The Narrowing of Tomato Plant Stems
Starting tomatoes from seed affords the home gardener an abundance of variety of plants since just a fraction of the available tomato plants are offered as transplants. Although tomato plants need quite simple maintenance, starting them from seed can be problematic if conditions are not exactly accurate. Environmental influences can cause your tomato plants to have narrow stems, but typically this condition could be overcome. Sometimes, soil-borne fungal pathogens might be the cause of narrow stems; a careful eye is essential to discern the difference between that cause and other causes.
Leggy Plants
Leggy tomato plants are those that are otherwise healthy but have long, thin stems. This condition happens when transplants are raised without supplementary lighting or beneath quite warm conditions. Eager gardeners often make the mistake of starting transplants too early, permitting the legginess to exacerbate since they await the beginning of the growing season. In addition, overfertilization with nitrogen can stimulate rapid development, giving tomato stems a suddenly thin appearance.
Solution for Leggy Plants
If your tomato transplants are leggy, plant them horizontally in a trench instead of trying to bury them deep in the dirt. Tomato plant stems are capable of generating roots along their length. Just ensure that each plant has three sets of leaves emerging from the ground, but do not become too worried if each plant’s stem is not perfectly vertical. In a couple of weeks, stems will straighten themselves. Supply sulfur sparingly until after the fruits have set in your tomato plants.
Damping-Off Diseases
Unlike leggy transplants, tomato plants suffering from damping-off disorders will probably not survive. In these plants, the narrowing of the stem close to the bottom level is brought on by the common bacterial pathogens Pythium spp., Rhizoctonia spp., Fusarium spp. and Phytophthora spp. These weakened transplants soon fall over and die. Those that happen to live stay weak and unproductive until they eventually succumb to decay.
Prevention of Damping-Off Diseases
Damping-off disorders can not be medicated, but you can prevent them in future plants by practicing good sanitation and improving the drainage on your garden. Damping-off disorders are most severe in compacted and wet soil. So amending your garden soil with several inches of well-rotted compost is a good first step. Always use a sterile planting medium and sterile containers when starting tomato transplants; otherwise, the planting medium and containers can harbor diseases. Soil solarization also may eliminate the pathogens that cause damping-off. Only cover the prepared garden bed with a well-anchored 2mm thick piece of clear plastic for four to six weeks before planting, and the sun will sterilize the top layers of dirt beneath the plastic.