Gary Pilarchik: Mid Summer Tomato Care Tips – Save Your Tomato Plants (Diseases, Heat, Fertilizing)

18 Comments

1. 

   @THERUSTEDGARDEN 3 weeks ago

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2. 

   @mayhem2880 3 weeks ago

   Nice weed in the backyard

3. 

   @robinstephens6889 3 weeks ago

   Use surround clay

4. 

   @mary-ue4ir 3 weeks ago

   The brutal heat and heavy rain here has been very challenging this month. Lots of gardeners feel overwhelmed but thank you for your ongoing encouragement and remedies. ❤

5. 

   @denisec425 3 weeks ago

   The heat burnt mine up before I could even get them to ripe

6. 

   @MJ-ti6oh 3 weeks ago

   Love your posts. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

7. 

   @PeggyLiles 3 weeks ago

   I’ll try to save some. They were about to get pulled. Only one won’t stay now. Thanks for help here in Raleigh NC!

8. 

   @emilybh6255 3 weeks ago

   Some would say pruning indeterminate tomatoes wounds them; weakens them and makes it easier for diseases to get started. Too bad you don't have plants where except for watering and a little fertilizing, you've left alone . So then you'd be able to compare how they do in hot weather compared to the usual heavy pruning, spraying and fertilizing method you use. I might grow an indeterminant tomato plant and not touch it next year to see what happens. Your Basil plants seem to love your conditions! They look very healthy!

   We (zone8B SC) are a good 15-20 degrees warmer than you (or at least my micro-climate is). My thermometer says my garden is typically pushing 110 degrees F on sunny days in the heat of the day… and in protected areas where I have sweet potatoes growing in bags without shade, it has been as high as 134! It will be interesting to see what kind of harvest (if any) I get of sweet potatoes.

   Both my cucumbers and tomatoes and long green beans have been under shade cloth or in the shade, the entire time. The cucumbers have been doing amazingly well! The tomatoes – not so much- as I am getting worms eating my heirloom slicing tomatoes before they even begin to ripen (Black Krim) and seeing leaf-footed bugs on them. Thankfully, some of them have been left alone. So I bring those inside to finish ripening. I've occasionally been spraying with a combination of neem, peppermint and rosemary, eco-dish soap, avocado oil and water, inspired by your recipe, which I'll be ramping up now that the leaf-footed bugs are out.

9. 

   @brokenarrow6491 3 weeks ago

   I'm in Maryland on the shore. My tomato plants are still green and producing well. I also took my shade cloth off after the brutal heat we had. The only odd thing is my plants have been growing shorter this year. All the varieties I planted are shorter than usual. I have a couple of celebrities that are only two feet tall. They have tomatoes on them but they are short. Never had this happen before. Fertilized every two to three weeks with fertilizer just like i always have. Not sure why they are smaller than normal.

10. 

    @juliekovach9784 3 weeks ago

    Using a copper fungicide labeled for vegetables or tomatoes, such as copper hydroxide or copper octanoate (like Bonide Copper Fungicide) is effective and safe for human consumption and is OMRI listed (organic). It is best used early and preventively. My Mushroom Basket tomato plant has been the only tomato so far that is severely infected with septoria leaf spot. I trim off the leaves that I can without making the plant bald and at risk for sunscald of the unripened fruit and I'm now spraying with copper fungicide every couple of weeks. So far, so good. Fingers crossed. Good luck with your gorgeous tomatoes!

11. 

    @tpen891 3 weeks ago

    What type of beetle are on your tomatoes? I have had them even on my cantaloupe as well. No clue how to control them either.

12. 

    @HideorEscape 3 weeks ago

    You could add multiple cardboards around each tomato plant so when it rains too much the cardboards will absorb most of the water or the excess water will flow away so this way your tomatoes won't split because of too much water. This may also protect the plants from fungus spores so they don't fly from the wet soil to the leaves.

    If I were you I would remove all yellow brown leaves with diseases so they will have more airflow and better chance at drying.

13. 

    @tompayne4258 3 weeks ago

    Hi Gary, Can you tell me what the fungus is that causes the branches to turn yellow, then brown and die? Is it in the soil , or airborne? I'm in Ottawa, Canada and I have this issue every year at this time. Thank you.

14. 

    @UrbanChickenMomma 3 weeks ago

    My chickens love it when the tomatoes split. More for them! 😅

15. 

    @DeadeyeJoe37 3 weeks ago

    Are you removing the yellow and dead leaves?

16. 

    @raymondjbarron 3 weeks ago

    So I've heard somewhere on the internet… There's such a thing a too many tomato branches and leaves drawing away energy from fruit development? I have 28 plants 7 different varieties and they are some of the most robust and lush tomato plants I've ever grown. My fruits have always just tend to ripen around mid-August through September. Are my tomato plants hindering my tomato production.. The internet tells me to prune all my limbs off lol!

17. 

    @nickzivs 3 weeks ago

    Honestly, that harvest looks great. In southern Ontario, we’ve been dealing with 100F+ weather with temperatures reaching as high as 117F with the humidex for weeks up until this past 4-day stretch and my garden has struggled to produce especially the tomato fruitset. It’s made me consider altogether abandoning heirloom varieties and doing purely determinate tomatoes going forward or at the very least F1 hybrids. Why grow a tomato plant for 5-6 tomatoes when a determinate will yield dozens? The more frustrating thing has been cucumbers simply not producing due to the heat. It’s just been a rough year 😢.

    I have 50% shade cloth over my tomatoes, beans, and zucchini beds and even then they’ve just had difficulty.

18. 

    @SoapBoxYes 3 weeks ago

    My harvest has been exceptional thanks to your channel. Im in SW virginia and the rain/humidity has been relentless, but I had really good luck this year. I have already harvested over 100lbs of tomatoes and canned over 30L of sauce. I havent even started on my 6 San Marzano tomatoe plants. Peppers and cucumbers are insane. I did the aspirin water early, hydrogen peroxide, and the white fly spray. I still am being attacked by white flies. on sunflowers, black beans, cucumbers and now starting on the tomatoes. But they are just annoying right now.