Reasons for Dried and Withered Leaves on Potted Cherry Tomatoes and How to Fix Them

When you grow cherry tomatoes, do the lush green leaves suddenly start turning yellow, drying up, or even the whole plant wilting? Today let's share the causes of dry, withered cherry tomato leaves and the targeted solutions.

Cause 1: Fusarium wilt

Fusarium wilt specifically attacks the root and stem area, and it is most likely to break out during the flowering and fruiting period. At first only the bottom leaves turn yellow and curl, then it slowly spreads upward, and the leaves start turning brown and drying from the edges, feeling brittle and breaking easily when touched. If you pull up the plant, you will find the roots have turned brown and rotted, and when you cut the stem open you can see brown vascular bundles. In severe cases the whole plant withers and dies quickly, and it is highly contagious!

Solution: Once fusarium wilt is confirmed, immediately pull out the diseased plant and destroy it thoroughly to prevent the pathogen from spreading; disinfect the soil around the diseased plant with quicklime or carbendazim, and for the time being do not plant tomatoes, eggplants and other Solanaceae plants there; prevention is better than cure! Before planting, soak the seeds in carbendazim to disinfect them, choose disease-resistant varieties, avoid continuous cropping, and add some decomposed organic fertilizer to the soil to boost disease resistance.

Cause 2: Nutrient deficiency
 
Cherry tomatoes need a lot of nutrients during the fruiting period. When the soil lacks key elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the leaves send out "signals." When nitrogen is deficient, the old leaves turn yellow first, drying gradually from the leaf tips to the veins, and the new leaves are small and thin; when potassium is deficient, the leaf margins scorch and brown spots appear on the leaves, as if they had been burned by fire; when phosphorus is deficient, the leaves turn dark green with a purple tinge, and the bottom leaves dry up and drop early. The drying caused by nutrient deficiency is "gradual," and the whole plant grows thin and weak, bearing little fruit and dropping fruit easily.

Solution: First observe the leaf symptoms to judge which nutrient is lacking: yellow leaves without spots are mostly nitrogen deficiency, scorched leaf margins are mostly potassium deficiency, and dark green leaves with a purple tinge are mostly phosphorus deficiency; then apply the corresponding fertilizer in time: for nitrogen deficiency use decomposed soybean cake fertilizer or nitrogen fertilizer; for potassium deficiency use plant ash or potassium fertilizer; for phosphorus deficiency use bone meal or phosphate fertilizer, applying light fertilizer frequently without overdoing it; during the growing period apply a compound fertilizer once every 2 weeks, and during the fruiting period focus on supplementing potassium fertilizer so the leaves have enough nutrients to "keep going."

Cause 3: Improper watering
 
Cherry tomatoes fear both drought and waterlogging, and improper watering is a common cause of dry leaves! Watering too much causes water to accumulate in the soil, the roots are deprived of oxygen and rot, and the leaves turn yellow and wither starting from the bottom, feeling soft to the touch, with the base of the stem damp; when watering too little or during drought, the leaves curl upward, the edges scorch and become brittle, the wilting is more obvious under strong midday sun, and the potting soil cakes and cracks.

Solution: Follow "water when dry, dry-wet cycle" when watering: water again when the potting soil is dry 2cm below the surface, and when you do water, water thoroughly but do not let water accumulate, and do not leave standing water in the saucer under potted plants; if waterlogging has rotted the roots, immediately take the plant out of the pot and cut off the rotted roots, soak the roots in carbendazim to disinfect them, repot in clean fresh soil, and shade it temporarily while it recovers; if it is drought and lack of water, first pour a small amount of water along the edge of the pot to moisten the soil, then after half an hour slowly water thoroughly, to avoid suddenly watering a lot and shocking the roots, and normally you can mist the leaves to increase humidity.

Cause 4: Pest and disease attack

Powdery mildew, early blight, leaf spot and aphids are all "natural enemies" of cherry tomatoes! Powdery mildew covers the leaves with a white powdery substance, and later the leaves turn yellow and dry up, as if dusted with a layer of flour; early blight produces round brown spots on the leaves surrounded by yellow halos, and after the spots expand the leaves die; aphids gather on the undersides of the leaves to suck sap, causing the leaves to curl, turn yellow and dry up, and they also spread viral diseases.

Solution: For fungal diseases such as powdery mildew and early blight, dilute carbendazim or thiophanate-methyl and spray the leaves once a week for 2-3 times in a row; for pests such as aphids, when there are only a few you can wipe the leaves with soapy water, and in severe cases spray insecticides such as imidacloprid or Huahuashen, paying attention to the undersides of the leaves and the tender shoot tips; normally keep good ventilation and light, do not let the plants get too crowded, promptly remove diseased leaves and branches, and after rain wipe the moisture off the leaves to reduce the breeding of diseases.

Cause 5: Too much environmental stress

Cherry tomatoes are very sensitive to environmental changes, and unsuitable temperature, light, wind and so on can all cause the leaves to dry up. When the temperature is below 10°C or above 35°C, the leaves turn yellow and wilt; when there is not enough light, the bottom leaves dry up first and the plant grows leggy and weak; when the wind is too strong, it speeds up the loss of water from the leaves, causing the edges to scorch, as if blown dry.

Solution: Keep the temperature at 20-28°C, which is most suitable; in winter move it to a warm place, in summer shade it and cool it down, and keep it away from air-conditioner and heater vents; make sure it gets 6-8 hours of light a day, supplement with a grow light when there is not enough light, and avoid leaving it in a dark corner for a long time; when growing outdoors choose a sheltered spot, when growing on a balcony do not put it in a drafty spot, and on windy days you can cover it with a breathable plastic bag to block the wind and reduce water loss from the leaves.

Dry, withered cherry tomato leaves are nothing to be afraid of; the key is to find the cause first! Observe the location and condition of the dried leaves, then judge based on recent watering, fertilizing and environmental changes, and with the right targeted treatment it will slowly recover.