This is my first year with a garden and I have a question regarding my tomato plants. I've attached a couple of pictures that show the leaves yellowing with what appears to me as possible early blight. My green peppers which were transplanted at the same time are still healthy looking. Also, the upper leaves on the tomato plants are turning a dark green if that helps in the diagnosis. So my question is, is this early blight or do I need to fertilize?
Thank you
[img]https://www.portergraphics.net/images/tomato_leaf2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://www.portergraphics.net/images/tomato_leaf_scaled.jpg[/img]
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pizzarrhea
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I gave them some MiracleGro tomato fertilizer last night to see if that helps. I transplanted them about a week and a half ago, since then it doesn't seem like they have grown much. Is that because it takes a little time to get over the "shock" of transplant and get a hold of the new soil?
Also, I'm thinking I didn't bury them deep enough when I transplanted. I didn't realize you are supposed to bury quite a bit of the stem, too.
Also, I'm thinking I didn't bury them deep enough when I transplanted. I didn't realize you are supposed to bury quite a bit of the stem, too.
Yes, they often seem to sit around for a couple of weeks before it looks like they are growing again. The garden soil is usualy less fertile than the pot, so they need more roots out in it to pull in the nutrients that they need, and the roots are often bound up in the pot or damaged a bit when you plant them out. This is why I soak the pots in fertilizer the day before planting them out, so they have a bit of nutrient reserve to help them put roots out. I don't think extra deep planting makes for quicker reaction to the situation in most cases because it takes time for the stem tissue to "wake up" and shift into root making mode, plus you have decreased the size of the plant by removing leaves so it looks even sadder to start with.
How much stem did you bury when you planted, and what did the rootball look like (very tight, tight, med, loose?)
How much stem did you bury when you planted, and what did the rootball look like (very tight, tight, med, loose?)
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rainbowgardener
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Oh man, did you plant it with the peat pot/ pellet (like the company tells you you can)? That is a disaster in the making. The peat does NOT biodegrade in any reasonable time (like anytime this year). It stays there, smothering the roots, keeping the plant root bound, holding too much moisture in when it is wet and then wicking moisture away from the plant when it starts to dry out.
If this is the case, I would really think about digging the whole thing up, getting the peat pot off it and replanting a little bit deeper. PLant isn't very established where it is yet anyway. Short of that, dig around the peat pot and pull pieces of it off...
If this is the case, I would really think about digging the whole thing up, getting the peat pot off it and replanting a little bit deeper. PLant isn't very established where it is yet anyway. Short of that, dig around the peat pot and pull pieces of it off...
I agree. That could certainly be your problem. You should never bury the peat pot with the plant, even though they say you can (honestly, I think they just use that as a marketing technique to play to a gardener's lazy side).rainbowgardener wrote:Oh man, did you plant it with the peat pot/ pellet (like the company tells you you can)? That is a disaster in the making. The peat does NOT biodegrade in any reasonable time (like anytime this year). It stays there, smothering the roots, keeping the plant root bound, holding too much moisture in when it is wet and then wicking moisture away from the plant when it starts to dry out.
If this is the case, I would really think about digging the whole thing up, getting the peat pot off it and replanting a little bit deeper. PLant isn't very established where it is yet anyway. Short of that, dig around the peat pot and pull pieces of it off...
Some people don't even like to grow them in peat pots at all, though they do give good germination rates.
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gixxerific
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If you are using cups go plastic. Plastic is a good medium for starting plants and it can be recycled, Styrofoam can not.farmerlon wrote:Yep, that's what I figured out for myself.garden5 wrote:...Some people don't even like to grow them in peat pots at all ...
Styrofoam cups are less expensive, and can be used again ... and I'm never tempted to bury a styro cup!
OP indicated peat pellet (aka jiffy pellet), not peat pot,... different animal with its own problems.
Although roots will grow through the netting sometimes they do it reluctantly so generally it is better to tear off the plastic netting to let the roots out, but people usually plant them deep enough that roots grow out of the top of the pellets and from the stem so the problem is often not noticed. As recommended your plant would benefit from digging it up and planting much deeper, but I suspect roots have grown out from the pellet to some extent so you might want to dig out a good sized chunk of dirt (6-inch diameter or more) with the plant since there is no peat pot to peel off. I would try to get at least 4-5 inches of stem underground.
It is S.O.P. to pot up the starter pellets into larger pots (with net removed). That gets a couple of inches of stem under, and then when the plant goes into the garden several weeks later an additional few inches of stem go under so even though it seems like shallow planting there is a good deal of root producing stem underground.
Although roots will grow through the netting sometimes they do it reluctantly so generally it is better to tear off the plastic netting to let the roots out, but people usually plant them deep enough that roots grow out of the top of the pellets and from the stem so the problem is often not noticed. As recommended your plant would benefit from digging it up and planting much deeper, but I suspect roots have grown out from the pellet to some extent so you might want to dig out a good sized chunk of dirt (6-inch diameter or more) with the plant since there is no peat pot to peel off. I would try to get at least 4-5 inches of stem underground.
It is S.O.P. to pot up the starter pellets into larger pots (with net removed). That gets a couple of inches of stem under, and then when the plant goes into the garden several weeks later an additional few inches of stem go under so even though it seems like shallow planting there is a good deal of root producing stem underground.
That's what I get for following directions. Something just didn't seem right about planting it in the peat pellet. I will dig it up and try to remove the peat. Thank you!rainbowgardener wrote:Oh man, did you plant it with the peat pot/ pellet (like the company tells you you can)? That is a disaster in the making...
I did remove the netting before planting, should I still dig them up and remove the peat?
No, the compressed peat layer of the pots is the problem, once roots grow past the little bit of loose peat in the pellet they don't look back. Your plant is just too shallow with too little in the way of area for roots to start from. Direct seeded plants get around the problem by sending out a tap root from which lateteral roots originate, but the tap root is broken in transplanted plants so laterals must originate from burried stem.