Homegrown tomatoes make excellent tomato juice, as well as many other things. If you planned to make your own tomato juice, and your tomatoes are having problems, below are three possible reasons why this could be happening. You can then take the steps needed so you can grow healthy tomatoes.

Proper Nutrients

You cannot simply plant tomatoes in the ground and expect them to grow. They need nutrient-rich soil to grow healthy. If the soil your plants are planted in does not have the right nutrients, your tomatoes will have slow growth or stunted growth. Not only this, pests are more likely to attack them.

The type of fertilizer you need depends on the type of tomato plants you planted. A standard fertilizer that often works well is ammonium nitrate or 10-10-10 fertilizer. Do not get any fertilizer on the leaves and water the tomatoes well after you fertilize them.

After fertilizing, put approximately three inches of mulch around each plant. Move the mulch away a few inches from the base of the plants so you do not smother them. Mulch will hold in moisture when you water them or it rains.

You can do a soil test to determine the nutrients your soil is lacking in. Purchase a soil test kit at a garden center and follow the instruction on how to use it.

Pests

The problem with your tomatoes could be pests, which can cause damage or even kill the tomatoes. If you are noticing pests that eat into the leaves and into the tomato itself, you may have the tomato fruitworm, vegetable leafminers, or the tomato pinworm.

Pests that cause tomato deformation are aphids, greenhouse whitefly, stink bug, western flower thrips, and the silverleaf whitefly. Pests that feed on the roots, which can kill the tomato, are cutworm and southern potato wireworm.

Diseases

Your tomatoes may also have a disease. There are some diseases known as canker, spot, speck and stem rot. Your tomatoes may have a fungal disease, such as white mold, leaf mold, gray mold, or early blight. To help determine the type of disease your tomatoes may have you need to look at a tomato disease identification website, which gives information about the diseases and the symptoms they cause.  This can help you determine what is wrong with your tomatoes.

You can then choose the right type of treatment product to treat the disease.

If you think your tomatoes have a lot of pests, you can use a pesticide to remove them. There are natural pesticides or you can purchase a pesticide specifically made for tomatoes at a garden center. For more information, contact Blacksmith Bioscience or a similar company.