A common problem for summer residents: leaves on tomatoes turn yellow - what to do and how to prevent it?

Tomatoes are a whimsical crop that needs regular and proper care. Mistakes and negligence of the gardener can result in poor harvest or even death of plants. Therefore, you should be aware of possible difficulties and be prepared for them.

Among the most common problems are wilting and yellowing of greenery on the bush. A symptom may indicate a plant disease, a lack of important trace elements, or improper care. Let's take a closer look at the reasons why the leaves of tomatoes turn yellow and dry and how to deal with this phenomenon.

Causes of the appearance of yellow leaves

The yellowing of the foliage on tomato bushes always indicates that the plant feels uncomfortable. If the right measures are not taken in time, it will perish. Why did the bush change its appearance? Often the reason lies in the mistakes that the gardener made. In some cases, viral and fungal diseases can cause this symptom.

Lighting problems

Tomato is a light-loving culture. Lack of sunlight often occurs when growing tomatoes on the balcony and windowsill. Plants sometimes turn yellow if there is not enough light in the greenhouse. You need to increase the light level. For this, fluorescent lamps are used.

Improper watering

The culture is demanding on the level of moisture. In the first two weeks of growing seedlings, plants require almost extreme humidity, then such conditions become destructive for them.

The bushes change their color with insufficient watering. Therefore, if the plants are yellow and the soil is dry, increase the watering frequency. Similar symptoms occur when tomatoes are poured: the water does not have time to evaporate, and the roots of the plants rot.

Recommendations:

1. Water the tomatoes it is necessary abundantly, but not often, in hot summer 2-3 waterings per week are enough.
2. Water only at the root. Moisture on the leaves causes them to rot and wither.
3. Cold water is harmful to plants.

Incorrect landing dates

Seedlings are planted in a permanent place 55-65 days after sowing the seeds. Tomatoes planted in the ground later than on the 65th day after sowing take root worse and often die.

Important! In overgrown seedlings, the roots are not formed correctly. Due to the fact that it develops in a container of limited size, the underground part of the tomato becomes weak.

Planting tomatoes early in the ground is also unacceptable. Plants will die due to night frosts.

Diseases and pests

The described problem can also arise due to diseases of a fungal or viral nature.

Diseases causing yellowing of bushes:

1. Curliness is yellow. Viral disease. The upper part of the plant turns yellow, pronounced veins appear. Flowers on tomatoes begin to crumble. It is not amenable to treatment, the affected bushes are removed. The virus is transmitted by the whitefly, the appearance of which is prevented by spraying tomatoes with mineral oils.
2. Fusarium... Fungal disease: greens turn yellow, curl, lose turgor and dry out. Symptoms are especially pronounced at the point of growth. A bloom of white appears on the underside of the leaves. Fungal spores get on tomatoes from infected plant debris and garden tools.With a slight change in the bushes, they are treated with "Falcon". If the disease has affected most of the bush, it will have to be burned.
3. Blackleg... A common disease affecting seedlings. The plant stem darkens. There are no tools to help save diseased plants. If you notice the disease early on, carefully dig up healthy shoots from the contaminated soil and transplant them into new, disinfected soil.

The color of the bush changes when affected by whiteflies, aphids, slugs and spider mites. "Aktofit" will help to get rid of pests.

Root system problems

When transplanting tomatoes, the gardener must act as carefully as possible: small roots must be torn. If the damage is severe, the tomato will not recover. This will lead to rotting and death of its roots.

The older the plant, the worse it will tolerate root damage when transplanted. It is important to observe the timing of the pick. The underground part of the plant is often damaged by weeding and loosening.

The roots are attacked by various pests. For example, a bear and beetle larvae. The damaged root system is unable to supply the plants with sufficient nutrients.

Incorrect feeding

Tomatoes are picky about the composition of the soil. Therefore, it is so important to follow the feeding schedule. Plants are watered with fertilizers 3-4 times per season. The frequency of fertilizing depends on the composition of the soil.

To enrich the soil even at the stage of preparing the beds, fertilizers are applied to the soil. Gardeners advise using humus, manure, ash and chalk.

Foliar boron feeding necessary for the correct formation of plant ovaries. They are used 2-3 times per season.

Lack of nutrients

Most often, tomatoes suffer precisely from a lack of nutrients. This happens when the feeding schedules are violated or the wrong fertilizers are used.

With a lack of which elements, yellowing of tomato foliage occurs:

1. Nitrogen... The greenery of the plants is paler, covered with reddish veins. To remedy the situation, add urea to the soil.
2. Potassium... Yellowing spreads over the entire leaf plate, leading to its curling. To compensate for the potassium deficiency, potassium sulfate is added to the soil.
3. Zinc and magnesium... With a deficiency of these substances on the leaf plate, small yellow stains, the edges become reddish. The lesions expand rapidly, causing the leaves to roll inward and die. To compensate for the lack of zinc and magnesium, top dressing is added with these elements in the composition.
4. Boron, calcium and sulfur. Leaves with a deficiency of such elements are affected by necrosis. Plants shed ovaries and flowers. Complex fertilizer is needed for tomatoes.

Excess nutrients

Excess nutrients are also bad for tomatoes. In this case, the plants begin to "fatten", which leads to a significant decrease in yield.

With an excess of what substances the leaves suffer:

1. Nitrogen... Brown spots appear that grow throughout the plate. This leads to curling and death of the greenery. The earth is watered with plenty of water and then allowed to dry.
2. Chlorine... With an excess of chlorine, iron deficiency develops. To replenish it, tomatoes are sprayed with iron sulfate.

Hypothermia in the open field

Tomatoes are thermophilic, so in our country not all varieties are suitable for growing outdoors. Most of them are not resistant to low temperatures. With hypothermia, the root system of tomatoes begins to rot. In most cases, it is impossible to save such plants.

Other reasons

There are a number of other reasons why the ground part of tomatoes is affected. The list contains the most common ones:

1. Increased acidity of the soil. Tomatoes love slightly acidic soil. To check the acidity of the soil, use a litmus test. To normalize acidity indicators, lime, chalk and ash are added.
2. Stress... With any transplant, tomatoes are under severe stress. Therefore, often in the first two weeks after the pick, their greens look wilted. If you do not follow the rules for preparing for transplantation, the stress can be so strong that the plants will die.
3. Cramped capacity. If a pot with a volume of less than 2 liters is used for balcony varieties of tomatoes, then the plants will not have enough space. Because of this, a weak root system will not cope with the supply of nutrients to the ground part of the plant.
4. Increased humidity in the greenhouse and greenhouse. Humidity above 70% is detrimental to the culture.

Yellowing of leaves in seedlings

Seedlings of tomatoes are grown indoors. Therefore, there are fewer reasons why the leaves may turn yellow at this stage:

1. Sowing seeds too often. If the distance between the seeds is less than 1 cm, the roots of the seedlings will intertwine, which will eventually lead to their death.
2. Small container for grown plants... When the first true leaves appear on the seedlings, they are dived into separate pots, the volume of which is not less than 300 ml. Roots will not form properly in tight containers.
3. Excess or lack of watering... For seedlings, such mistakes are as destructive as for adult bushes.
4. Nitrogen deficiency. If all the rules for caring for seedlings are followed, but the bushes still lose their turgor, the reason lies in the lack of nitrogen.
5. Hypothermia... Often, seedlings are grown on a windowsill, without thinking that drafts are detrimental to tomatoes.

How to recognize the cause

What to do if tomato leaves turn yellow? See exactly how the color changed, pay attention to which leaves are damaged.

If the changes affected the upper part of the bush, then the most likely causes are diseases and lack of nutrients.

The lower part of the bush suffers from hypothermia and damage to the root system. Old leaves often die off when tomatoes are transplanted into open ground.

How to prevent yellow foliage

Damage to the ground part of tomatoes is easier to prevent than to treat.

Observe preventive measures:

1. Disinfection. Disinfect seeds, soil and garden tools. To do this, use a solution of potassium permanganate.
2. Choose the right place for outdoor planting. Looking for sunny areas.
3. Treatment of plants with antifungal agents. For these purposes, use "Fitosporin" and folk remedies.
4. Airing the greenhouse. The vents are opened daily.
5. Correct watering. The soil is moistened 2-3 times a week with warm, settled water.
6. Treatment of plants from pests. To do this, use a soap solution, a decoction of chamomile and celandine. Farmers are using chemicals.
7. Hypothermia prevention. To prevent the tomatoes from dying due to night frosts, they are covered with foil in the first two weeks after planting.
8. Compliance with the feeding schedule. Tomatoes are fed 3 or 4 times per season.
9. Preliminary preparation of the soil. The remains of plants are removed from the soil. Then it is disinfected and tested for acidity. If high, add ash or lime.
10. Compliance with crop rotation. If you plant tomatoes in a place where nightshade crops have been grown for three years, then the risk of their infection will increase significantly.

Recommendations and reviews of gardeners

Experienced gardeners know tricks that significantly reduce the risk of tomato death.

Irina Vasilyeva, Krasnoyarsk: «Often encountered black leg seedlings. Neither disinfection nor seed dressing helped. A friend advised adding drainage to the seedling containers. I am using shell rock. Since then, I have not encountered this problem. "

Evgeny Goncharov, Arkhangelsk: “To reduce the risk of yellowing of tomatoes when transplanting seedlings into a greenhouse, it is necessary to take the soil from the greenhouse. A few days before picking the plants, they are watered and fed. "

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Conclusion

If the leaves of tomatoes turn yellow, then the plants need additional attention. There are many reasons: improper watering, untimely feeding, root damage during transplantation, disease. To find out exactly, you need to analyze your methods of caring for tomatoes.

It is impossible to cure already damaged leaves. However, by timely fixing the problem that caused such changes, you will save healthy parts of the plants.