Why are our tomato plants looking sad?

Cheryl sanders
by Cheryl sanders
one of the plants (beefsteak tomato’s) started out great. Lots of flowers on it when it started to grow. Now we have one small tomato that has been green for two weeks and all the flowers are DEAD! During the ten days of rain we pulled the pots under cover but made sure they got watered when needed.
Any suggestions? Both tomato plants are in pots. And yes we have furtilized like instructions recommended.
Also we used to have basil plants which were beautiful and now they too are not looking so good.
  8 answers
  • Pinkflmgo626 Pinkflmgo626 on Jun 08, 2018

    Try sprinkling baking soda around the plants. Not only helps them to be healthier but also removes acidic taste & deters bugs. Would love to know if you try this and hoe it works for you. Good luck!

  • how hot is it - tomatoes do not like super heat (but they do like direct sunlight - so do basil plants, they do not like shade), or over watering. I have a hard time with plants in pots personally, hard to get the nutrients just right since they sap them out of the soil so quickly - maybe try more fertilizer, Epsom salts is good for plants too (1 tablespoon per 1 gallon of water).

  • Pinkflmgo626 Pinkflmgo626 on Jun 08, 2018

    You might want to test your soil too. Maybe you have overfertilized??

  • Cindy Cindy on Jun 08, 2018

    I have never done good with tomatoes in pots. Do they have good drainage? If their pots don't have holes, you can put some rocks in the bottom of the pot. Follow that with a layer of newspaper. Then add the soil and plants. This method prevents the roots from sitting in water. My soil is a mix of one-third soil, one-third manure and one-third sand. The sand is for water retention. It will make the water last longer. I hope this info helps you. Best wishes.

  • Cheryl sanders Cheryl sanders on Jun 09, 2018

    thank you so much for your reply. We’ll give your suggestion about changing our potting a try.

  • Pmy8536680 Pmy8536680 on Jun 09, 2018

    It sounds to me like they’ve been overwatered ... I would sacrifice that green tomato and pinch off any remaining flowers. Stop fertilizing for about three weeks. Sometimes when you over fertilize it’s trying to make up by building up it’s root system... this is what you want for a healthy plant. Very important reminder to mulch the base of that pot with either leaves or dried grass clippings if they don’t have fertilizer or herbicides on them. Dirt can splatter on the tomato leaves when watering or during rainfall which will cause A fungus . Cut back your basil leaves it will branch out, make sure both plants are getting at least six hours of full sunshine each day ... that’s the beauty of pot gardening as you can move them around if you need to ..