Tough Season for Tomatoes

The cold, wet summer has made it a difficult season for tomatoes, according to Jeanne Nolan.

“Tomatoes don’t like too much water or cold weather,” Nolan said. “There have been some nights that have dropped down into the 50s.”

Nolan, along with The Organic Gardener coworkers Adrienne Detanico and Stephanie Drozd, said they have seen many tomato plants struggle this season in gardens they tend to.

Fortunately, our tomatoes appear to be doing well. They are doing so well that we had to add extensions on the top of our Texas Tomato Cages, bringing them to a height of 10 feet.

In addition to the extensions on the cages, Detanico and Drozd positioned U-posts on the cages to provide extra support.

While I was concerned about the yellowing, wilting leaves at the bottom of the plants, Detanico reassured me that I had nothing to fear.

“This is just wear and tear on the plant,” she said, adding the plant is concentrating its energy on growing vertically and producing tomatoes, which is causing the lower leaves to yellow and die.

Normally, Detanico and Nolan said they would prune these leaves from plants, but are hesitant to do so this season.

“We are doing minimal pruning,” Nolan said.

If we were to prune our tomato plants, the plant would spend energy healing the spots where shoots had been pruned, Detanico added.

Given the cold, wet summer, they’d rather not have the plants spend energy on that.

For gardeners who are having a difficult time with their tomato plants, Nolan said they should avoid overwatering their plants as well as consider adding a little side dressing of an organic fertilizer such as Dr. Earth.