(This one's a pepper but a few of them seem to have the same problem, though not all and not as bad)
Diagnose a seedling problem?
Hey All - I was wondering if I could get a little help diagnosing a problem with my tomato seedlings. It's not damping off...after the way it ravaged my seedlings last year I know the difference, lol. They're still very small, no true leaves yet, but the leaves just look kind of yellow, especially on the outer halves, and sort of dried-out or something. I took a few pics that I'll post below but I don't know how much the problem shows up on them. Anyway, any help would be appreciated! Thanks; have a good one.
(This one's a pepper but a few of them seem to have the same problem, though not all and not as bad)
(This one's a pepper but a few of them seem to have the same problem, though not all and not as bad)
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30542
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
It's possible I'm just seeing them everywhere because I'm having trouble with them myself -- but check for aphids. If you have seen ants walking around, then the probability just went up because ants BRING aphids to pasture on your plants.
- The way I do it is to wet a toothpick or a bamboo skewer and run it under leaves and over new shoots. Even if you don't know its there, aphids will come away stuck on the wet surface.
- Curled under leaves are especially suspect so try twirling the toothpick along the underside of the leaf.
- If the contour of a leaf looks blurry -- like I can't focus on the bottom of this leaf... or I can't see the individual leaves of this new leaf that is unfurling -- that's usually a mass infestation.
- You can also hold a plant up to a light or shine a light behind the plant. Aphids will show up as shadows on the leaves.
Once you have discovered them, you have to kind of adjust your vision to "aphid vision" or "aphid detection" mode. Then you'll start seeing them everywhere.
...Look at all of your other plants. I found a mass infestation on the Toothache Plant seedlings. 
- The way I do it is to wet a toothpick or a bamboo skewer and run it under leaves and over new shoots. Even if you don't know its there, aphids will come away stuck on the wet surface.
- Curled under leaves are especially suspect so try twirling the toothpick along the underside of the leaf.
- If the contour of a leaf looks blurry -- like I can't focus on the bottom of this leaf... or I can't see the individual leaves of this new leaf that is unfurling -- that's usually a mass infestation.
- You can also hold a plant up to a light or shine a light behind the plant. Aphids will show up as shadows on the leaves.
Once you have discovered them, you have to kind of adjust your vision to "aphid vision" or "aphid detection" mode. Then you'll start seeing them everywhere.
...Look at all of your other plants. I found a mass infestation on the Toothache Plant seedlings. Gah I just figured it out! Duh. I'm over-watering them. I got all hyped up about the bottom-watering since I had such a hard time with damping off last year, and I just realized, of course, that I'm way overdoing it. I basically have had water in the drip tray 24/7 so that the soil is always soaked. This would probably also explain why so few of the seeds have sprouted...
Well anyway thanks for trying Apple; I looked for bugs just to be safe but I'm pretty sure I'm drowning them lol. I guess I have to decide between starting new seeds with only a month till planting time and paying out for plants! Anyway thanks; have a good one.
Well anyway thanks for trying Apple; I looked for bugs just to be safe but I'm pretty sure I'm drowning them lol. I guess I have to decide between starting new seeds with only a month till planting time and paying out for plants! Anyway thanks; have a good one.