I got this at Home Depot a week or so ago, and suddenly it looks bad, with black ends. The weather hasn’t been extreme for a change, and it’s been outside in dappled shade. I’m about to transplant it, but it occurred to me if this is a disease I didn’t want to inoculate a pot with it. What does it look like to you? I’ve never seen a tomato that looks quite like it, there was even a little bunch of flowers that shriveled up and turned black. Any ideas?
I can’t see the blackened parts well, but cold temps and fungal disease come to mind.
No ideas other than a lot of things could have gone wrong at the nursery in November, at least in my climate. Do folks do tomatoes in the winter there?
I’m still trying to get my head around seeing tomatoes at Home Depot in November but agree with shrinkrap as to possible issues. Maybe trim off the black stuff, feed well, and get into full sun asap?
LOL- it’s not common, but it intrigued me. It’s been in the 90s and 80s up until this week, and since tomatoes don’t do sh*t when it’s 105+, and it was like that most of the summer, I thought i’d try a fall crop. I trimmed off the dead stuff, and I think I see growth after the ends got burnt, put it in a bigger pot with fresh soil, and for tonight put a plastic cloche on top of it, and half buried it in a circular galvanized planter with some chiles. I have a heat mat if necessary, too. I may coddle it, we’ll see. It’s now a science experiment.
most like a wilt disease - which stays in the soil, for a long time . . .
I’d dump them -
I put it in a bigger pot, and brought it inside on a heat mat and grow light since the weather hasn’t been tomato friendly the last couple of days. It’s got a cloche on it and I’m keeping an eye out for signs of more wilt. It’s a Chocolate Sprinkles, which is supposed to be pretty resistant to wilt and a few other things, but you never know.
Thanks for the post, I was wondering. Now i’m isolating and watching.
good approach.
“environmental” is a known ‘leaf curl’ issue - but ‘black leaves’ have a strong association with multiple flavors of wilt…
A grow light is a good idea!
I don’t think it has anything to do with the black bits, but the other challenge growing tomatoes now is the short days and long nights. Are there any flowers?
There were two flower stalks but they turned black when the older leaves did. Broke my heart, it did.
Like I said, it’s on a heat mat with a grow light that’s on for 12ish hours. I’m watching it closely. Obsessively, even.
Fingers crossed! Might I suggest a leafy green like some lettuce as a back up? Just in case the grow light can’t meet the demands of a fruiting plant.
Well, I looked at it yesterday, saw more black leaves, took it, brand spanking new potting soil and all, and tossed it in the trash 
. I have a hard enough time growing things in our God’s-pizza-oven summers, so I don’t need pathogens added to the mix. I did see that everybody and their uncle carries Chocolate Sprinkles seeds, so I can try again later. Cherry tomatoes do best out here, so if I go for it, it’ll be cherry tomatoes.
Growing tomatoes in hot climates is harder than many folks think. If you can have large transplants of early ripening tomatoes ready to put out when your nights reach the 50’s, I am sure you will be more successful.
