Anyone grow tomatoes?

[Dr.Robotnik]

Hi Y'All

I have this summer been trying to get all green fingered and grow some tomatoes.

They were going along nicely and fruiting and were really healthy, then I went away for a week and my housemate didn't water them. When I returned they'd wilted tons.

Since then I've been pruning back all the excess dying leaves and any dead stalks and watering them as much as seems to be needed but nothing seems to be brigning them back to life.

Are they dead?

Anything else I can do?

Cheers

 

[suburbanreuben]

Yup. They're dead.
The two things toms love the most are Sunshine and water. We've had a fair dose of sunshine, so they'll have needed more water.
A pox on your "friend". Homegrown toms are the best!

 

[passiflora]

Dead as a dead duck im afraid..especially if they have gone brown. once they lose the water through osmosis thats it

 

[Dr.Robotnik]

Yup. They're dead.
The two things toms love the most are Sunshine and water. We've had a fair dose of sunshine, so they'll have needed more water.
A pox on your "friend". Homegrown toms are the best!

Well they still had some fruit on them and that ripened up so I picked it today. I ate one and it was lush.

Also some bits are still green but no new leaves are sprouting but some of the fruit is still growing, which makes me unable to decide whether they are still alive and just recharging. But in the last two weeks there's been no new greenery.

This is my first time growing veg so any help is much appreciated.

For arguements sake if they were still salvagable, what could I do?

 

[Dr.Robotnik]

Dead as a dead duck im afraid..especially if they have gone brown. once they lose the water through osmosis thats it

They aren't completely brown though which gives me hope. Just the top wilted drastically and the leaves all curled up.

I trimmed off anything that was obviously dead but there are some (though very few) green leaves.

Can you tell I am desperate not to have killed them?

 

[Dr.Robotnik]

Oh I'll post pictures for a full diagnosis tomorrow when I have a camera.

 

[cannondale king]

iv'e been growing toms this year but alas the same here i cant get them right either no matter what i do :cry: :cry: :cry:

 

[suburbanreuben]

If they're still fruiting, leave them in the sun, keep the soil moist, and keep an eye on the fruit. They may ripen on the "vine" but if they start to go brown, pick em off sharpish and see if they'll ripen on the window sill.

 

[ferrus]

If they're still fruiting, leave them in the sun, keep the soil moist, and keep an eye on the fruit. They may ripen on the "vine" but if they start to go brown, pick em off sharpish and see if they'll ripen on the window sill.

If you pop the green tom's in a drawer with a banana skin or a red snooker ball that'll help 'em ripen.

 

[LQQK]

We probably don’t live in the same climate zones, but I think some plant care is universal.

First try and bend the horizontal branches between your fingers, if they snap clean they are dead, if they bend it is alive and you may be able to save them (this is also useful if you don’t know if a plant is deciduous or dead).

Don’t over water them, over watering can kill the roots then the plant can’t take up water, which makes a plant wilt so it looks like it needs more water. Make sure the soil is damp and mulch around the root zone, but not against the stems as it may cause collar rot. The mulch will slow the water transportation from the soil, and as it breaks down improve the soil structure and provide nutrients.

You could also ‘tip prune’ the new growth, literally just pinch off the tips of new growth. The new growth develops a hormone that directs growth to the tip (growth point) by taking the growth point out the plants energy then goes to the existing growth.

Also do not fertilize any plants if they are stressed, use a seaweed or fish nutrient solution (sold as Seasol or Charlie Carp in Australia).