What is wrong with my tomato plants?

Question

(Disclaimer: I'm a novice tomato-gardener, this is my first season)

I love in eastern NC, and my tomato plants just seem... small. And now I'm starting to get tomatoes on my plants, but they're already turning red and they're... small as well!

The plants are mostly Roma tomatoes with a few beef steak mixed in.

I water every single day!! I think they are hydrated. We have sandy soil, but this is a raised garden bed with what I believed to be rich soil. And the soil is as-is (no fertilizer or any other "additives").

By looking at these plants/tomatoes, is anything clear why they aren't bigger? Growing up in Jersey, I'm use to my parents having tomato plants that are a dark, deep green and grow fast and huge. And of course on those plants in Jersey the tomatoes were quite large as well. I don't know why I'm not getting the same results here.

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

Answer 1

You have a bunch of plants close together. This may impact your fruit size. If your raised bed has a bottom, that could limit the roots even further.

If you're watering every day, you may be watering too much.

In addition to that, my guess is you need more nitrogen and phosphorus. It's possible you need more potassium and magnesium, too, and a higher PH.

Roma tomatoes tend to have much broader, leafier-looking leaves than shown in your plants. The smaller leaves are possibly due to a phosphorus deficiency. I've personally seen rock phosphate make a huge difference in indoor Rocoto pepper leaves. However, this article also says that phosphorus helps with leaf size and the number of leaves. Nitrogen and magnesium should help your plants to become a darker green. Nitrogen is the most known nutrient that helps with growth. I wouldn't add more phosphorus than nitrogen unless you're particularly deficient in phosphorus, but not in nitrogen. Since you have bits of wood in your soil, you probably need nitrogen even more, because it takes nitrogen to decompose wood.

Phosphorus and potassium may help with fruit size, too. Potassium is most known for it, but I tend to think whatever you need more of is what's going to help. Get a soil test if you can. If your stems are weak (if they bend easily), you may need more potassium (potentially with calcium, too).

It's possible that you need better soil microbes. I've heard that they can affect fruit size (mycorrhizae in particular), and I know they can affect the leaf size (from experience trying to grow cucumbers/watermelon in sterilized soil, which plants had tiny leaves). Worm castings, composted horse manure (or such), rockdust and such should help you get good microbes in your soil. Rockdust doesn't contain microbes particularly, but microbes are said to like it. It's more of a long-term thing, though, I hear (rather than something to use for immediate results).

If your water is chlorinated (or such), it may be killing beneficial microbes. Watering less often would probably help, if you can't find another water source without chlorine.

Answer 2

I agree with Shule and J.Musser. Too much water (tap???) and at this moment, better fertilizing. If you have sandy soil and water everyday you are washing away nutrients. Your plants look FINE other than they need more fertilizer. I'd use Osmocote for vegies. It is extended release and can't be washed away, necessarily. DO add some completely decomposed compost to boost the microorganism component (VITAL) for your soil. Just put on top of your soil. Keeps moisture in and the organisms eating it will pull it into your soil profile and poop out great stuff for your soil. In fall, grow 'green compost' to build your soil. Only water if your soil is dry 2" down...Is there a bottom to this raised bed? Do you use tap (city) water or is it well water? Salts, chlorine and fluoride that we find in all of our city waters are horrid more so for potted plants than your outdoor garden. Finding this stuff in bottled water as well!! Kinda tough to buy water for your outdoor garden! My concern is drainage. Plants DO NOT NEED deep soil, drainage IS critical. Next year you'll need to watch for disease and probably you should plant another type of vegey that is not related to tomatoes!! Late blight is a huge bummer...!! Go get a soil test from your Extension Service! Cheap. Every year is always a year for experimenting and learning!! Learning the hard way is so very the making of a gardener, sigh!! But your plants are HEALTHY, a bit light in color that shows you NEED more fertilizer. DO NOT use a high nitrogen fertilizer! NPK ratio should be even numbers or the N should be less than the P and the K. Osmocote is easy and predictable. When you get more involved with plants, more testing, you can go to more complicated, organic fertilizers. Simple is always better. Osmocote has always worked for all of my clients for years...