Quote:
Originally Posted by travis
Because the cotyledons are still green and it's the newer leaves that appear to be yellowing, I'm going to say micronutrient deficiency, most likely iron, but possibly manganese. Nitrogen deficiency would show first by the cotyledons turning yellow, then the lower leaves yellowing rather than the new growth.
Also, the cotyledons are curled downward on some of the affected plants, and the seed starting mix appears dry (light brown rather than dark brown) to me, not over watered, so I'm going to say the lack of sufficient moisture is more of an issue than over watering.
You need to keep the peat pots in a shallow tray so you can water the seedlings from the bottom up. First off, peat pots wick out moisture from the starting mix and evaporate it into the air. Reverse the process by setting the peat pots in a tray, and water from the bottom so the peat wicks the moisture into the starter mix.
Any plant food you add at this point should include micronutrients to be of any value to those plants that have the top foliage yellowing, and the beginnings of interveinal chlorosis (lacy yellowing between leaf veins that remain green), both signs of micronutrient deficiencies. If you don't have a good water soluable plant food, put 1/2 tablespoon of Epsom salts per gallon of water along with a half to 3/4 teaspoon of Peters per gallon of water, and water from the bottom.
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Good call on the micros, A teaspoon of molasses added to the water would be another alternative to add the micros. Just microwave or heat a small amount of water to mix the molasses into and then add that into the gallon mix.
A teaspoon of molasses has 8% Calcium 8 % Magnesium and 2% iron so that also would would be a option. A 12 0z jar is $2 -3 bux at the grocery store so its pretty cheap and effective.