Hi All,
I currently have 3 heirloom plants in a large planter on my patio in NYC. The plants have, for the most part, been doing well this summer, however, I just noticed that the new leaves on one plant - an "Abe Lincoln" heirloom - have begun to rapidly turn yellow with brownish spots. Any ideas about what this may be? Is my plant dying?
A bit of background: the plants have been growing very well this summer, but I have suffered a bit of end-rot which has cost me a few tomatoes on each plant. I believe it was due to over watering, so I have cut back, and also added calcium to the soil in the form of Lime. Further, we have had a VERY hot summer - multiple days over 90 and we just finished a 4 day high 90s - 100s heat wave.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Tom
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7420
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Your plants may have early blight. Dissolve 1/4 cup of Baking Soda in 1 gallon of water. Water each plant with 1 pint of this once a week. Spray the entire plant once a week with this too to get ride of blight.
Instructions say to cut off the infected leaves too but I have 30 plants and that would be a really big job probably more than a whole days work so I don't cut them off. I notice after about a week the leaves die and fall off on their own.
You need to add lime to the soil for end rot. Mix lime with water then water the plants. It does not take much about 1 kitchen spoon full per plant every 2 weeks will do fine.
Instructions say to cut off the infected leaves too but I have 30 plants and that would be a really big job probably more than a whole days work so I don't cut them off. I notice after about a week the leaves die and fall off on their own.
You need to add lime to the soil for end rot. Mix lime with water then water the plants. It does not take much about 1 kitchen spoon full per plant every 2 weeks will do fine.
Last edited by Gary350 on Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
Magnesium and/or nitrogen deficiency (with a bit of sulfur deficiency thrown in) would be my guess. Calcium outcompetes magnesium so adding too much to the containers could have caused the problem. I would fertilize and apply the Epsom salts as a foliar spray on a humid morning or evening so that it has time to penetrate the leaves, and then a week later douse the pots with an Epsom salts solution 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. It is not a good idea to mix epsoms salts with fertilizer because of ion competition and interactions that bind up some of the components.
You will get a white calcium sulfate percipitate here and there that looks like hard water scale. Just ignor it.
You will get a white calcium sulfate percipitate here and there that looks like hard water scale. Just ignor it.