If there is one plant that is as enjoyable to devour as a tropical fruit, it is definitely tomato.
I mean, what’s not to like?
It can be eaten fresh straight from its stem, you can turn it into a really sweet catsup, or you can make a whole dish of pasta out of it. Apart from this, it is also rich in antioxidants which makes it a good and natural skin care product.
To be able to know if your tomato plant is growing well, you should not just focus on the fruit but on its leaves as well. Having smaller leaves than usual can be a manifestation of a more serious problem.
To know more about this and what you can do to fix this growing problem, below are some useful information that you can use as reference.
Causes of small tomato leaves
- Low or high amount of nitrogen
What to look out for:
Thin, small leaves, viney stems
What to do:
Nitrogen is one of the important elements a tomato plant needs in order to maintain a healthy and robust growth. The nitrogen in soil depletes when the organic matter in soil is insufficient; conversely, excessive amounts of nitrogen can cause your plant to grow more rapidly, thus makes your tomato plant leggy or viney. To fix this, you will need to conduct a soil test to determine whether or not your soil needs more or less of nitrogen.
- Fungal diseases
What to look out for:
Wilter plants, leaf spots, molds
What to do:
Fungal diseases do not simply disrupt the leaf production of tomato plants but it also causes an entire physical and chemical damage. When not prevented, this could lead to molds build up, falling off of leaves, and eventually dying of the entire plant. In order to fix this, you can start by making your plant resistant by applying fungicides or sulfur sprays. It will also help if you space your plants about 2 to 3 feet apart, and as much as possible avoid overhead watering.
- Insufficient amount of water
What to look out for:
Dry soil, thin and small leaves
What to do:
Tomato is the type of plant that requires regular watering, specifically about an inch of water every week or else the soil will dry out quickly affecting the growth of the tomato, including the production of larger leaves. So, see to it that you follow a regular watering pattern and schedule to make sure that your tomato will get the ample amount of water that it requires.
- Lesser sunlight
What to look out for:
Wilted leaves, thin/small leaves, leaf discoloration
What to do:
Apart from water, sunlight is also one of the major necessities for growing a healthy tomato plant. Specifically, too little amount of this can make your tomato produce smaller and unhealthy leaves because of lack of nutrients. Insufficient amount of sunlight can also cause your tomato plant to be leggy because they will try to grow taller to reach the light source. To address this concern, make sure that your tomato receives a good amount of sunlight for at least 8 hours a day.
Other growing problems and diseases
Aside from producing small leaves, tomato plants are also prone to many other diseases and growing problems that affect its roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Below are some of the mostly encountered problems while growing a tomato plant.
- Blossom drop
When your tomato plant produces flowers but they eventually come off even if there is no tomato fruit developing, that means your plant is manifesting a clear sign of blossom drop. Irregular temperature heavily influences blossom drop in tomato plants. In order for your plant to retain its flowers and develop its fruits, you have to grow it in an area that has regular temperatures between 55 to 75 degrees F.
Apart from fluctuating temperature, there are also other factors that contribute to blossom drop; this includes: pest infestation, insufficient water supply, lack or excessive amount of nitrogen, and shortage in pollination.
- Gray leaf spot
While gray leaf spot does not directly affect the tomato fruit, it can disrupt the overall growth of the plant, thus impacting the process of fruit production. From the name itself, signs of gray leaf spot include brown or gray bruises with yellow halo on the surface of the tomato leaf. This fungal disease causes holes on the foliage which eventually leads to leaf drop. The consistent leaf drop may not instantly kill the entire plant but it can affect the quality and taste of the tomato fruit.
- Puffiness
This kind of tomato disease is not easily acknowledged until you pick your ripe fruit and slice it in half. Puffiness means that your tomato plant is growing well, the flowers and fruit bloom according to schedule, and your tomato fruit looks healthy and red from the outside but when cut open, it shows huge spaces and not much of the fruit. Basically, puffiness makes your tomato hollow inside and less juicy.
Since this type of tomato disease is caused by lack of fertilizer, poor soil nutrition, and insufficient pollination, you can start by feeding your plant with balanced fertilizer either biweekly or monthly, depending on your plant needs.
- Leaf roll
Older tomato leaves, particularly the ones near the base of the plant are more prone to leaf roll. Due to extremely soaked soil, high temperatures, and too much pruning, the leaves curl from the outside to the center and once one leaf is infected, the disease spreads across the plant damaging nearly 75% of it.
- Sunscald
Another damaging disease that affects the quality of tomato fruit is sunscald. This appears towards the harvesting stage of the tomato where yellow patches form on the skin and eventually turn to white, making the affected area paper thin and the tomato unpalatable.
Sunscald develops when the tomato fruit is overly exposed to full sun. So, to be able to avoid this, you could transfer your plant in a slightly covered area or anywhere with shade especially at noon when the sun is at its peak.
Tips on growing tomato properly
If you are growing tomato for the first time, you need to take note of these growing tips to ensure that you prevent your plant from being damaged by the aforementioned problems and diseases.
- Heat up the soil prior to planting.
Unless the soil and air temperature are kept warm, tomatoes won’t really start to grow. So, if you are planning on planting tomatoes at the start of the season, you can begin with the preparation by preheating the soil. To do this in a quick manner, you may cover the soil to be used with a red or black plastic weeks before planting tomatoes.
- Do not overcrowd the seedlings.
Since a tomato plant has the tendency to spread, it is best that you give your plant an adequate amount of space, whether you’re growing it in a container or bed. When overcrowded, the tomato plant’s growth will be restricted, resulting in them being stressed out and eventually dying. To avoid this from happening, you may opt to transfer each tomato plant in their respective 4-inch containers once they have produced their first set of true leaves.
- Ensure that the tomato plant receives sufficient light
Tomato is a sun-loving plant and requires 6-8 hours of full sun everyday for its healthy and optimum growth. So, it would be best if you grow your tomato in the sunniest side of your garden. This will also lessen the chances of your plant to become too leggy, as a result of striving for more sunlight.
If, by any chance, you are growing your tomato indoors or you’re growing it during the winter where the day is shorter, you can make use of artificial plant light but that will require more time of light exposure. From 6-8 with the natural sunlight, you will need to expose your tomato to artificial light for about 14 to 18 hours a day, as needed.
- Get rid of the older, bottom leaves
To be able to save your tomato plant from possible fungal diseases, it is recommended that you remove the older leaves at the base of the plant especially when it’s already 3 feet high. When the tomato plant is that tall, the bottom leaves are most likely shaded by the rest of the plant which is the usual origin of fungal diseases.
Aside from this, you can also prevent fungal disease from spreading all over your tomato plant by spraying compost tea regularly.
- Prune your plant
It is no secret that pruning encourages more vigorous growth in a plant and the same thing applies to the tomato. Additionally, if you notice some little foliages in the middle of two branches, pinch them out or else your plant will have a hard time bearing fruit.
While pruning is highly recommended, be careful not to remove too much of the leaves as this may disrupt the quality and sweetness of your tomato fruit.
Benefits of tomato leaves
We all know that tomato fruit is not only incredibly delicious but also contains a lot of essential vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that are body needs especially in nourishing our skin. But, did you know that its leaves are also equally beneficial?
Contrary to what other people claim, tomato leaves are actually safe to eat. As a matter of fact, like other herbs and greens, tomato leaves are tender and fragrant. You can add it to your soup, or you can make pesto pasta out of it. Tomato leaves are also rich in phytonutrients which are believed to be extremely beneficial to human health particularly in fighting diseases. Additionally, tomato leaves also contain plenty of anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants.
