Tomato Plants Burnt Leaves | Effective Strategies

Growing tomatoes is considered a cornerstone of any garden. It not only provides juicy and flavourful tomatoes but also enhances the view of your garden. However, the tomato plant has a common issue that every gardener faces including burned leaves. so let’s find out how it solves it and also how to prevent tomatoes from this.

The burnt leaves on tomatoes range from nutrient deficiencies to environmental factors. Before addressing these issues, you need to understand the reason for causing, affecting, and how to fix them properly.

After spending decades in gardening, I think I am the right person to explain to you why it’s happening to your tomato plants and what you can do to prevent it from ever happening again. So, let’s hop into the guide below.

Reason of Burnt Leaves on Tomato Plants:

One of the possible reasons could be chlorine and fluoride in water; let me explain: sometimes fluoride and chlorine are found excessively in water, which shows its effect on plant leaves and turns their edges brown. For that, you can use a remedy, which is boiling some eggshells and putting them in cold water. Then, put that water into your tomato plants. If you can’t find eggshells, then you can use calcium pills instead of eggshells.

Another possible reason for tomato leaves burning is you might put some fertilizer on the leaves while fertilizing the tomato plant. I made this mistake some time ago. While fertilizing the tomato plant with fertilizer, I accidentally put some on its leaves, which burn them and turn them brown.

One of the simple solutions that worked for me was to protect the plant by cutting the leaves that were burnt. A botany special told me that whenever you face burned leaves on a plant, especially on Tomato, just cut those leaves, and it will regrow new healthy leaves. But it might not work for you because there are different things that could cause the burnt leaves on your tomato plants. below, we define some of those causes, so let’s find out what they are.

Common Causes of Burnt Leaves on Tomato:

There are different possible factors that burn the leaves of tomato plants including heirloom tomatoes, which not only affect the plant itself but also affect its fruits. Some of those factors are common and are given below.

Environmental Factors:

To Much Sun:

As you may already know, the sun is a key factor for plants to thrive, but the common saying is that ‘excessive is bad’; just like that, too much sun is very bad for plants. And if you live in hot areas where the sun is scorching during the peak hours. It not only burns the leaves but also ___ the plant. To protect it from that scorching sun, you should use some sort of greenhouse in your garden.

High Temperature:

Well, you think that it’s the same as too much sun (discussed above) but not different. It’s for those who plant their tomato plant in a pot instead of a garden. Exposure to extreme heat also causes leaf burn in almost every plant, especially in tomatoes. As mentioned above, if you plant your tomatoes in a pot, then I would recommend taking it aside or placing it under a shade during mid-day when the temperature is at its peak.

High Winds:

If you live in warm, windy areas, and you think your tomato plant leaves look burnt, then it must be the high-speed warm winds that burn your tomato plant leaves. As you know, the Tomato is a seasonal plant, and it is only grown in the summer. The windy area where high wind blow fast during the summer, it takes all the moisture from the leaves of the plant. Which then makes it easy for the sun to burn its leaves.

Watering Issues:

Watering any plant properly with its requried water is very important. Watering has two main issues in tomatoes, which is inconsistent or excessive water.

Inconsistent Watering:

Watering regularly your tomato plant is very important for healthy growth. If you don’t provide enough water to the tomato plant, then it gets stressed out and leads to different problems in which leaf burn is common and makes the tomato plants look burnt.

Excessive Watering:

As mentioned above, water is good for plants, but not too much. It is because when you water too much plant especially for a tomato plant, some of the droplets sit on the leaves and act as magnifying glasses for the leaves and increase the sun’s rays, which, as a result, burns the leaves.

Also Read: Do Cucumber Plants Die After Fruiting?

Nutrients and Soil Problems:

Nutrients Deficiencies:

Just like humans, plants need some basic nutrients for growth and survival, and lack of those nutrients, they face a lot of different problems, just like us. Nutrients deficiencies is very dangerous in plants. In your gardening career, you will face a lot of those problems. When a tomato plant lacks some basic nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and potassium, then it affects the whole plant but most commonly its leaves. Its leaves start turning yellow and develop burn edges.

Imbalance in Soil pH:

Soil preparation is considered one of the important factors in gardening. For Tomato, you have to prepare it slightly neutral. The tomato plant is slightly acidic in nature, so you avoid making the soil acidic or alkaline. Because it is well then abortion it and as a result in its effect, it leaves and makes then burn and turn yellow.

Chemical Effects:

Overuse of Fertilizers:

Fertilizer is a key component for growing any plants. But as I mentioned above, excess of everything is bad, and just like that, excessive fertilizer can affect your plant in a bad way. The fertilizer has nitrogen, and overuse of nitrogen is one of the common reasons for burning plants, especially their leaves.

Herbicide Drift:

Herbicides applied to nearby plants or lawns can drift onto tomato plants, causing chemical burns on the leaves.

Infestations:

Insects and pests are some of the main killers of every plant and crop. The burned leaves of tomatoes can also be the cause of pests and insects.

Phytophthora Infestans:

It’s actually a fungus that grows outside of the plants, which is pretty common in crops and especially vegetables. It’s also common in tomatoes, which burn their leaves and turn them yellow.

Preventing Measures:

After discussing its main causes, now it’s time to explain how to overcome those problems and prevent them from happening in the future; some will be easy and simple, while others need extra work.

Choosing the Right Location:

Choosing the right and proper location for your tomato plant is very important. There are a couple of things that you should know or keep in mind before choosing a place in your garden.

It should be a place where it receives sunlight but not during the afternoon because the extreme heat of the afternoon can damage the plant and burn its leaves. It should be a place where it only receives sunlight during the morning hours or at even.

It should be a place where direct winds protect it because the wind takes all the moisture from its leaves, which then becomes easy to burn.

Methods and Timing of Watering:

Water is life, and it not only improves the growth of the plant but also encourages the plant to give you enough fruit. Most gardeners think that watering every day is good, but trust me, it’s not the case. You should only give daily water to your tomato plant when you live in a hot area where the water evaporates very fast. Other than that, you should avoid daily watering of your tomato plant.

The time to water your tomato plant, according to my personal experience, you should water a tomato plant every three to four days especially in morning or in evening. You should also have an irrigation system or soaker hose which provides water to the plant whenever then needed.

Managing the Soil:

Managing the soil for a plant is a pretty hard job, especially for a tomato plant. Before and during the growing phase of a tomato plant, you have to monitor the soil for proper nutrients and pH levels to prevent its leaves from burning. You should increase or decrease the nutrients and pH levels as needed.

Fertilization:

Every plant needs fertilization for balanced growth, and Tomato is no different. You should use a proper fertilizer on your tomato plant, but make sure not to overload it because it contains nitrogen, and nitrogen is one of the main reasons for burning plant leaves, especially tomatoes.

Treatment for Tomato Burnet Leaves:

We discussed its common reason, but now we discuss the possible treatment of Tomato burnt leaves. Below, we have explained it in a step-by-step process, so let’s get to it.

Removing Affected Leaves:

The first thing you should do is remove all the burnt leaves from the tomato plant, which makes it stress-free. This will not only reduce the risk of spreading the infection but also improve airflow in the plant.

Adjust Watering:

Adjust its watering time; if you water consistently, then you have to give it some time to absorb the water properly. But if the plant doesn’t get proper Watering and, make sure to avoid fluctuation in the water because it affects the plant.

Testing Soil:

Now check the soil of that tomato plant. If it lacks nutrients, then add some proper fertilizer, but if it has excessive nutrients, don’t add any extra.

Covering the Plant:

If the plant is in the open, face the intensive heat of sunlight during the mid-day, then use a thick cloth to cover and protect it from the extreme sunlight in the hottest part of the day. If it’s in a pot, then take the pot inside for that time of the day.

Here is a video demonstration of treating tomato burnt leaves.

Conclusion:

The burned leaves in any plant are considered a dangerous sign for the plant. In tomato plants, it could be the reason for several possible issues that need to be properly monitored, managed, and then fixed. After reading the above guide, you will be able to solve the issue by yourself, but if the issue still persists, then let me know, and I will personally help you out.

If you have any questions about anything related to the above blog, then feel free to ask them in the comment section, and I will ask them as soon as possible. In mean meantime, you can visit our website gardencrafting.com to get more quarries about gardening.