Hello....

I planted tomatoes in southern New Mexico. The ground had no previous
garden, looked OK. I tilled in organic compost to 10", lots of
compost. Planted several varieties, 15 plants, in a row. Automatic
watering with drip hose, ground covered by black plastic weed stopper
(breathes). Killed grass around with roundup (had bermuda reaching
into garden). Covered all plants with plastic bags first. Bags seemed
to make hot house and make tomatoes grow but Ieft them on 2 days and
it killed plants on one side of garden (more sun). Replaced those with
new plants. Put time release fetrilize on soil and soaked in when
first planted, have used liquid fertilizer two times since. Direct sun
5 - 6 hours a day, lots of indirect light (shade under tree)
otherwise.

Planted 1.5 months ago. All plants, old and new, at just sitting
there, no or very little increase in height...all except one plant on
the end away from new plants. This one is growing very well, lush,
getting taller. Others have green tops, lower limbs died some time
ago. The green tops look healthy but donig nothing, some scraggly.
Don't know why but get the feeling some of them are on their way to
dying, or maybe they just won't grow.

Why aren't they growing? Searched the web, I see lots of diseases, and
will try to look close at the plants when I return (on vacation for
few days).

Any advice would really be appreciated. I only grew tomatoes once
before, in New Jersey, and they were a spectacular success with little
effort.

Thanks very much,
Sarah

On Jul 6, 7:21 pm, Sarah wrote:
Hello....

I planted tomatoes in southern New Mexico. The ground had no previous
garden, looked OK. I tilled in organic compost to 10", lots of
compost. Planted several varieties, 15 plants, in a row. Automatic
watering with drip hose, ground covered by black plastic weed stopper
(breathes). Killed grass around with roundup (had bermuda reaching
into garden). Covered all plants with plastic bags first. Bags seemed
to make hot house and make tomatoes grow but Ieft them on 2 days and
it killed plants on one side of garden (more sun). Replaced those with
new plants. Put time release fetrilize on soil and soaked in when
first planted, have used liquid fertilizer two times since. Direct sun
5 - 6 hours a day, lots of indirect light (shade under tree)
otherwise.

Planted 1.5 months ago. All plants, old and new, at just sitting
there, no or very little increase in height...all except one plant on
the end away from new plants. This one is growing very well, lush,
getting taller. Others have green tops, lower limbs died some time
ago. The green tops look healthy but donig nothing, some scraggly.
Don't know why but get the feeling some of them are on their way to
dying, or maybe they just won't grow.

Why aren't they growing? Searched the web, I see lots of diseases, and
will try to look close at the plants when I return (on vacation for
few days).

Any advice would really be appreciated. I only grew tomatoes once
before, in New Jersey, and they were a spectacular success with little
effort.

Thanks very much,
Sarah


Some thoughts:
1. You added compost and the plants have been in the ground for 6
weeks
and you have added fertilizer 3 times....why? With all that
compost there
should be no need for fert. so soon. (I never fertilize tomatoes)
2. You mentioned a nearby tree,,,,, what kind? Any type of Walnut?
Walnut trees are harmful to tomatoes.
3. Water...with a drip system.... how much, how often ? are they
getting
enough water? Are the emitters all working correctly? Is the
water
penetrating deeply into the soil? Check it out by digging down to
see
what depth its getting to. Maybe the one plant on the end is
getting
all the water.
4. Roundup residue still in soil? I have never used Roundup (and never
will)
so I am just guessing on this one.

Good luck Sarah
Emilie
NorCal

snip
Any advice would really be appreciated. I only grew tomatoes once
before, in New Jersey, and they were a spectacular success with little
effort.

Thanks very much,
Sarah


Roundup won't help much with bermuda. I lived in Vegas for 13 years - you'll
never be rid of it :-)

How hot is it where you live? The lower limbs dying off sounds like what I
saw when I tried to grow tomatoes in Las Vegas. They just did not do well
with all day sun and 118 degree weather. And for some reason they did better
with hose watering then with drip watering. I think the constant moisture of
drip system kept the roots from going deep, and all it takes is one dry hot
afternoon to seriously stress them. I also grew some at the side of the
house and they grew fairly well - grew about 7 feet tall, produced
moderately well. I am most defintely not a tomatoe expert, just thought I'd
pitch in with my $.02 worth

In article om,
Sarah wrote:

Others have green tops, lower limbs died some time
ago. The green tops look healthy but donig nothing, some scraggly.

Makes me think that there is a lack of nutrients and that highly soluble
nutrients are being shifted from old vegetation to growing tips. Lose
the water soluble fertilizer and sidedress with aged mulch and feed with
fish emulsion.
--
Billy
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

"Sarah" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hello....

I planted tomatoes in southern New Mexico.
snips
Direct sun 5 - 6 hours a day
Planted 1.5 months ago.

Probably way too late to plant in your area. Nightime temps need to be
55-75F and not over 90F in the daytime. And, they need more sun (8-10 hours)
and no nitrogen fertilizer.

Uproot one of them and take a look at the root system. Also dig down
and see how far the soil is actually moist. And consider the temperature...
high temps can make a plant just "stall" (it's called "heat shock" or "heat
stress").

What's the pH of the soil? How salinized might it be?

What's the temperature, day and night?


Are you sure there's not been any contamination with one of the herbicides?

Oh, and 6 hours of sun is just barely adequate for most tomato cultivars.

You might also take the dug up tomato and pot it in a 5 gallon or more
pot with commercial potting soil, and see if that improves its growth.

Kay

In article ,
Kay Lancaster wrote:

You might also take the dug up tomato and pot it in a 5 gallon or more
pot with commercial potting soil, and see if that improves its growth.

I'd give that dug-up tomato some shade for at least a week. You may
damage the root hairs while inspecting it and reduce its' ability to
suck up the water it needs. Even a deck chair on the south side of the
plant, would probably do.

Sunlight is important, so people tell me. I'm kinda sunlight challenged
myself having only 6 full hours of Sun in the best spots in my garden.
One spot, down the hill only gets 3 hr. to 4 hr. of sunshine and a
couple of "Juliets" volunteered for me. Not a big crop but still, it was
somethin'. This year I'm experimenting with an early, min-, and late
heirloom there just to know the potential for the spot.
--
Billy
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

4. Roundup residue still in soil? I have never used Roundup (and never
will) so I am just guessing on this one.

Roundup doesn't persist like some herbicides do, so this one isn't
so likely (although we don't know what the time lag was between the
roundup and the tomato planting).

As for the 6 hours of sun, that will affect fruiting more than growth.
And actually, if those are morning hours, that might be the way to go
in such a hot, dry climate. (We're not in New Jersey anymore....).
If this is the problem, picking an appropriate variety (cherry
tomatoes, probably) is likely to help.

Agree about overfertilizing. Lots of compost could even be an issue
(if the compost is fresh), although that one will resolve itself for
next year.

As for the nighttime temperatures being too hot, as I understand it
the reason people mention that for tomatoes is in terms of fruit
setting. So this probably is indeed a problem, but the lack of growth
is probably more a question of daytime temperatures, the really dry
air, or some different cause.

The black plastic is probably making the soil too hot. Maybe try
white plastic or something else? (I'm not really sure what's best).

As for Desert gardening in general, the one place which very much
sticks in my mind is the Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno, CA:
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/forest.htm

It is really amazing (lush and green and sunny, despite being
underground). Now, I'm not sure how much of that can easily be
applied to a home setting, but think in terms of things like
shadecloth, mulch, anything you can do to keep the plant's environment
from acting like an oven. That hot sun beating down is the big issue
in this climate, and irrigation is only part of the answer (for one
thing, constant irrigation leads to shallow roots).

On 2007-07-06 22:21:19 -0400, Sarah said:

Hello....


Why aren't they growing? Searched the web, I see lots of diseases, and
will try to look close at the plants when I return (on vacation for
few days).


What the soil PH?Most people don't think about that. If it's far off
the nutrients will be locked up and not be used by the plant.

On Jul 7, 2:42 am, Kay Lancaster wrote:
Uproot one of them and take a look at the root system. Also dig down
and see how far the soil is actually moist. And consider the temperature...
high temps can make a plant just "stall" (it's called "heat shock" or "heat
stress").

What's the pH of the soil? How salinized might it be?

What's the temperature, day and night?

Are you sure there's not been any contamination with one of the herbicides?

Oh, and 6 hours of sun is just barely adequate for most tomato cultivars.

You might also take the dug up tomato and pot it in a 5 gallon or more
pot with commercial potting soil, and see if that improves its growth.

Kay

There are many variables that prevent tomatoes (or other plants for
that matter) from growing well.Kay hit on one theory about the PH. I
see you are from New Mexico. I believe the PH of your soil is
generally high which means alot of the nutrients aren't available to
the plants. Tomatoes need lots of sun too. It doesn't sound like you
have diseases. If the plants turn yellow it could be nematodes. One
way to know for sure is fertilize a few times. If the plants don't
respond to fertilizer, then check the roots for nodules which would be
nematodes. A couple of diseases hit tomatoes- Fusarium and
Veticillium. I'm not sure if you have that problem in New Mexico like
we have in Southern Calif. These are vascular conditions. Fusarium is
basically non-curable and plants usually die from tips back.
Verticillium is somtimes called the one-sided wilt where one branch
will die but the rest of the plant looks healthy. These are just a few
more possibilities to consider. Roundup works through translocation
which means it works through the leaves to the roots. As long as you
don't spray yout tomato plants, it won't affect them. Roundup usually
dissapates from the soil in a couple of days. Let us know what
happens. Best regards, Bob.