The year I lost almost all seedlings.
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TomHillbilly
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The year I lost almost all seedlings.
I have more space to grow things, than in this season in life, I can handle. I live in area surrounded by houses. All houses have a larger backyards, than normal. I'm retired, and no wise was ever a farmer, by trade. I see actual farmers all day long. Their train track fertilizer load out bin, is within a mile of me. They drive by the house in droves, pulling their loaded spreaders. But that is another story.
Blights is impossible to escape where I'm at. Because no matter how many measures you take to avoid them. You can look off at a distance, and see another person's garden. Meaning-- whether by wind, or by bees, you will get a blight. That soil prevention on your part won't stop it. To keep tomato pickings up until October, I plant in waves. Sometimes 3 different waves. Sometimes 2 different waves. I always plant tomato waves, in different corners on my place. Separated as much as possible.
One year I had 50 seedlings destined for my second wave. Which is always the largest. The seedlings was planted in leftover potting soil, from the previous year. I had grew 80 pepper plants in the same soil, that did fine, that current year. The tomatoes did fine in it, as a last wave, but that year before. My first wave of tomatoes was in a potting mix, I created myself. It had no problems.
HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED-- My second wave of tomatoes could not be hardened off. If they was exposed to 30 minutes of direct sunlight, during the middle hours. The leafs turned gray, and by next day, was dried dead. I could sit a chair in front of the plants, and watch it happen. I could shade the plants, and they would come out of it. Sunlight would kill the plants. I'm not talking about in hours-- it happened in a few minutes. I can't plant plants that sunlight kills almost instantly.
I loaded the plants up, and met with people, I believed to be experts. No one had ever seen anything like it. I never took those plants directly to their houses, or nursery. Because I'm thinking-- blight of some sorts. I never seen a blight, when the plant was only 8 inches high. But its the only thing I came up with. As a last resort, when I got down to a handful of plants. I jerked them out of the potting soil, shook of the roots, and replaced the potting mix. They looked horrible for 2 days from the shock. 6 days later, I had healthier looking plants.
The only thing I can figure is-- something in that soil was preventing the plant leaf windows from shutting, and opening properly. The plants windows was stuck open, and dried out in the sun. PS-- Right or wrong--its the only thing this limited mind could come up with. Bare this in mind, if you encounter the same problem. Don't get fixated, that it must be a disease of sorts. I wasted a lot of time thinking it had to be blight related. If you have seen this first hand before. Than correct me on my theory-- because a guessed theory is all I got. We hillbillies don't mind corrected, as long as its did by first hand knowledge. We are never swollen with to much pride. To where we can't be corrected. Perhaps you have a new take ? I still scratch my head on it at times.
Blights is impossible to escape where I'm at. Because no matter how many measures you take to avoid them. You can look off at a distance, and see another person's garden. Meaning-- whether by wind, or by bees, you will get a blight. That soil prevention on your part won't stop it. To keep tomato pickings up until October, I plant in waves. Sometimes 3 different waves. Sometimes 2 different waves. I always plant tomato waves, in different corners on my place. Separated as much as possible.
One year I had 50 seedlings destined for my second wave. Which is always the largest. The seedlings was planted in leftover potting soil, from the previous year. I had grew 80 pepper plants in the same soil, that did fine, that current year. The tomatoes did fine in it, as a last wave, but that year before. My first wave of tomatoes was in a potting mix, I created myself. It had no problems.
HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED-- My second wave of tomatoes could not be hardened off. If they was exposed to 30 minutes of direct sunlight, during the middle hours. The leafs turned gray, and by next day, was dried dead. I could sit a chair in front of the plants, and watch it happen. I could shade the plants, and they would come out of it. Sunlight would kill the plants. I'm not talking about in hours-- it happened in a few minutes. I can't plant plants that sunlight kills almost instantly.
I loaded the plants up, and met with people, I believed to be experts. No one had ever seen anything like it. I never took those plants directly to their houses, or nursery. Because I'm thinking-- blight of some sorts. I never seen a blight, when the plant was only 8 inches high. But its the only thing I came up with. As a last resort, when I got down to a handful of plants. I jerked them out of the potting soil, shook of the roots, and replaced the potting mix. They looked horrible for 2 days from the shock. 6 days later, I had healthier looking plants.
The only thing I can figure is-- something in that soil was preventing the plant leaf windows from shutting, and opening properly. The plants windows was stuck open, and dried out in the sun. PS-- Right or wrong--its the only thing this limited mind could come up with. Bare this in mind, if you encounter the same problem. Don't get fixated, that it must be a disease of sorts. I wasted a lot of time thinking it had to be blight related. If you have seen this first hand before. Than correct me on my theory-- because a guessed theory is all I got. We hillbillies don't mind corrected, as long as its did by first hand knowledge. We are never swollen with to much pride. To where we can't be corrected. Perhaps you have a new take ? I still scratch my head on it at times.
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MissS
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- Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 4:55 am
- Location: SE Wisconsin Zone 5b
Re: The year I lost almost all seedlings.
It may have been that the soil you used contained too much fertilizer for a young little plant to use. When you put them in the sun their systems sped up and overloaded with too much nitrogen, when you backed off of the light their systems slowed down and they could recover a little bit.
~ Patti ~
AKA ~ Hooper
AKA ~ Hooper
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brownrexx
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- Location: Southeast PA, zone 6b
Re: The year I lost almost all seedlings.
Sounds like it was definitely something in the soil and excess fertilizer sounds like a good theory. Too much of a good thing can be toxic.
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bower
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- Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Re: The year I lost almost all seedlings.
I really like your advice - "Don't get fixated, that it must be a disease of sorts".
Nearly all the problems I have with tomatoes, it doesn't matter what disease is involved. The same treatment applies to all the leaf blights we get here - pick em off and take em far away. Even insects that get into the leaves, the same can be applied. Most of the time, you don't really need to know the cause, just do something about it.
I sometimes wish I had a soil test kit though. pH or something, to figure out just where the mix goes wrong, so I could fix the stuff instead of I have to replace it.
Nearly all the problems I have with tomatoes, it doesn't matter what disease is involved. The same treatment applies to all the leaf blights we get here - pick em off and take em far away. Even insects that get into the leaves, the same can be applied. Most of the time, you don't really need to know the cause, just do something about it.
I sometimes wish I had a soil test kit though. pH or something, to figure out just where the mix goes wrong, so I could fix the stuff instead of I have to replace it.
AgCan Zone 5a/USDA zone 4
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm
temperate marine climate
yearly precip 61 inches/1550 mm