Question for the gardener experts out there. My container tomato plants haven’t done so well this year. They started out strong, but have seemed to be succumbing to the same disease. Started out with yellowing leaves, and progressed to the stems turning hard, dried, and brownish yellow even though tomatoes are still growing on it. I’m planning to pull them all once the few tomatoes still on the plants ripen. Was wondering if it is okay to reuse the potting soil for flowers, or am I better off just tossing it all? The basil that I have co-planted in the containers are all doing fine, so it seems to be a tomato specific disease. It’s just a lot of soil because the containers I used were really large, so I hate the idea of tossing it all.
Since the basil is doing good, I would be comfortable using that soil over for flowers.
I would also dispose of those tomato plants in the garbage and not put them in the compost pile.
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Not an expert, but yellow leaves are often the result of incorrect watering. Tomatoes in containers generally need way more water than those in the ground. Also, the soil probably needs more nutrition (fertilizer). Tomato-tone is a good fertilizer—it has nitrogen and other nutrients that are good for tomatoes. Any garden store will have it.
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My 2 pot tomatoes did this as well and to a lesser degree a couple of my raised bed tomatoes. They are still producing (thought the pots are a more moderate crop) but the leaves look brown and pathetic! I attributed it to the way too many 90+ degree days we had this summer. I think it baked those suckers to a degree. But I’ll also admit that sometimes my watering is haphazard (not that I don’t water but that the time of day is not consistent).
Pots with tomatoes dry out SO fast it seems.
The plant I had trouble with this year is my geraniums! So shocking! Geraniums to be are so hearty and foolproof. I don’t know if I got a bad batch from one store but I had several not leaf well and many of the leaves browned and died and the plant basically died. NEVER has this happened. Again, was it the heat??
My tomatoes didn’t do well this year either. We reused soil from last year and our neighbor who is a fabulous gardener told us that there was probably not enough calcium in the soil. Mid season, I started fertilizing with a product specifically for tomatoes but also safe for other veggies. The situation improved but it was probably too late in the season. Next year we are starting with fresh soil (it’s a large raised planter bed so lots of soil which is why we tried to reuse). All the other veggies and herbs and did fine, but the tomatoes were a bust.
Can’t you just add some new soil, enrich the old?? Put some mulch on it over the winter that will break down and enrich the soil? We always put our raised bed to bed (winter) with a good 6 inches of leaf mulch. That’s a lot of soil to chuck!
Agree–I’d add to the existing soil.
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Good idea to mulch and enrich!
We live on a literal pile of rocks and had zero soil when we built our house. We used pickaxes to dig holes to plant daffodil bulbs.
When it came time for veg gardening, we built raised beds and had soil delivered. Brutal exercise.
First we bought several yards of “topsoil” – which honestly is not great stuff, no matter what they market it as.
Then we found out our township has free compost/mulch. It’s essentially rotted leaves/wood. But it works great. We haul that stuff home in several 5-gallon buckets almost every day and just keep dumping it on top of the original soil.
At the end of the year, we practice cut and drop - cut down the plants and leave them in place (unless they’re heavily diseased/have pest infestation). We don’t pull out roots. We don’t till. We just keep dumping stuff on top. Leaves, straw, our own compost of kitchen scraps; occasionally we’ll buy some aged manure.
It’s all good; it all breaks down and adds to the ecosystem.
I’m building a new bed for next spring to expand my potato plot. I’ve just started it, and all I’ve done is lay down a bunch of cardboard and dump buckets of mulch on top. I’ll keep doing that for a couple of months, then dump straw on top of that and let it be.
Next spring, where I plant the potatoes, I’ll pull aside some pockets in the mess, put in some good homegrown compost, and put the potato chits there. The whole area is just outlined with rocks so the soil/mulch/etc doesn’t wash away. It ain’t pretty but it’ll work.
Basically, buying new soil isn’t nearly as worthwhile as amending what you have.
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Purslane - we stir fry it with other veggies (squash, mushrooms, potato, peppers, onion, napa cabbage, spinach, purslane), often as a side for breakfast when we’re eating eggs. We also add it to pretty much any soup/stew. It grows very easily wild in our garden. For years we weeded it out thinking it was just a weed. My youngest is the one that clued us in that it was edible and healthy.
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Maybe the failing potted tomato is an early season variety? Since we had planned to be on the road for most of July, we intentionally splurged for a lush potted cherry tomato plant in late May that already had some buds and some small green tomatoes. It served its purpose of early bounty. It still does give us a few cherry tomatoes, but the plant itself is declining despite frequent watering.
PESTO RECIPE SUGGESTIONS? I have an excess of walnuts and garden basil to use. It’s been a while since I tried my hand at making pesto, so I thought I’d ask my garden friends here for recipes/links.
I sub in more garlic and probably more olive oil and lemon juice to make it not too thick. You can sub your nut.
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Thanks! What kind of flavor does it have?? Are all parts edible—leaves, stems, flowers? It grows really well in my herb garden and I really have to keep it in check.
I heard of people pickling purslane as well!
We eat the leaves and stems - not sure about flowers. Taste-wise we consider it a little bit like lemon. It has a mild flavor in general.
I buy my purslane even though I have some in my yard. The store bought purslane is bigger. It’s mild and slightly tangy, not sweet, not bland. The flower buds have lots of vitamins, I think.
Anyway, I just sowed some more snap peas today. The last lot I got one sprouted, lol.
I’ll call my first attempt at a raised bed of tomatoes not worth the effort. May still do containers in the future. I’d like to change the tomato bed to a cutting flower bed. We’re in coastal southern California. Bed has adjustable irrigation. Not roses because we have them elsewhere. Suggestions?
I don’t know for sure what translates to coastal California but I plant zinnias every year and have oodles of cut flowers in the house from July to October. There are many varieties.
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How about this list for cutting flowers, I have quite a few of them. I love sweet peas, and you have to cut them otherwise they will die.