Tomato

What it needs, briefly

Light

At least 6-8 hours of direct sun. In less it grows tall and sets no fruit.

Water

Regular and deep. Letting the soil dry out hard and then soaking it is the real cause of blossom end rot.

Soil

Free-draining and rich in organic matter. Slightly acidic, pH 6.0-6.8.

If you can see this

• Nutrient deficiency

  Lower leaves yellowing, working slowly upwards

  Likely cause

  Nitrogen deficiency. Nitrogen is mobile: when there is not enough, the plant pulls it out of old leaves and moves it into new growth, which is why the yellowing always starts at the bottom.

  Don't confuse it with

  If the yellowing starts on the youngest leaves it is not nitrogen: look for an immobile nutrient or a root problem.

• Growing conditions

  A dark, sunken, leathery patch at the blossom end of the fruit

  Likely cause

  Blossom end rot. There is usually calcium in the soil; the problem is that it is not reaching the fruit, and the reason for that is irregular watering.

  Don't confuse it with

  Look at the watering pattern before buying calcium. Farmagile files this as a cultural problem rather than a deficiency on purpose: reading it as a deficiency sells people calcium they already have.

• Disease

  Brown spots with concentric rings and a yellow halo, on the lower leaves

  Likely cause

  Early blight. It spreads from spores splashed up out of the soil, which is why it always starts on the lowest leaves and moves up.

• Disease

  Dark, greasy-looking patches spreading fast on leaves and stems, with a white bloom underneath in damp weather

  Likely cause

  Late blight. In cool, wet weather it can take the plant in days; it is the one tomato finding that is genuinely urgent.

  Don't confuse it with

  Two differences from early blight: no ring pattern, and far faster.

• Pest

  Fine webbing under the leaves and pinprick yellow stippling on top

  Likely cause

  Spider mites. They explode in hot, dry air, especially under cover.

• Pest

  A round hole in the fruit, hollowed out inside

  Likely cause

  Caterpillars. They go into the fruit rather than chewing at it, so the damage is well advanced by the time it is visible.

The difference is in the second look

Answering one photo is the easy part. With Tomato, whether the advice worked only shows days later, which is why Farmagile comes back and asks.

1. 1Today: upload the photo, get the finding and what to do about it.
2. 2A few days later the app comes back and asks: did it get better?
3. 3If it didn't: a second look from a new photo, free, this time knowing what the first one said. If it is still unclear, there is an agronomist behind it.

With tomatoes the first answer is rarely enough on its own. Change the watering and you see the effect in the fruit that sets next; fruit already marked will not recover. So the real question is not what happened today, it is whether the same thing shows up on the new fruit two weeks from now.

Seeing this on your own plant?

No account needed. You see the answer first.

Other plants

• Strawberry
• Blueberry