Once upon a time on usenet Terry Coombs wrote:
songbird wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote:
Some of mine (mortgage lifters) have leaves that are kinda
yellowish . These were planted late Jan , moved from starter cells
into 4" round pots a month or so ago . Last frost is still 3-4 weeks
away . I've kept them moist , daily watering quantity adjusted for
how dry they were . These were moved into the little greenhouse/hot
box a few days ago , night time temps have been 40° or higher . We
did have like 3 days of rain . I open the windows on top of the box
during the day to prevent overheating unless it's raining (the
plants are right under the drip line of the roof) . Anybody care
to venture a guess why ?

too many possibilities to get it in one.

moving them can be a shock, overnight lows can be too
low, starting mix may be exhausted of nutrients, too much
water, too little water, normal die off of bottom leaves...

if they get leggy and tall with no bottom leaves just
bury them more deeply when you plant them in the gardens
they'll root at the nodes of the stem and you'll have
better drought protection.


songbird

OK , in order :
Moving/overnight lows are suspected ... starting mix is supposed to
be good for 3 months or more , it's time release .

Tomato plants are gross feeders though and pull nutrients out of the media
at an alarming rate. Also the claimed 3 months may be marketing...

If I see yellowing of (especially lower) tomato leaves it screams out
'deficiencies' to me. Often nitrogen but sometimes iron / magnesium. I add a
good liquid fert with trace elements to their water for a week or so and see
if it helps, then take it from there.

Over/underwatering
is probably not it , I have been very careful with that - if that
were the cause it would be more than just the one variety of tomatoes
, it'd be everything . Normal die off is maybe part of it , lower
leaves are more affected . All of my seedlings are compact and stocky
, I think because of the continuous air movement from the ceiling fan
and the grow light that I had above them . Tomatoes will be planted
deep , that's just SOP . Reduced sunlight because of all the
cloudy/rainy days might be partly responsible since the grow light
isn't on them , I dunno . Their day was also shortened when they went
out , I had the light on for 16 hours a day . Cha-cha-cha-changes ,
but at least this weeds out the weak .

Messing with photoperiod isn't a good idea generally but I think that, with
tomatoes it's not too big a deal. Still, in my book supplemental lighting
for plants destined to go outside should be about intensity rather than day
length.

Good luck!
--
Shaun.

"Humans will have advanced a long, long, way when religious belief has a
cozy little classification in the DSM."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)