Tomato is one of the favorites of many gardeners because it is easy to grow, has a short fruiting time, and makes a great addition to many family meals.
During the process of growing and caring for tomato plants, one of the problems many gardeners face is the condition of tomato plants wilting after transplanting.
Previously, when tomato plants were planted in pots or plastic bags, the tomato plants grew fast, healthy and sturdy. Why are your tomato plants wilting after transplant? Let’s analyze some of the basic reasons in this article.
Why Are Your Tomato Plants Wilting After Transplant?
There are many different causes of tomato plants wilting after transplanting. However, some of the basic causes that you need to pay attention to are the hardness of the tomato plant, damage to the roots after transplanting, too much watering, too much fertilizer, and pests.
1. Tomato Plants Wilted Due To Water-Related Problems
Whenever your tomato plants are wilting, yellowing, or drooping, the first cause you need to think about is lack of water. Lack of water will cause tomato plants to quickly signal by wilting or turning yellow.
This leaf wilting is tomato plants’ way of protecting themselves by reducing the area of ​​leaves exposed to the sun and air to avoid rapid water loss due to evaporation.
If the tomato plant is deprived of water for many days, the leaves of the tomato plant will appear dry or brittle. So, you should water regularly for young tomato plants every day if in hot weather and high temperature.
You should water in the morning and evening, water from the trunk down and water deeply for the roots. If the weather is too hot, you also need a canopy, covered with soil or thin straw to help tomato plants avoid rapid dehydration.
Besides, watering too much will also cause the tomato plants to have the same condition. This is even a more common cause than lack of watering.
Most of us know that tomato plants need a lot of water, so everyone tends to water them a lot. However, they also need an adequate amount of water because they will also absorb water from the soil if the roots are already embedded in the soil.
The manifestation of tomato plants when overwatered is also wilting and yellowing leaves, so many gardeners do not realize and continue to water, causing tomato plants to rot and die.
Check the moisture in the soil, you should make sure that the soil is not too wet and continuously waterlogged for a long time. You can test the soil before watering if it dries to a depth of several inches.
2. Tomato Plants Lack The Sturdiness
Usually, we will sow tomato seeds in soil trays or soil bags in plastic bags for easy care and space-saving. In particular, in some areas, extreme weather such as rain, cold, frost, or snow will make young tomato plants susceptible to death.
So, when you plant tomato seeds indoors or in a sheltered environment from the sun and wind, the tomato plants are used to the protected environment, so the tomato stems may become weak and unable to withstand the heat and the external environment after transplanting.
Therefore, an important factor that you need to pay attention to is giving the young tomato plants time to get used to the outside environment for 1-2 weeks before transplanting them directly into the ground.
This will give the young tomato plants time to adapt to the weather, strong winds and direct sunlight for many hours will help the stems become stronger.
A particularly important note is that you should transplant young tomato plants in the evening so that the plants do not lose water quickly and have time to adapt before having to deal with the sun and wind in the difficult first days.
3. Tomato Plants Wilted Due To Damage During Transplant
As you know, young tomato plants are extremely soft and break easily, so during transplanting you should be careful to avoid breaking stems and leaves, so when you plant directly down soil, tomato plants will not be able to grow and thrive.
After planting a young tomato plant in the ground, you should observe the stem, if the tomato stem is bent or broken, the plant will die in a few days.
If the stem is not damaged, the cause of the tomato plant wilting could also be the roots. The root system of tomato plants is very susceptible to breaking and breaking, so this will affect the ability to absorb water to feed other parts of the tomato plant.
Another common cause of tomato root rot is overplanting in a small area that causes the roots to intertwine and when you uproot young plants to plant them, they break their roots.
In particular, during the process of sowing seeds, some young tomato plants will themselves have root rot or pests, if you plant too close, they will spread diseases to each other, so you need to ensure a safe distance between young tomato plants.
4. Tomato Plants Wilt Due To Too Much Fertilizer
When young tomato plants are transplanted into the ground, many gardeners will tend to apply a lot of fertilizer to quickly grow healthy and strong. However, if you apply too much fertilizer, the young tomato plants will be shocked and cause the leaves to wilt and burn.
This can happen if you apply a quick fertilizer without providing enough water for the young tomato plants. This is like eating a lot of salt without drinking enough water.
Therefore, you should use organic fertilizers, pellets, or compost to give tomato plants time to absorb and grow.
5. Tomato Plants Wilted Due To Pests
Tomato plants can wilt and wilt when infected with pests for a variety of reasons. The best way to protect other young tomato plants is to remove diseased tomato plants.
Some common diseases include blight, Fusarium wilt, and Verticillium wilt. Therefore, when choosing seeds, you should choose tomato varieties that can resist this disease. It is usually denoted F and V in horticultural catalogs, respectively.
Be wary of aphids as they can also destroy leaves and cause tomato plants to wilt. You can observe and catch them on the leaves and stems of tomato plants.
Conclude
Tomato plants can wilt leaves due to many different reasons such as improper watering, plants being too weak and not exposed to the actual environment before planting, tomato plants having pests and diseases, damaged stems and roots, or fertilizing too much.
For more information on how to grow and care for tomato plants and related matters, you can learn more in the tomato plant directory here.