What Causes White Tomato Leaves?
As much as you’re eager to start planting tomatoes, you need to be acquainted with the disease of tomato leaves. When a silver or whitish color forms on the leaves, it is known as “sunscald.”
The tomato fruit will turn white if grown in soil that contains too much phosphate or nitrogen. On the other hand, it will harm the leaf tissue if this is not addressed.
Sun Scalding is more like human sunburns and it affects some other vegetables. Knowing the source of the problem is necessary, but proposing methods to solve it is even better. This does not mean that your tomato is doomed; with proper care, it can improve.
In all, there are many reasons why tomato leaves turn white, and some of the most prevalent ones will be addressed here. Continue reading to discover the causes and prevention of white tomato leaves.
What Causes White Tomato Leaves?
You might be curious why your plant’s leaves are becoming white. If you don’t have a clear cause or cure for the problem, your leaves may simply dry out. As the name implies, “Sunscald” is caused by direct sunlight.
Sunscald is the most common cause of white tomato leaves. Yes, tomato plants require full exposure for proper growth. However, switching their growing positions from one place to another may shock the plants; hence, it turns white.
A few factors contribute to this, and they are;
- Fertilizer in excess
- An acute nutrient deficit (calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.)
- Direct sunlight exposure (sunscald)
- A fungal infection
- Overwatering
● Fertilizer in Excess
Tomato plants can also suffer from nutrient excesses. Adding some fertilizer to your plant is beneficial, but too much of it might produce sunscald on your tomato plants.
● An Acute Nutrient Deficit
Burns or damage to your tomato plants can also be caused by a lack or shortage of certain nutrients. It is another way to know why your tomato leaves, which should be green, will now face a tragic condition, then start turning white.
● Direct Sunlight Exposure
Your tomato plant may be getting too much sunlight directly. This is referred to as Sunscald. The damaged portion of the fruit, as it ripens, may blister before it gets shrunk, flat, and dries out. At this stage, the fruit is more vulnerable to ungalfinal secondary infections.
● A Fungal Infection
Fungal infections can also cause white tomato leaves. When your tomato plant has been affected by a fungal disease, it is destructible, leaving you no choice but to be frustrated.
● Overwatering
You may have just overwatered your tomato plant while caring for it. However, your plant may be overwhelmed or in shock if it cannot hold the surplus water. Then Sunscald begins to appear. Take into consideration too that cold conditions are hard on tomato plants.
Treatments of White Tomato Leaves
Although, sunscald is not a disease, and there is no cure for it. The best or the greatest therapy for sunscald is simply avoiding it altogether. How do you treat Sunscald on tomatoes?
If you seek to be the savior of the day for your tomato plants, all you have to do is prevent them from being damaged. And if they start getting the white colors, here are a few things you could do and note.
We would be considering the causes and proffering prevention strategies for them; let us dive right in;
Prevention
Once sunscald has struck a tomato, you cannot reverse it, but you can slow down the process. Some tomato gardeners recommend applying an all-purpose fertilizer to the soil surface surrounding the afflicted tomato plants as a tomato sunscald therapy, which can help prevent additional damage.
Another method to prevent sunscald from affecting other fruits on the plant is to take a cloth and cover the affected fruit. This will keep direct sunlight away from it. However, as long as the damaged tomato fruit is free of black moles, you can consume it.
When you’re transplanting, use the “hardening off” technique. This involves gradually exposing the tomato plant to outside conditions by removing tomato plants from their containers and putting them in a shaded place for a short time. You can progressively introduce them to the outer world each day.
Proper irrigation is essential for healthy tomato plants. Overwatering might kill your tomato plant quickly. It develops a fungal illness as a result of being overwatered. If your plant is not inflicted with fungus, you can use a fungicide.
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are all present in a well-balanced tomato fertilizer. You should also check for calcium and magnesium, as tomato plants require these nutrients.
You should cultivate tomato plants in a pot with soil that has been altered to have less nitrogen and phosphorus to fix the soil with too many nutrients.
Frequently Asked Questions
● Can plants recover from sunscald?
When the foliage is affected, it will not restore. Remove the injured leaves to allow the plant to focus solely on new growth. Before pruning, make sure to shade the new growth with a sunshade.
● Can you eat tomatoes with sunscald?
You certainly can. Be careful to remove or slice off the infected areas, known as the black molds.
● How often should tomato plants be watered?
On average, your tomato plant requires only one gallon of water per week. You should not overwater them because this can lead to fungal infections. Take into account the plant’s age and height as well. Allow the plant to focus on growth rather than getting its soil soaked with water, and keep it moist at all times.
Conclusion
Sunscald is a typical cause of white tomato leaves, and you can make use of milk spray or neem oil to control them. Other reasons for white spots on tomato leaves include poor requirements for growth.
Make sure to moderately water the plant, fertilize it more frequently, and relocate from having direct contact with sunlight to solve the issues of white tomato leaves. Also, you should ensure that there’s a safe space between each plant. Overcrowding can harm your tomato plants and also encourage fungal development. To prevent sun scalding, the plants must first be hardened off and progressively adapted to
