Why Do Tomato Leaves Turn Purple - Garden Quickie Episode 128

Ever Have Your Tomato Leaves Turn Purple? Don't worry, you are not alone! Darkening of the leaves or even turning purple is very common in tomato plants, especially when they are younger.

In today's Quickie we'll discuss why this happens and what it means for your tomato plants and seedlings! Don't stress, usually its a simple fix and the plant will continue to thrive!

2023 is the Year of the Garden! We deserve it after the last little while, and growing our own food and self sufficiency is just the reward we need to get back on track!

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Seedling Trays!

pH/Water/Light Meter

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Handy 12-piece Garden Tool Set!:

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Watering Can:

Spray Gun:

Gardening Gloves:

#tomatoes #fertilizer #gardeningtips

[TheRipeTomatoFarms]

If you're just starting out gardening in 2023, please check out my Amazon Affiliate links below to get the right tools for the job! It doesn't cost you a cent, but this channel receives a small incentive for any items purchase through Amazon. Happy Gardening!

Seedling Trays!


pH/Water/Light Meter


Composting Tumbler!


Handy 12-piece Garden Tool Set!:


Hand Pruners:


Watering Can:


Spray Gun:


Gardening Gloves:

[JRileyStewart]

Hmm. I had this happen last year with tomato plants under my Red-Blue LED grow lights (inside). I began researching the question "why tomato leaves turn purple", and learned it almost always involves an out of balance situation between chlorophyll and the purplish anthocyanin pigment, and this imbalance is caused by 2 situations: intense light and/or cold temperatures. I confirmed this by asking ChatGPT "why do my tomato plant lights turn purple?" Intense light was the AI's answer. Point is, the newer bi-color LED grow lights can overwhelm young plants (it also happened with my dill and parsley. None of the seriously effected plants did very well last season, even though the purple leaves are eventually replaced with green ones. Lesson is: be careful giving too much Red-Blue light to young plants and be on the lookout for the effects of over-intensive light: purple leaves. Adding nutrients, heat may not fix the root cause of purple leaves.

[michaelmarchione]

I have never had that problem with tomatoes, but now if I do see it I'll know what to look for and how to treat it. Thanks Jeff and take care!

[kristingoettlicher]

As a newbie YouTube creator, I just have to comment on how great your video editing is--beautiful b-roll, angles changes, great voice over, etc. 👌 Much respect!

[donnakacz]

Hi Jeff. Once again a very informative lesson. Thank you so much for teaching. Your a wonderful educational teacher. See you at the next quickie. Take care.

[Terri_Stauffer]

All this time I thought it was part of the process, never worried about it. But now I know it’s because of cold, makes sense because as temp warms up they green up. 😊

[jeffalderson]

Thanks for the tip, fellow Jeff! I had some of my vegetative beefsteaks turning that purple on the underside and have added a mix of your recommended food to the pots and will see how they do during the hardening process in the coming weeks In the northeast. My basement is warm enough being that the garden shelves are in the area with the furnace. Thanks again!

[ninemoonplanet]

I just reset my vermicompost and will be using the extract from the compost. What I made a point of this year is adding plants usually higher in phosphorus, like bananas. I also put powdered egg shells and mineral dust into the bins.
Most of my garden space is shaded for most of the day, yet I do get some tomatoes.
Wet coast of 🇨🇦

[k.p.]

I had my stalks all turn purple last year. I got them some heat, and they recovered in a few days.

[mashafasha]

The amount of times Ive seen this question on the garden Subreddits is nuts. It would be a shame not to post this on there too. You will help people learn and probably gain new followers as well

[rcabrera]

New tomato grower here, extremely helpful video 🙌

[pt]

Very helpful. Thank you.
Really appreciate these short video's.

[Wellbaby]

Love these garden quickies! Thank you.

[naomi]

Thank you Jeff!
I think mine was temperature, my garage was too cold.
I brought them in, put back on heat mat and fertilized them.
The purple is under the leaf, and it feels limp.
Should I trim off those, new leafs are green.

[emylytle]

Excellent tips from an expert 👍👍 I was wondering why my tomato leaves are like that 😂 thank you Jeff 👩‍🌾😊♥️ awesome job 👍🙏🏻 it snowed here just a few minutes ago, I’m not sure what my onion looks like now zone 9b California 😅

[caroleneuok]

Thank you for the info. I started some tomatoes back in April. They have been growing outside and some are six feet tall. Others are 2" tall and purple. Today is aug 13 and i brought two tiny ones inside and put them in hydroponics solution. Then found this video. Theyve been purple for a few months. I wonder if they will survive.

[morningwoodfarms]

EPIC!! As always! Thank you, Jeff! 💥🍅🌱🏆🙌🤗💗

[lauralakatos]

What kind of broad spectrum solution to you recommend? Any specific brands?

[lilycardoso]

What soil temperature would be too cold?

[lytriciamitchell]

Can you use coffee grind in soil for 🍅