You might have heard a lot about pruning tomatoes and wondered what it was all about. The truth is that a tomato plant will not produce a big harvest of toma…
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Question by dairyqueen_88: Why is my tomato plant wilting?
I have two tomato plants. Both are in the same kind of pot, both were bought at the same time, and both were planted the same day. They are in full sun. However, one plant is thriving, and the other is starting to wilt. At first, the flowers on it started to die and now the plant is getting rather droopy. What could be the problem?
No bugs on the plant, but both pots have ants that have taken up residence.
Are these causing the problem, and what is the NATURAL way to get rid of them?
Best answer:
Answer by nichoals
it may need ammonia
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
too mutch sun
Could be that you have some critters eating its roots, or not enough water, or too much sun. Check for aphids, or too much fertilizer.
How often are you water these plants and when are you watering them? Tomatoes and veggies do most of their growing overnight. Try not water at night. It will cause extreme growth in a short period of time (which is not good).
Look very closely for a green worm that looks so much like the stem it is very difficult to see. They will kill a plant over night and then go to the next one. You cannot use that dirt for tomatoes ever again!
Put some sevin dust on them it kills almost any bug alive but will not kill the plant and perhaps you are watering it too much.
I’m glad I have a good answer to this! If you do have ants, get a BIG bucket. A 5 gallon paint bucket works great. Clean it out very well, then use a few tablespoons (or a good squirt) of dish washing detergent (Ajax, Dawn, etc.) and get it in the bucket, then fill it with water. Get it nice a soapy, then get your pot in there! Just dunk it under the water in and let it sit for a few minutes. If any stray ants try to get out, soap em!!
The soap won’t hurt the plants, but I recommend you do this in the evening, because though the soap won’t hurt the plant, it WILL burn if you do it in the sun. Once they’re soaked well, soak the plant with clean water. You may have to do this a couple of times, but it’s a harmless and affordable way to get rid of pests.
The big problem with ants is that when they decent your pots look nice, they’ll build tunnels in the soil that will create bubbles around the roots. These pockets can either stay very dry, or hold too much water, which will cause major stress on your plants. Once you get those ants out, your plant should improve. I would also recommend changing the soil if they were really bad, it can’t hurt!
Just a few more tips: Tomatoes grow fast.. very fast. Lots of sun, and while blooming, they need regular fertilizer (10-10-10) preferably water-soluble once a week according to the directions. Producing fruit takes a lot of energy, so keep feeding your plants so they can do their job!
Also, tomatoes grow out of their pots a lot. Check your roots every other week, when they’re wrapped around the pot, go up 1 size pot.
And don’t forget to cut back your plants after fruiting to promote branching, which will cause more blooming and fruiting!
Hope this helps, good luck!!
If your tomatoes have a lot of ants, they most likely have a lot of aphids, which are tiny, green, and very hard to see. They will be on the underside of the leaves and they suck the juices out of the plant. Wilting and curling leaves are many times the first indication that you have them. Take a good close look at the bottom side of the leaves. They can be killed with insecticidal soap, liquid Sevin, or any other broad spectrum insecticide.