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Most gardeners grow tomatoes. This vegetable has become part of the diet of almost every Russian, and as you know, home-grown tomatoes are much tastier than store-bought ones. However, a common problem that gardeners face when growing tomatoes is the presence of yellowish foliage.
Why do tomato leaves turn yellow in open ground? You will get the answer to this question by reading this article. It will also feature a video that will also cover this topic. To get rid of yellow leaves, you need to determine the original cause of this phenomenon, understand the characteristics of the soil and the climatic conditions in which tomatoes grow.
Causes of yellowing tomato leaves
Lack of space for root system formation
The most common reason for yellowing leaves is a lack of space for the root system to develop. Although it may seem that this problem concerns only the landing tomato in greenhouses, but it was not there.If you plant bushes in the open ground too close to each other in order to save space, then you may well encounter the fact that the leaves of the tomatoes will turn yellow.
In addition, the leaves may turn yellow if the tomato seedlings have been growing in pots longer than necessary. The root system will also be weak if the seedlings are not thinned out after the first shoots appear. The fact is that the roots of tomatoes develop intensively already at the stage of growing seedlings, which is why it is important that there is enough space between the sprouts.
This is due to the fact that tomatoes spend all their energy on restoring the root system, and not on the growth and development of a healthy bush.
To avoid yellowing of tomato leaves in open ground, it is important to sow seeds for seedlings in spacious containers. In addition, seedlings should be transplanted into open ground on time.
If you still did not have time to replant in a timely manner and the roots have already grown greatly, then after planting the seedlings, you need to feed them immediately. To do this, you can use salt fertilizers with the addition of chlorides, phosphates and nitrates. The fertilizer concentration should be no higher than 1%. In this case, the leaves should not begin to turn yellow.
If you do not have information about fertilizer concentrate, then you need to make a weaker solution so as not to overdo it. So, for 1 liter of water there are 10 ml of liquid fertilizers.If you make a very strong concentrate, then there is a high probability that you will burn the tomato bushes and, in addition to the fact that the leaves will not stop turning yellow, they may even die.
Poor soil
One of the equally common reasons why tomato leaves turn yellow is poor soil. Thus, a lack of nitrogen may occur. If this problem is not eliminated, then over time the stem of the plant will become weak and thin, as the bush will intensively stretch upward. In this case, the color of the leaves will be pale and there will be few of them on the bush. Initially, small yellow-brown spots will appear on the tip of the leaf, uniting over time into one line. The end result of all this will be the slow death and falling of leaves, which will lead to the complete death of the tomato bush.
If the soil is low in magnesium, the leaves will begin to turn yellow between the veins. Subsequently they will begin curl and bulge upward. A lack of molybdenum also manifests itself, however, a deficiency of this microelement is extremely rare. A weakly saturated color of young green leaves may indicate a lack of sulfur in the soil. At the same time, adult leaves begin to turn yellow, and their veins acquire a red tint. If the problem is not solved, then over time not only the leaves will suffer, but also the stem will become fragile and weak.
Lack of iron leads to iron chlorosis. The leaves become pale yellowish in color with green veins. In this case, the growth of the bush stops and, with inactivity, even the apical leaves become pale.
At lack of calcium Light yellow spots appear on the leaves, and the fruits deteriorate due to blossom end rot. But what's worse is that the rot spreads from fruit to fruit.So, the top of the tomato fruit turns brown and presses inward. These tomatoes are not suitable for human consumption. They should be destroyed.
What to do?
If the soil lacks any microelements, then, of course, you need to add fertilizers that contain the missing chemical element. For example, nitrogen starvation can be eliminated by spraying with urea. To do this, you need to prepare a solution in the proportion of 1 tbsp. l. urea per 10 liters of water.
To replenish nitrogen, you can also add a solution of cow manure infusion to the soil. To do this, you need to soak mullein in water at a ratio of 1:4 for 3 days. Then dilute the mullein infusion in a ratio of 1:3. Under each bush you need to add 1 liter of solution.
The lack of potassium is compensated for by adding potassium nitrate to the soil. To spray the leaves of the plant you need to dilute 1 tsp. fertilizers per 1 liter of water. To water the bush, dilute 1 tbsp. l. potassium nitrate in 10 liters of water. Potassium deficiency can also be compensated for with wood ash.
Water scarcity
Another reason why leaves turn yellow ahead of time is a lack of water in the soil. Simply improperly organized watering can lead to the leaves of the tomato bush turning yellow. Although tomato bushes are very drought tolerant, they will begin to turn yellow if left without moisture for a long period of time.
It is better to water tomatoes infrequently, but abundantly. The root of the bush, with normal development of the root system, reaches a depth of up to 1 m. This means that the plant is provided with water and nutrients from a sufficiently large depth, to which many other crops cannot reach.The conclusion is simple: if the tomatoes do not have enough water, then they just need to be watered thoroughly so that the leaves stop turning yellow.
Damage to seedlings during transplantation
The appearance of a sickly yellow color after transplanting tomatoes into open ground may indicate that the seedlings were damaged during transplantation. In addition, adult bushes may suffer from inaccurate loosening, which can also lead to yellowing of the leaves.
In this case, the lower leaves turn yellow. All that is needed to eliminate the problem is to give the plant time to recover. With proper care and the absence of other negative factors, the tomato leaves themselves will soon acquire a healthy color.
Fungal infection
Due to the spread of the fungus, tomato leaves may begin to turn yellow. Such infections usually hide in the ground, which means that a lot of effort will need to be made to eliminate the problem. If there is a suspicion that the soil is contaminated, then the soil should be dug up in the fall. At the same time, you need to dig the ground as deep as possible. In this case, the chance of infecting plants next year will be significantly lower.
Not only the soil can be infected, but also the seeds, and even garden tools used for cultivating the land. If we are talking about infection of equipment, then you cannot use tools from an infected place on the ground on a healthy one. These precautions are intended to stop the spread of infection throughout the area. In addition, thorough sanitization of the entire instrument may be necessary.
Fungal infections of tomatoes can occur at any stage of their growth. A rapidly developing fungal infection can lead to yellowing of leaves, weakening of the bush and poor harvest. Fighting fungus is very difficult, even, one might say, unrealistic. Therefore, the gardener needs to monitor the condition of the soil almost all year round. Seeds should be kept clean and tools should be disinfected from time to time.
The most common fungal infection is fusarium. When a bush is infected by this fungus, the leaves turn yellow and wither, as if after a drought. By spraying tomato leaves with special preparations every 1–12 days (depending on the severity of the disease), you can get rid of the infection. Fitosporin and Phytocid are currently considered the most effective means in the fight against fungal infections.
Hypothermia when planting seedlings in open ground
When transplanting seedlings into open ground, yellow leaves may appear on it. One of the reasons may be hypothermia. Tomatoes can be transplanted into open ground if the temperature at night does not drop below +12ºС.
The impact of low temperatures on tomatoes leads to negative consequences:
- Root depletion.
- Underdevelopment of the root system.
- Lack of bush nutrition.
- Slowing down the growth and development of the bush.
If the bushes are frozen, the leaves will turn yellow with a blue tint. The harvest of such tomatoes will be later, the fruits will be small in size and will not have a pronounced taste. To avoid this, do not rush to transplant seedlings into open ground.
Results
So, if the tomato leaves in your beds begin to turn yellow, then determine the cause of this phenomenon. Then remove it and over time the leaves will turn green again. The tips provided in this article will help you identify the problem and neutralize its consequences.
We bring to your attention a video that also mentions common causes of yellow leaves and gives tips on how to eliminate them:
