the signs of magnesium starvation disappear. And one more nuance - signs of a lack of magnesium always appear on the lower and middle tiers of a tomato bush.
Molybdenum - regulates almost all metabolic processes - phosphorus, nitrogen, the formation of chlorophyll, the process of nitrogen fixation from the air.
Now let's see what our tomatoes may miss if the problems started from the top of the bush, that is, from the young upper leaves.
Calcium - its deficiency can provoke the development of apical rot. It also stimulates the development of the whole plant, its root system.
In the photo below, fruits with traces of sunburn. But experts believe that an acute calcium deficiency can also manifest itself in fruits. Each gardener knows better under what conditions his tomatoes were grown. If there was a strong sun after a relatively cloudy weather, then the reason is a sunburn, and if the tomatoes took on this form under normal temperature conditions, they should be fed with calcium. Although the tomatoes that we see in the photo can no longer be helped.
Boron - this element is responsible for pollination, fertilization, it also participates in carbohydrate, protein metabolism, and increases resistance to diseases.
Sulfur - is the building stone for protein, part of proteins, is one of the starting products for the biosynthesis of amino acids. With its lack, the stems become thin, fragile, stiff.
Iron - its lack is not very common, mainly where the lime was transferred. But, nevertheless, iron is one of the main nutrients of tomatoes. Its deficiency is manifested in leaf chlorosis. They become a lighter, yellowish hue. It is necessary to carry out treatment with iron-containing complex preparations.
Chlorine - its deficiency is also rare, but, nevertheless, can lead to wilting of young leaves.
Manganese - participates in photosynthesis, carbohydrate, protein metabolism, activates enzymes. Its flaw can often be confused with a viral mosaic.
Why are the leaves curled on tomatoes
On tomato bushes, we may encounter a simple curl of leaves.
But this has nothing to do with tomato diseases, or the lack of any nutritional elements. The thing is the large difference in night-day temperatures, as well as the fact that we too abruptly removed a large number of stepsons and lower leaves. Another reason - most often this comes from the heat. With a sharp increase or, conversely, a decrease in air temperature, plants experience stress.
Of the recommendations - treatment with antistress drugs. There are a lot of them on sale now. For example, HB-101, Novosil, Ekosil, Silk, Ecoberin, etc.
Because of which tomato leaves turn yellow
On tomatoes, leaves began to turn yellow in abundance. But somehow strange, uneven. First, from the middle, then yellowness covered the entire leaf plate, and those that immediately turned yellow without transitions came across. What is this happening for?
If the leaves began to turn yellow in the middle, this is a signal that the plant needs to be fertilized with any potash fertilizer. You can apply, for example, ash. Take 1 cup of ash, dilute in 10 liters of water, pour immediately under the root of 0.5 liters. Also, yellowing of tomato leaves can occur due to leaf aging, they just need to be regularly removed from the bush.
Two photos below: the plants look like this two to three weeks after planting in open ground or a greenhouse, if the soil in the root zone contains an increased concentration of salts.
Specific tomatoes were planted in the soil generously fertilized with cow dung, and it just contains a lot of sodium and potassium salts. Expert advice: the soil should not be oversaturated with organic matter, and if this happened, then you should water the plants more often and in small doses to wash excess salts from the soil. Over time, these spotted leaves will dry out, fall away, but new ones will grow without signs of a glut.
Vertex rot
Black spots on tomatoes, what is it? Vertex rot is a disease that affects only the fruits of tomatoes, on which black spots appear on the top from below. This is not even a disease, but physiological disturbances in the development of the plant. Most often caused by irregular watering.
Vertex rot can appear on the fruit with insufficient calcium intake, when the fruit is just starting to grow. But this does not mean that there is little calcium in the soil. At high temperatures, calcium simply cannot be absorbed by tomatoes. Therefore, if tomatoes grow in a greenhouse, you should monitor the microclimate, often ventilate.
Vertex rot can also occur when there is a lack of moisture or an excess of nitrogen. You may have overfed the plants, for example, with liquid manure.
In that case, if the microclimate in the greenhouse is normal, and fruits with signs of vertebral rot damage appear, then you can feed the plants with calcium.
Egg shells (crushed), ash, dolomite flour - the main element of calcium. You can add any of them when planting seedlings. Please note that this method will only work as a preventative measure. When signs of damage appear, this method will not work.
A mixture of onion husks and eggshells also helps protect tomatoes from vertebral rot. But this is also like prevention. If there are already damaged fruits, then this method will not help. In the spring, pour a handful of the crushed shell-husk mixture into the planting holes of tomatoes and pepper.
The best way to add the necessary dose of calcium so that it is quickly absorbed is to spray it with a solution of calcium nitrate (0.5-1%). The main thing is to process the smallest fruits, even if they are the size of a pea, so spray the tops. Remove the affected fruits; they cannot be saved.
Regular watering, calcium nitrate under the root, calcium nitrate or Brexil Ca (Brexil Ca) on a leaf - your tomatoes will never show signs of vertex rot.
Cracking tomato fruit
Cracking fruit is not a disease, but a consequence of improper care.
This usually happens with uneven irrigation, with sharp transitions from dry to wet soil and vice versa.
But, if you notice such cracks on the fruits (see photo below), then the reason for their appearance is completely different. Such cracks on tomatoes are popularly called "mother-in-law's smile" or "cat's face". the cause of their appearance is an overdose of nitrogen or the improper use of pollination stimulants.
A yellow or green spot at the stalk
Why don't tomatoes blush at the stalk? Very often this phenomenon is a varietal feature. But sometimes it manifests itself on the fruits of those varieties and hybrids that in past years did not show such signs.
Below are two photos. The first is a green spot at the stalk — a feature of the variety, the so-called greenback — fruits with a green spot at the stalk. They are characterized by uneven staining. By the way, there is an opinion that tomato varieties containing high sugar content often have this feature.
In the second photo, the fruits of the variety Cio-Cio-San. Here we are not talking about varietal features. The high air temperature in the summer disrupted the formation of lycopene, so the process of carotene formation arose. Therefore, this is not a disease; the variety has nothing to do with it either. This is the action of heat during the ripening of fruits. The pigment (red color of the fruit) burned out from high temperature. This phenomenon can only be avoided by shading the plants from the sun.
These fruits (in the last two photos) can no longer be helped, and the future harvest can still be saved - pull a shading net or fabric.
Silver spots on tomato leaves
Recently, the questions of gardeners growing tomatoes in greenhouses about strange spots on the leaves of silver plants have become more frequent.
Plant disease experts came to the conclusion that this is not a disease, but physiological disturbances in plant development, deviations from the norm. There may be two reasons:
- sharp fluctuations in day and night air temperatures;
- genetic deviations of hybrids when poorly worked hybrids are put into production as a result of breeding with great haste.
Odema (edema) - edema of leaves
There is such a phenomenon, or rather, the state of the plant - odema (edema) - edema of the leaves in violation of the irrigation regime. It is not contagious, it is not a disease. It appears on leaves and stems when the leaf blade is oversaturated with moisture as a result of the fact that the liquid continues to move up the plant under the influence of intra-root pressure.
Most often this happens when the soil is warmer than air temperature (for example, in cool weather), when the humidity is high. Such conditions contribute to the development of odema. With it, convex spots similar to white mold appear on leaves and stems on leaves, sometimes solid spots, sometimes punctate, sometimes stems and leaves twist, “break”. More often they say it’s from overflow. But it is not always the case. No less important is not only humidity, but also air temperature.
In this case, it is advised to ventilate the plants more often in order to normalize the humidity level, increase the light exposure (the sun is not enough), and increase the air temperature (there is also not enough heat).
Phytotoxicity of the soil (soil)
This is not a disease, but a change in the properties of the soil as a result of inept, unprofessional use, for example, pesticides, fertilizers or other substances that, instead of having a positive effect, begin to exert a depressing, poisonous effect on tomatoes or other plants. This can manifest itself in different ways.
There are known cases of spots on leaves with a dark purple tint, which then dry.
Pay attention to the last shot. The defeat of the leaves goes from bottom to top. This suggests that, most likely, during irrigation, nutritional standards were violated, apparently the soil contains some nutrients that inhibit the tomato.
Other possible causes are increased soil moisture, too low air temperature, soil.
Torsion (twist) of leaves on the tops of bushes
This is not a disease, but rather a violation of the conditions of plant nutrition. Experts name several reasons for the appearance of twisted leaves on the tops of tomato bushes:
- strong overflow - the roots do not have enough air in very wet soil;
- poisoning of plants with herbicides (accidental contact with plant leaves);
- spraying with a growth stimulator Tomaton (often unbalanced in composition are found on sale - they sin on Central Asian manufacturers). By the way, with an increased dosage, any stimulants turn into herbicides.
When overflowing will help frequent loosening and hilling of tomatoes. It will help normalize air exchange in the soil. But the second and third reasons are much more serious. It is unlikely that the plants will recover after treatment with their herbicides, most likely they will have to be removed.
Why did the roots appear on the tomato trunk
Here is a picture sent to us by one of the gardeners. He asks if this is a disease and how to treat it.
No, this is not a disease. As you can see in the photo, tomatoes grow in the greenhouse. Probably there is increased humidity, which caused the growth of additional roots. This is unlikely to benefit tomatoes. High humidity in the greenhouse carries the risk of fungal diseases. Ventilate the greenhouse as often as possible.
Gardeners have many troubles with tomatoes. In most cases, plants can be helped. Ask your questions, send photos of your tomatoes with incomprehensible signs, either of a disease, or a violation of growing conditions. We will understand together what the tomatoes lack. Perhaps we can tell you something, or maybe your photo will be seen by gardeners who have already solved your problem. How to determine what leaves are missing for tomatoes? Do not forget to tell us in what conditions your tomatoes grow (in open ground or in a greenhouse), what is the temperature regime when growing them, humidity and your region.