Trying tomatoes for a third time and not having much luck. Got some plants already started in a Dixie cup and moved them to a 5 gallon bucket. Plan on having them on porch as only place gets any real sunlight. Shortly after transplanting them several of the leaves seemed to wither and a few got orange spots on the. I used raised bed potting soils and bottom of buckets have drainage holes in them. I pulled off the branches that had almost died hoping it would help the rest. Did move back inside at night since it has gotten a little cold. Chattanooga, TN. Any suggestions?
by loosing_it_today
6 Comments
Can you clarify, have they only been on the porch or have they been also outside in the sun?
The raised bed soil is a clue, for starters. For a container you generally need potting soil, not raised bed or garden soil.
The last photo though seems better than the others. It is normal for the first few branches to look a bit raggedy as they’re exposed to sustained natural light while the new growth comes in much stronger. How long did you harden off before transplanting?
How many mm across are the drainage holes? It can be hard to drain with small holes.
What brand of soil are you using?
That soil looks very dry.
Yellowing leaves from the bottom up is usually nutrient deficiency and at this stage its likely nitrogen. Could be that your need to supplement your soil , or that you’re underwatering and the plants arent able to uptake what they need from the soil.
Either way id start with a nice deep watering with a very diluted ( like a half teaspoon for a gallon of water) water soluable fertilizer. I really like fish emulsion. Its mostly nitrogen which is mostly what plants need at this stage, its all natural and its pretty mild ( its not easy to over fertilize with it) but I know a lot of people dont like the smell. If thats you there are other options.
As noted ny others, you aren’t using the right soil. You wanted a container mix. Raised bed soil is an additive thst is supposed to be.mixed into a mineral spoil base. It isn’t for using straight.
You can probably fix this by replanting the plants and remixing that raised bed soil with composted bark mulch, and perlite.