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Old February 5, 2013   #1
checkerkitty
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Default Help please! Worried about spots on my seedlings

So I thought everything was going so well! My plants were looking so happy and healthy. We went out of town this weekend, so I moved my plants inside to keep them from getting stolen. They were inside for two days in lowish light. I had hardened them off already to they had been getting full sun. When we came back, all the new growth was very pale green and I noticed some spots forming. They almost looked like window panes in the leaves. There were no black spots in the middle or yellow around the thin clear spot. Ialso noticed some other kinds of "off" looking spots. Rather than ask for help here, I tried to take care of the issue myself. That was a mistake! I did a weak bleach spray thinking I had some sort of fungus. Most of the plants had spots like the middle picture. I only sprayed 1/2 of my plants. Some handled it just fine. I just spent about 20 minutes trimming the ones that didn't. I now have some stick seedlings! I snapped a few pics from my other plants. I think I may have overreacted. This wouldn't be a first for me. Last week we did have a very windy day and the plants were blown around a bit. I'm wondering if they were damaged. I also think I had the plants too close together in their tray. They have had a few weak doses of fish/kelp, Hasta grow and one dose of epsom salts yesterday.

I picked up some copper spray and Ortho's version of Daconil today so I'm ready to retreat if needed. I'm certainly very much a newbie at this. Next time, the plants are getting a Daconil spray the first time they go outside. I will also be using Actinovate at plant out and through the season. I am pretty unhappy about this. I keep telling myself at least I'll know better for next time. Here are the pics. I think one or two may be sunburn where I spread the plants out and the sun was too bright for the lower leaves.

Any help, advice, suggestions, pathogen id is very welcome. I'm trying to control the panic!

Most of the plants I sprayed had spots like the middle picture.

Christy
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Last edited by checkerkitty; February 5, 2013 at 04:50 PM. Reason: added info
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Old February 5, 2013   #2
checkerkitty
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I tried to edit my post and I wasn't able to. I wanted to add that the plants I sprayed had spots like the middle picture, for the most part.
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Old February 5, 2013   #3
Stvrob
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They look OK to me. Keep them moist and put them in the sun. Maybe give them a bit more room so their leaves aren't touching.

Last edited by Stvrob; February 5, 2013 at 06:15 PM. Reason: none
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Old February 5, 2013   #4
Mark0820
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Photo #2 and #3 look like sun or wind burn to me. I'm sure someone more experienced will come along and give some advice.
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Old February 5, 2013   #5
RayR
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Don't see any fungus issues. Did you check for bugs under the leaves?
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Old February 5, 2013   #6
Cole_Robbie
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They almost looked like window panes in the leaves.

It's hard to be certain, but that sounds like thrip damage. Thrips will scrape leaves to eat the sap inside. The damage does look like a little window after it dries out. You could have carried a few thrips inside with the plants, then while you were gone, they were locked inside with nothing to eat but your plants.

Last edited by Cole_Robbie; February 5, 2013 at 06:19 PM.
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Old February 5, 2013   #7
b54red
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If it is thrip damage, wind burn or sunscald the bleach spray should not hurt them unless you used a solution too strong. They have reformulated Clorox and it is now 33% stronger so if you used some of the new stuff you could have put out too strong a solution. I have used a diluted bleach spray on very small seedlings with no ill effects; but I use a milder solution than when spraying full sized plants outside.
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Old February 5, 2013   #8
checkerkitty
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RayR View Post
Don't see any fungus issues. Did you check for bugs under the leaves?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
They almost looked like window panes in the leaves.

It's hard to be certain, but that sounds like thrip damage. Thrips will scrape leaves to eat the sap inside. The damage does look like a little window after it dries out. You could have carried a few thrips inside with the plants, then while you were gone, they were locked inside with nothing to eat but your plants.
I haven't seen any bugs but I will double check.

Quote:
Originally Posted by b54red View Post
If it is thrip damage, wind burn or sunscald the bleach spray should not hurt them unless you used a solution too strong. They have reformulated Clorox and it is now 33% stronger so if you used some of the new stuff you could have put out too strong a solution. I have used a diluted bleach spray on very small seedlings with no ill effects; but I use a milder solution than when spraying full sized plants outside.
Yeah, I realized that after I sprayed. I ran back out and sprayed with water but I'm sure the damage was already done by then. Some of my poor plants look terrible. I'm sure they'll recover. I did the 8 oz per gallon dillution. I'm loving my seedlings to death! But, I'm trying to look at this as a learning experience. Thinking those positive thoughts as I kick myself.
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Old February 5, 2013   #9
clkeiper
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My 2cents worth, the first one looks like the tomatoes I had in the greenhouse in the Fall. They developed a fungus due to the damp cool nights. the second and third picture look like sun burn to me.
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Old February 5, 2013   #10
surf4grrl
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These are simply not hardened off well enough, they'll be fine. It happens to everyone, especially when you rush it.

There's no fungus or thrips. If it was fungus - it wouldn't be light and the thrip damage has a sticky substance they leave behind.

Google sunscald on tomato seedlings and the photos that look like yours come up.
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Old February 5, 2013   #11
Fusion_power
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no bugs

no diseases

Some problems with light levels and wind drying

one overreactive mom


They need a really good feeding with something that has nitrogen. They are suffering from light exposure followed by being dark. They have also been too cool sometime in the last week. Keep them above 65 degrees. This is especially important if they are going to be outdoors. This can happen with "indoor leaves" that develop under low light conditions when they are placed outdoors with strong drying conditions and relatively intense light. Also, I would strongly recommend either planting them outdoors permanently or else potting up to a larger container.

DarJones
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Old February 5, 2013   #12
dpurdy
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checkerkitty,
I totally agree with surf4grrl. It definitely looks like they got a little too much direct sunlight. It's very easy to sun scald tomatoes and cucumbers. I did it to a few of my plants last year. Within a week or so, you'll see your plants green back up. Good luck.
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Old February 5, 2013   #13
SunnyK
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I have seen this a couple times when I have rushed hardening off and given them too much sun too soon. But someone wise told me "don't panic, those leaves will be long gone once you start harvesting" .
So as long as your growing tip is healthy, don't sweat it.
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Old February 5, 2013   #14
Doug9345
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I agree it looks like sun scald. I toasted some Rutger seedling so bad last year by leaving them in a car that they didn't have any leaves. It took a week before I was sure which ones had made it, but 17 out of 20 did.
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Old February 6, 2013   #15
checkerkitty
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fusion_power View Post
no bugs

no diseases

Some problems with light levels and wind drying

one overreactive mom


They need a really good feeding with something that has nitrogen. They are suffering from light exposure followed by being dark. They have also been too cool sometime in the last week. Keep them above 65 degrees. This is especially important if they are going to be outdoors. This can happen with "indoor leaves" that develop under low light conditions when they are placed outdoors with strong drying conditions and relatively intense light. Also, I would strongly recommend either planting them outdoors permanently or else potting up to a larger container.

DarJones
Thanks for all the suggestions! I gave them a weak dose of MG tomato food (around 1/2 tsp per gallon of water) this morning. The Medina Hasta-Grow I had been using is 6-12-6 and I was using a diluted dose. I'm hoping the MG will give them the nitrogen they need. If they don't green-up enough, I'm considering a foliar feed. I had been leaving them out as long as the temperatures were over 50 degrees so I'll be sure to bring them back in at night if it's too cool. They are going in the ground or in containers within the next week. I started my seeds a little too early, I think. I'm going to push the date back to January 1 next year so the plants aren't quite so big quite so early.

Christy
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