Sad tomatoe plants

jamiegunn20

Any advice for a beginning gardener having trouble growing his first batch of tomatoes.

Ive got them in a grow bag that seems a bit waterlogged. Theyve not grown very much in the last few weeks at all. Please see attached pic. Any advice welcome. Thank you Jamie

treehugger80

are they outside? as they really don't like temps below 10-12 degrees C and in the last week temps have been closer to 5 degree C.

plus they like being damp, but not stood in water.

jamiegunn20

Yes treehugger80 they are outside. I'll take them out of the tray as well. So i shouldnt expect any growth when the temprature is below 10-12 degrees?

Fairygirl

Hi Jamie - have they been outside all that time? It's really too early for toms to be outdoors in the UK. 
They need grown on under cover until they're big enough to go outside, and then they need acclimatised over a period of days, or a week or so. The left hand one might be ok, but if the conditions are soggy, it may have problems. 
A small plant put into a huge volume of compost will also struggle as the roots won't be sufficient to deal with it. They need potting on until they reach a good size [roughly  filling a 6 or 7 inch pot] before going into a growbag. 
Have you got holes in the bottom of the bag too? 

jamiegunn20

Hi fairygirl thanks for your comment.

Yes theyve been outside since i bought the 7 weeks ago.

No i havent got any holes in bag

Should i re pot them and bring them inside?

Lyn

If they were mine I would get some big flower pots, about 12” diameter and tip the compost out of the gro bag, repot the plants and keep them under cover until the night temperature is around 10/12c 

jamiegunn20

Thank you Lynn will do

Hampshire_Hog

Hi @jamiegunn20 Yes I would take them out re pot them into 6 or 7 inch pots of compost and back indoors on a sunny windowsill if you can keep damp but not wet, remove the grow bag from tray cut some small slits around the bottom edge and allow it to dry out.

In a few weeks hopefully when we are getting night temperatures no lower than 8° they can be put back into the grow bag and I would start to feed straight away as the bag may well of lost alot of its goodness being so wet. Keep the compost moist but not wet and good luck 😁
🐖

jamiegunn20

Thank so much for the advice Hampshire_Hog, ill do exactly as you have said 👍

Fairygirl

You need lots holes in the bottom of the bag for drainage, or the compost will stagnate. That's the most likely reason they haven't grown.
Can you lift the plants out and put them into pots of fresh compost for now? I'd keep the one on the right inside in a suitable sized pot , on a bright windowsill, to allow it a chance to grow, and put the bigger one somewhere sheltered, but where it gets plenty of light. If it's breached that size, and been outside all that time, it'll probably be ok.
Let the small one grow on until the roots are filling the pot, then repot into a slightly bigger one. When you do that, bury the plant up to the lowest set of leaves, which helps stablilise it and create more roots. 
Once they look happy, and are growing well, you can put them back into the bag, but let the inside one have a couple of days outside and in at night to acclimatise again. It will also give the compost in the bag a chance to dry out a little bit. Give it a stir around too if you can, as it will be a bit solid. 
If the compost looks a bit rubbish, or if it smells, it may be worth getting another bag, or adding some fresh compost. You can also sit bottomless pots into the bag. That can be an effective way to rejuvenate what's there, and help avoid waterlogging in future. A layer of gravel in the tray is sometimes useful too.
If it was me, I'd be inclined to start afresh with a new bag.
Hopefully, all will be ok and the plants survive!

jamiegunn20

Thank you so much for the advice fairy girl i should have done a bit more reserch before hand ill follow yours and others advice and fingers crossed ill see some results. 👍