Does Too Much Fertilizer Cause Yellow Leaves on a Tomato Plant?
Fertilizer is a useful product for plants such as tomatoes. The plants use the fertilizer as food to grow large and healthy. But, any gardener who has ever thought, "if a little bit is good, a lot will be better" in regards to fertilizer, soon finds out the hard way that the opposite is true. Too much fertilizer can burn the roots of plants, and can cause wilting, yellowing and even death. Does this Spark an idea?
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Fertilizer Burn
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The damage done by over fertilizing plants is known as fertilizer burn. This is because plants that are given too much fertilizer have a burned appearance, with foliage that turns brown and crispy. Fertilizer burn occurs when the chemicals in fertilizer draw water out of the plant. As a result, the plant dries out. This process is known as a hygroscopic process. Salt in fertilizers are the frequent cause of the fertilizer burn.
Symptoms
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Over fertilized tomato plants first show signs of damage in their leaves. As water withdraws from the leaves, they appear limp and begin to yellow. As the symptoms progress, the yellow leaves turn brown and become crispy. The best way to check for fertilizer burn around a tomato is to take a sample of the soil from around the plant and submit it for analysis to a soil laboratory. The soil laboratory will inform you if there is a high level of nutrients in the soil.
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Problems From Lack of Fertilizer
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Despite the dangers of fertilizer burn, most tomatoes are heavy feeders. Without fertilizer, tomatoes may suffer from blossom end rot, a condition that occurs when there is not enough calcium in the soil. Blossom end rot appears on tomatoes first as a slightly brown, water-soaked lesion on the blossom end of the tomato. The lesion eventually enlarges and turns black and leathery.
How to Fertilize
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The best fertilizer to apply is a balanced fertilizer or one low in nitrogen. Nitrogen encourages leaf development to the detriment of fruit set. A good starter fertilizer is an 8-8-8 fertilizer mixed at a rate of 4 tbsp. per gallon of water. Apply fertilizer again during fruit set and then every 7 to 10 days from that point on.
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- Photo Credit tomato plants image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com
