Yellowed Tomato Leaves - Ask Extension
I planted a Brandywine plant in a south facing full sun cedar container filled with garden soil and compost purchased at a garden store. It is watered...
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Yellowed Tomato Leaves #876898
Asked July 11, 2024, 9:23 PM EDT
I planted a Brandywine plant in a south facing full sun cedar container filled with garden soil and compost purchased at a garden store. It is watered regularly and has been fertilized twice. It looks very healthy and tomatoes are starting to appear. I noticed a couple of larger leaves were starting to yellow a couple days ago. Today they’re worse so I removed them. I can see no bugs on the plant. I’m puzzled why this is happening and hope to stop any problem from getting bigger. What are your thoughts?
Dakota County Minnesota
Expert Response
A couple of things can cause yellowing leaves like those in your photo - overwatering and nutrient deficiency. With this year's heavy rainfall it is difficult to decrease watering. The more water the plant in a container garden receives the more nutrients are washed from the soil. Yellow leaves will often be a sign of low nitrogen. You could increase your fertilizing to once/week or every other week. You should use a fertilizer formulated for vegetables as too much nitrogen can cause beautiful leaves and not as much fruit. With any water soluble fertilizer use 1/2 the amount of recommended fertilizer in your water.
The yellowing leaves are a symptom and are likely not detrimental to the overall health of your tomato plant.
The yellowing leaves are a symptom and are likely not detrimental to the overall health of your tomato plant.
