Sorry, for posting an unrelated topic on here, but I am not a member of any other forum where I feel I can get a reply ;)


This tomato was not watered... dried out....

It looks like it will lose its main leaves....

Can this be revived.  I see "nubs" on the stem yet.

Ordinarily, I would discard it and buy a new one, but it is a variety that is hard to come by locally (it was mail ordered).  So if I could save it, it would be great.?

Thoughts?

Thanks!

If it were mine and it has "nubs" in the stem, I would cut it off just above the highest one of the "nubs." I would then give it
a dose of  liquid kelp or some other root stimulator at half strength. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Yep, I agree with Mike. I would cut it just above the nub where the main stem is still vertical. Or anthoer way of saying it would be cut it where it is starting to lean/bend, just above the nub sticking out to the right in the picture.

In the future, tomatos are really easy to start from seed ahead of time.

Out of curiosity, what variety is that?
I started 2 heirloom tomatoes from seeds ordered online this year (like Calvin suggested) and out of 10, 7 germinated and grew really fast. When they reached about 1 ft, I buried the ones I liked (with the thickest stems) almost all the way, leaving about 3 inches above the ground (cutting the leaves underneath). From start to finish it took me about 40 days.

You can bury it deep, as greenfig said. Tomatoes will send roots out from the buried stem very quickly. You might also pinch the top if it is wilted beyond saving. Keep it watered and it should go for you.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

It is an Opalka tomato.  It is a Polish paste variety.  Very good. (I have grown them past years).

Just a clarification:  I should basically pinch the top off, getting rid of existing leaves.  And new leaves will come through?  I can understand that roots would develop... but I was not sure if new leaves would sprout out.

Thanks all!

Is Opalka productive for you?
I tried it last year and the plant grew good, but wasn't very productive for me. This seems to be the case with all the large paste tomatos, for me. Super SanMarzano, San Marzano Giagante, and now Opalka. I am trying Opalka one more time this year, if it doesn't produce well..then it wasn't meant for me.

I like Rabbit's Foot.

I love to grow Mortgage Lifters, even though the weather constantly causes diseases in my tomato plants.

I'd cut the top off and hope for new leaves to sprout.  No guarantee of it surviving, but give it a try.

You're 60/40 on survival, but the above advise was very good.  Tomatoes are tough, as long as some tiny part of it is alive, it can make it.

I agree with the above!!

Last year I forgot a tomato plant in the car for a week!!  Good thing my windows are tinted but it was VERY SAD AND DRY :(  Poor thing,  anyway, I re-hydrated it and it grew very well until I just couldn't keep up with the garden due to other pressing issues that were going on.

No harm in trying.  But after such a severe stress event, it may not produce as much, even if it manages to eventually recover.  I had deer eat the top off of several of my tomato plants a couple weeks ago.  Luckily I had not yet pruned off all the suckers, so now they should take charge.  But it is a significant setback and will likely delay the crop.  With tomatoes on the east coast, it's always a race against the clock with diseases and frost and whatnot, so a delayed crop probably means a smaller one. 

Hi,
I would just bury that tomato deeper with 10 centimeters of the stem in the dirt. I wouldn't cut anything.
It seems to me that I see a dark stain on the stem near the dirt, and that could mean that the upper part has no longer access to the roots .
So bury it for access to the dirt via self "airlayering" ... sounds familiar for a technique ... Where have I read about ? :)

Yes, bury deep. You by that from cross-country nursery/chileplants.com? Looks like it based on packaging...