iron chlorosis, blight, or WHAT?

[MadCow333]

My plants were fine 2 weeks ago. Dark green, lush, no sign of blight. Then I had someone else sorta tending them for about 20 days, during which we had super dry weather with heavy spotty fogs and dew at night. One or two rains, but that was it.

Now I have pale plants with purpleish tinge. If I spray with bleach, I get dead crispy leaves. I have also, over the past 1.5 months sprayed with copper, sprayed with dilute bleach, sprayed Epsom salt solution (which seemed to help green them up only temporarily). I have fed them with Miracle Gro Bloom Booster, thinking that the purple might be potassium deficiency.

I don't want to treat these with anything else because nothing is helping and the bleach would probably kill them. I don't know whether I have too much nitrogen burning them, or some kind of deficiency, or I've overused either copper spray or Miracle Gro.

eta: I gave them a spray with a gentle mix of Garden Safe Fungicide3 last night, because it looked like mildew was starting. The plants mostly look more perky today but they are still pale.

They are potted in http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/pro...x-mycorrhizae/, PRO-MIX BX MYCORRHIZAE. Were fed with Tomato Tone and Garden Tone when planted and intermittently afterward. Some Miracle Gro Tomato food, too. Water source is well water, untreated and untested, contains iron and sulfur.




This is the album, no password required:
http://s1049.photobucket.com/user/sa...den2016/080816

eta: Plants most affected are German Queen (Bonnie plant), and Parks Whopper Improved (Bonnie plant). The Parks Whoppers have been here since literally April. The German Queens since May.

[Hellmanns]

It looks like they are really hungry. The light color is nitrogen deficiency, and purple is phosphate deficiency. They need lots of potassium too.

[MadCow333]

Thanks loads! :-) They are loaded up with maturing fruit now, and the hot weather probably stressed them even more. I was afraid to start dumping fertilizers in there. What do you recommend?

I have a cheap pH meter. I know it's not great and pH of container soil can change widely throughout the day, but I'll go check pH just for giggles.

[Hellmanns]

Originally Posted by MadCow333

Thanks loads! :-) They are loaded up with maturing fruit now, and the hot weather probably stressed them even more. I was afraid to start dumping fertilizers in there. What do you recommend?

I have a cheap pH meter. I know it's not great and pH of container soil can change widely throughout the day, but I'll go check pH just for giggles.

I would mix the MG fertilizer like the package says and soak the soil once a week.

[Hellmanns]

With maturing fruit, and the rain, I would say your soil has had all nutes leached out.

[Ricky Shaw]

At this stage I'd go to a hydroponic store and get something like Floranova Bloom and feed them every time you water through harvest, which is what promix BX and HP are designed for.

Next year I'd start from the beginning with a product like Floranova or ChemGrow tomato formula. Floranova mixed in solution will run you about 8 cents a gallon and ChemGro about 4 cents a gallon. Check out AKmark and his grow thread, 2015 or 1016, tons of info to glean in those threads.

[MadCow333]

This is only the 2nd year I've grown tomatoes, and I have more plants this year and the weather has been entirely different. Had more rain and much cooler temps last year and the problem for the first half of summer was how to fight the wet weather. A local green house recommended the Promix to me after I had huge problems with conventional potting mixes remaining waterlogged.

I'm not sure if I have any local place that sells any exotic feeds. I'll look into it, but might have to buy online.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by MadCow333

I have a cheap pH meter. I know it's not great

I'll go further and say that those cheap pH meters are entirely useless. Better to not know at all than to "know" a completely false reading that has no connection to reality, IMO.

[Hellmanns]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

At this stage I'd go to a hydroponic store and get something like Floranova Bloom and feed them every time you water through harvest, which is what promix BX and HP are designed for.

Next year I'd start from the beginning with a product like Floranova or ChemGrow tomato formula. Floranova mixed in solution will run you about 8 cents a gallon and ChemGro about 4 cents a gallon. Check out AKmark and his grow thread, 2015 or 1016, tons of info to glean in those threads.

It's recovery mode at this point, MG products will work. The plants need a blast of NPK now, along with Ca, and Mg.

I dealt with HydroGardens years ago, great company for nutes for a long term grow. I learned I didn't need them for a summer grow. At the end of the day, NPK is NPK. This is not in anyway trying to take away from the sound advice you gave, just saying there's a difference from starting right, and follow through for a long term crop...or recovery of a backyard summer crop.

[Ricky Shaw]

I'm going to say your water is acceptable judging from the good growth and plant form, they just ran out of food. BX and HP are great products, I use HP myself, but they have no pre-charge of fertilizer, not that one would be of great use. Some of the time released ferts get good reviews, but I have doubts on duration and consistency.

Containers are great but they take a lot of attention and the people who seem to do best work a consistent fertilizer program of some sort. Gerardo does some excellent things with compost teas, beautiful plants, check out his thread too.

[Ricky Shaw]

Originally Posted by Hellmanns

It's recovery mode at this point, MG products will work. The plants need a blast of NPK now, along with Ca, and Mg.

Yes, I agree MadCow needs something working now. I thought the MG Bloom Buster was applied today, if so, might want to see those effects first. It's a 15-30-15.

[MadCow333]

I took the MG advice and used 50/50 M-Gro Tomato and Bloom Booster tonight. I'll have time tomorrow and later this week to do some maintenance on them and see if the feeding improved anything.

Local Wal-Mart has clearanced out their fertilizers at 50% off or better in the store, even if the web site prices aren't saying that. Jobe's tomato granular 4# bag for $3.50; 8# bag of Tomato Tone for $5; Miracle Gro Shake & Feed Tomato 4.5# for $5.00. I bought those and also a small bag of 10-10-10 since all this stuff was super low priced. I'll cautiously feed those 'maters one way or the other. lol

Thanks for the assistance and advice, everyone.

[MadCow333]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

Yes, I agree MadCow needs something working now. I thought the MG Bloom Buster was applied today, if so, might want to see those effects first. It's a 15-30-15.

Now, is that 15-30-15 the crystals, or is that what the mixture is when mixed as directed? Or is the NPK ratio the same, wet or dry? Sorry if that's a stupid question. It's after midnight and apparently I just can't think anymore. ;-D

[Ricky Shaw]

The 15-30-15 are the minimum percentages of each nutrient in undiluted form, the other 40% are some micro nutes, but mostly buffer to make the mix soluble. And in relative terms, I'd think those percentages would hold when mixed. Not sure I'm answering your question.

Sounds like you've performed a serious intervention, so now you wait. And, for me it's usually not a big turn-around, but more a gradual growing in. Color should come back, but the mottling on the lower leaves probably will not go away. Your looking to stop advancement of the disorder first, upper leaves and new growth will tell you that.

[MadCow333]

I got out there at the crack of dawn, mixed handfuls of Tomato Tone in a watering can, watered with that and also gave all a liberal soaking with the well water. The pale plants are still a bit scary at close inspection, but have greened up and are faking "greatly improved" from a distance. Some of my other plants had started to pale out even compared to yesterday, so I gave them Miracle and Tomato Tone. Also gave everything a epsom salts foliage spray, lightly. The two worst plants are the ones I sprayed with diluted bleach and they actually don't look any worse today. I definitely see improvement in the plants that I *didn't try to kill with bleach, lol.

Intervention appears to have been a success, much thanks to Tomatoville. :-)

pale Parks Whopper but not the worst one vs. yesterday


German Queen that I tried to bleach to death, vs. how this one or the other GQ looked yesterday


the better pale Parks Whopper vs. its foliage yesterday



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