We have had the same experience with a variety of plants. I heard several months ago that the sun’s rays would be more intense so we planted in the sun and under partial shade. Broccoli, tomato and pepper plants did fine under shade but we lost about 45 plants that were in full sun. I’m in zone 5 New Hampshire.

My tomatoes are in a lean-to greenhouse and they get dense shade from 3 pm on. But at 6000 ft elevation in Montana (zone 3) the sun is very intense and the days are long. I had read that they don’t need as much light as say, a cucumber, so they’re against the wall and doing great.

Good observation! Totally makes sense. Tomato roots do not like excessive and/or prolonged heat. Some varieties do better than others. For example, heirloom Mexican varieties handle the heat better than northern varieties. That has been my experience. The partial shade is a fantastic way to combat that. Another way is to keep root zone temperature lower. Two tricks I use to achieve that is a thick mulch layer and splitting the watering schedule up so during peak temperatures the roots get low doses of water to “cool off.” If I had the partial shade option at my current spot I’d use that though to help conserve water. Lucky you! 😃. If you haven’t checked out some Mexican heirloom varieties I recommend trying. The leaf size and shape of the “Zapotec” variety I grow is wild. It’s so cool! The leaves are huge compared to other varieties I’ve grown. And a different shape. Happy gardening. Cool to see gardeners here sharing what they’ve experienced. Peace and love from Traverse City Michigan. ❤

Because tomatoes are under story plants that naturally live in shade. Almost no plants want full sun unless you're in a very mild climate.

And this vet tech is impressed too!

Aphids and white flies too

romas are typically a bit more heat resistant than other tomato plants but are they all up against glass? I work in a massive south facing greenhouse and the ones up against glass will naturally curl over time when they get too much sun, its a part of their evolutionary safety measure so try not to worry about it to much and move the plants away from the glass a tiny bit. Tomato plants originate from south america under a canopy of trees so leaf curling can simply be a defensive mechanic to reduce to much sun.

@@666evo666 Thank you! First time growing Roma’s! I Appreciate your input!

Pretty sure that's just a planter at his store--the rest are at his home.

I use shade cloth if temperatures get close to 90

@@jenjoy4353 Good gravy. We've been hovering in the low to mid 90's in terms of humidex. I may rig something up with burlap.

​@ChrisReher I'm in Michigan, too . Its been hot and humid with weekly storms. Luke lives near a lake he must get cooler weather. I try cheap umbrellas . I also use fluffed up qtips to pollinate my flowers if I don't see bees.

Preach it from the rooftops! ❤

Roundup is bad but it is nothing compared to Grazon. Roundup breaks down chemically in a week or so. Grazon lasts for 25 years in some cases. It even survives animal digestion and persists in the manure. I hate eco fearmongering but I honestly believe that Grazon can destroy the world ecosystem if it isn't outlawed. The Grazon will eventually contaminate all the soil on earth if it isn't stopped. And who knows what it is doing to our bodies. It is in all the meat, dairy, and grains. Anything that is botanically grass isn't killed by Grazon and is accumulated in the plant material and any animal that eats it.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, but it's not the main ingredient by volume. Roundup is mostly water. The patent on glyphosate is long expired, and is sold in generic formulations by dozens of manufacturers and brands. Not even the EU regulators list it as carcinogenic. The IARC finding that it is a "probable carcinogen" stands alone among all other global health agencies, and is not well supported by the published data. Even then, IARC only found a possibly increased risk of certain cancers, and not overall increased cancer prevalence. Glyphosate has been shown not to increase cancer prevalence in rats and rabbits on a lifelong feeding regimen. Now, Roundup as a commercial product does contain some nasty stuff. Polyethoxylated tallow amine (POEA) was used as a surfactant until 2011, and is judged to be significantly more toxic than glyphosate. Most generic formulations do not contain this surfactant.

At the MIgardener store property.

Isn't he in St Clair , Michigan, near the lake ? I'm in Michigan, too, and it's been hot and humid. In early May, it was in the 90s, and all my early cold vegetables went to seed. We have had horrible storms , microburst, tornadoes, high wind , and hail. Every week and now, the hurricane is headed to Detroit. He must get cooler weather off the lake ?

They fall over for me sometimes from heavy overhead watering (the water weighs them down), physically being pushed, or if they are huge and have bloomed and the weight of them just gets to be too much. Usually harvest is coming soon if a bunch of them are falling and yellowing.

@Love-144 do you see bees? One year, I took a qtip and fluffed it up ...gently rubbed flower to flower on the same plant. Used a different qtip for each plant. I just didn't see any bees pollinating... and figured maybe i should try something similar to what bees do. It worked !!

Maybe too much grass. Check soil temps.

Oh my, don't make me go shopping at his store again this season! LOL

I hope so ! Didn't buy enough garlic . Bought a lot of seeds.

Plants are living organisms able to respond to changes in their environment.

Certain cover crops will remove herbicides from the soil, like grasses. Also, a lot of the hysteria over herbicides is a little extreme. Not that you want them near your tomatoes, but a lot of things out there are only active for a short period of time, including the dreaded glyphosate (lay people mistakenly always call it roundup, which is a brand, not an herbicide). Graze on can be a concern in more rural areas and you should do your due diligence.

Following my tomatoe plant leaves are also turning purple

I think thats also curly top virus

?

I think sometimes the purple color indicates lack of phosphorus

My California Wonder peppers have overturned leaves with purpling. No other pepper plants are doing this in a bed with many varieties. What's with that?

Sort of like many trees around my area; they look like they cannot uptake enough water or nutrients to live.

Can you use umbrellas ? I always try to find the cheapest way . Gardening has become so expensive. Maybe go to a dollar store and see if it works. You can adjust the bottom and move them around. ?? @jujubean 1046

@@gferraro8353 thank you for the suggestion. My tomatoes are all indeterminate and will probably grow to a height of 8’ or more. I don’t know how I’d accomplish it with umbrellas. I might just have to let them be and see how it shakes out.

@@jujubean1046 yes I understand..have 2 that are the same and get huge. . But they do get shade as the sun moves . Lol.. just saw a green tomato that some critter stole from my bed. It's always something when gardening. When the trees were smaller and less shade I just used an old bedsheet. The sun is so piercing to my skin ,I can imagine how those plants feel in full sun for many hours. Hope it all turns out great for you..!

@@gferraro8353 thank you! Same to you! I hope the critter enjoys its snack lol

@@jujubean1046 LOL 👍

Dude, don’t be a jerk. I think Luke explained it well.

@@miscott6852 I am not being a jerk, and he is trying to kill his plants. I experienced the same problem as him, but it was not with tomatoes. I don't know why he does not want to water his plants. I had my fair share of killing plants. Not because I wanted to, but because I did not know any better like Luke.

It's not a water problem I live in florida where it rains daily and heavy showers. I use to give it extra water too thinking it was that. The extra water caused my tomatoes to burst instead. In florida I had to use a shade cloth and that did it.

@@nardianethersole1024 There are 3 levels of water that plants use. 1. Dry 2. Moist 3. Wet If a plant does not receive the amount of water that it needs then it should show a sign. I learned about what I said the hard way, and several of my plants end up dying after I invested my time trying to grow it. Underwatering, and overwatering is BAD, for plants. I will try to make it simple to understand. Number 1, and 3 of my list should show some kind of sign on a plant before it dies. Dry can lead to underwatering, and wet towards overwatering. Well this is the first time of me reading about a tomato bursting from overwatering.

@@knowledgeandmultiskilled​​⁠Wanna know something? My neighbor has tomato leaf curl and soil moisture level is just fine. Hmm…. Perhaps there is something else at play. Luke is right that it could be a number of things. You mentioned temperature drying to soil out. Could be. But if the soil isn’t dry and the leaf is still curling what else could that mean? Could be the suns heat raising soil temperature higher than what tomato roots thrive in. Roots do not like excessive temperatures. Raised beds can exacerbate that problem. Especially if the gardener added materials that retain moisture more than native soil does. For example, in my beds I cut with a good % of sphagnum peat moss to help lower the PH of the media. Peat moss holds moisture like crazy. It also struggles to accept water if it gets too dry (hydrophobic). You probably know that though. My point is, you might be wrong in the response you gave. Could be soil temperature, not moisture levels. If true, a thick mulch layer might help and a soil thermometer (or infrared) will let the grower know for sure. Another remedy is splitting the watering schedule up so during peak sun the garden gets low doses of water to “cool off.” Worked for my neighbor. 👍 Luke is a solid dude and we all love his content. Perhaps you agree but the way you worded your response makes you seem kinda like a bully. I know another person commented something similar. Perhaps that wasn’t your intention but it is interesting that two people have the same opinion. Food for thought. Peace and love from Traverse City Michigan. ♥️