Any Ideas on these please...

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by murihikukid

The first one I did had a root area that was hardly bigger than a golf ball[...]

Now when the plants were inside I noted spider webs on the ceiling full of small black insects yet one really never noticed them

Do you see transparent worms/maggots in the soil when you look carefully? If so, you have fungus gnats. Their maggots feed on organic matter in potting mix and also eat plant roots. They can ravage the root systems of seedlings and young plants. If your purchased tomato mix is "organic"or contains a lot of organic matter or compost in it, it's very likely that it contained fungus gnats in it. I had a huge problem with them due to using an organic potting mix one year. I now use sterile seed mix for pretty much all starts and seedlings and lightly fertilize with a liquid fert as needed until I get the plants out into the ground or final large outdoor containers.

Originally Posted by murihikukid

So I had now realised that the soil might have a problem so I did a Ph reading on a number of pots and drums.and they were mostly 5.0 and one was 4.5

If you did the test using a kit designed for soil, I wouldn't trust it. Those home soil tests are garbage. People have more accurate results when they use aquarium testing kits. Or, even better, send the soil to a lab.

[murihikukid]

shule 1..Thanks for the infoi...I have some wood ash .I wonder how much do I apply to my containers most of which are 1700ml .It was given to me but its pretty grotty looking stuff ....I presume I should sift it as I see there are 1/2 burnt pieces in it .....Of course from now on I will premix my soil and correct the Ph before I use it ..I had a Fire burner that was taken out of my house but it was removed by a friend for scrap without my permission ...It would have been ideal for making my own ash....The weather here is still terrible like the middle of winter with gusts of wind rocking the house.....My Tasty Tom with the root system hardly bigger than a golf ball has really wilted and I do not think it will survive ....
I will make phone calls and see if I can get wood ash from somewhere and some potassium ...to try and get on track...I still do not understand why the Ph is so low...Thanks Ron

[murihikukid]

Shule 1...I have gone right round all my plants apart from those in the propagator and put a handful of woodash on each apart from the big growing drums with the older plants in them which I was more liberal with ....My intentions now is to water them with a liquid lime mixture...but I thought best to make sure first as i do not want to bump the Ph too high...I cannot get woodash so I will set up a fireplace and make my own?? Cheers Ron

You shouldn't need very much wood ash. A little is supposed to go a long way. A handful is probably more than enough, and probably enough for the larger containers, but it really depends on your soil. I'm not really sure how much to use. The N-P-K value of wood ash is supposedly about 0-1-3. I'd probably put about 9 spoonfuls of wood ash per container, maybe, if your soil is acidic. That's a guess. Maybe that's about a handful.

Yeah, you can make wood ash with fire. Just burn wood. Don't use black walnut or something like that that could be harmful to plants, though.

25-45% of wood ash is calcium, though. I'm not sure how much calcium is too much.

[murihikukid]

Shule 1...I do not know what wood the ash comes from unfortunately....and I really cannot mix it with the present soil apart from round the top of each plant container ...So I presume it has to be watered in so would you think I should do it with a plant liquid food..I do have several including a worm casting liquid that I do not know much about except apparantly its pretty powerful...I have included a couple of photos of one that I thought could be used with a high K in the formula...

The gusts of wind are that powerful my greenhouse is rocking...I hope it stands the test ...Thats the problem with Tunnel houses down here let alone a steel one..the weather can destroy them...
Cheers Ron

No. I wouldn't use the Thrive at this point. It has nitrogen. You probably don't want to add more nitrogen at this point (even if it includes potassium). It's an 8-2.4-10.2 fertilizer.

You could probably water wood ash in, when the plants need water next (mix it with water).

Pure worm castings can raise the pH a bit. They have microbes that might bring out the phosphorus from your soil. I don't know that it has much impact on potassium levels, though.

[murihikukid]

Hi ..Merry Xmas all...well i have set up a hospital in a corner of my greenhouse and put the worst of my plants there...I have just today Boxing day,sprayed them with "Fungicide Thiram" ...Now I do not think its a blight or a mold based on the reading I have done ...also I cannot recall how many of these had a beach spray which belatently I found my recipe was incorrect and too strong which could have burnt the leaves but would the burning continue along the leaves ?? At least no branches are dropping off as they were months back....Anyway I have posted photos which maybe better quality to my previous ones....

Cheers Ron

[MissS]

Aside from your burnt leaves you have some mineral deficiencies going on evidenced by the whitening of your leaves on the new growth tips and the interiors of many of your other leaves. I believe that you are deficient in nitrogen, iron and magnesium.

In addition to the mineral deficiencies you may have a disease issue, but just am not sure.

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by MissS

Aside from your burnt leaves you have some mineral deficiencies going on evidenced by the whitening of your leaves on the new growth tips and the interiors of many of your other leaves. I believe that you are deficient in nitrogen, iron and magnesium.

In addition to the mineral deficiencies you may have a disease issue, but just am not sure.

I agree. Chemical stew of ash and bleach and fungicide etc has caused leaf tip burn.. but the poor darlings could use some fertilizer. A rescue dose of soluble 20-20-20 with micronutrients. Miracle grow for example.

[murihikukid]

Hi..These plants in the pictures were all purchased from a garden centre ($1-$1.50each..most are Tasty Toms and Sweet 100 and were not looking good when I bought them ....I have Miracle Gro (bought it today..) but it may not be the same as it is in America so I will photograph.....Hopefully it will do the job...I will spray with fungus Thiram again in 7 - 10 days also ...
Thankyou Ron

[MissS]

While it is not quite the same that we have available over here, I would not hesitate to feed them right away. Check them again in 10 days and see if they require for you to add anything else other than your MG. Do you have anything called CalMag over there?

[gorbelly]

I agree with giving it a good balanced feeding that includes the necessary microingredients. That MG looks fine for that purpose, although I might do the feeding at half strength.

But after that feeding, I would leave the plants alone for at least 2 weeks. This really seems like a case of too much love and pre-emptive intervention killing plants that probably just needed a few days to recover from being rootbound or poorly nourished at the store and maybe a slower transition to being put outside. Sometimes it seems like beginning tomato growers kill more plants with too much attention than with neglect.

So I would personally not even water them during the next two weeks until the surface of the soil gets dry.

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

I agree with giving it a good balanced feeding that includes the necessary microingredients. That MG looks fine for that purpose, although I might do the feeding at half strength.

But after that feeding, I would leave the plants alone for at least 2 weeks. This really seems like a case of too much love and pre-emptive intervention killing plants that probably just needed a few days to recover from being rootbound or poorly nourished at the store and maybe a slower transition to being put outside. Sometimes it seems like beginning tomato growers kill more plants with too much attention than with neglect.


So I would personally not even water them during the next two weeks until the surface of the soil gets dry.

agree. killed with kindness. too much of several good things and not enough of others.
There are great balanced premade fetilizers that I would recommend for almost all circumstances. Certainly anyone who is a newer grower. takes the guesswork out of it.
KarenO

[murihikukid]

Hi..thanks for your replies...Seeing I have sprayed them with Thiram I am guessing it may not be a good idea to now use MG on the foliage but I will apply to each plant pot... Patti..I have Googled re Cal-Mag..I found one that relates to hydroponics ...the others for humans....so I rang the gardening centre and they do not have a Cal-mag supplement ...thats a major problem for me here ....trying to get the correct products for my plants...I am really hoping MG will be the answer ....Its been 24 hours since I sprayed Thiram and I thought that I can already see a change ??
The iron on the roof of my garage was just blown off by the wind gusts ...its terrible so no need to put fans in my greenhouse .
Last night i transplanted the rest of my seedlings bar 3 that looked too weak to move ...I missed an opportunity to try MG in my repotting but I have a few seed failures which i will retry and try MG on them....
I hate to think how tunnel houses are standing up with the winds that we have been getting now for over a month..if it was not for the wind it would be a beautiful day..
I would welcome an opinion on putting a small amount of MG in my seedling pottles or I could put it on a capilary cloth and hopefully it will work its way into the soil from underneath...they have just come out of my propagator and are 2 - 3 inches high...I have them under a fluoro tube but I really need to get the stems sturdy ??
Thanks Ron.