Unfortunately, many hobby gardeners often encounter various problems with their new plants when growing seedlings from old tomatoes. Signs of nutrient deficiency are common in young plants, especially in their plant leaves. Although growing in pots is a sustainable and worthwhile option, it requires careful plant care, which is sometimes difficult. Luckily, many mistakes in gardening like this can be avoided by considering certain factors to help tomato plants thrive. Below, learn how to properly grow new tomato seedlings and keep them growing healthily despite some problematic issues.
What happens if you grow seedlings from tomatoes?
There is great anticipation of healthy plant growth after cultivation, but due to various influencing factors, there can also be disappointments. However, if you know what to look out for, you can repair any damage without much effortPrevent plant diseases. This ensures that young tomato plants mature and grow healthily to give you a rich harvest. Regardless of whether you grow seedlings from old tomatoes using garden soil or planters, plants should be healthy.
Additionally, growing a healthy tomato plant prevents pathogens and makes them easier to grow and transplant. Otherwise, the seedlings will develop slowly, which would affect their growth and make them weak, spindly and fragile. You often notice that their...Leaves discoloror have spots and mildew. However, if you notice such problems, you should not be discouraged because there are also simple solutions. Here are some of the most common problems and the steps you can take to address each of them.
How do you deal with discoloration of plant leaves?
If the leaves of your seedlings turn yellow, pale, brown or purple, it is most often due to over- or under-nutrition, as well as excessive or insufficient watering. Inadequate or excessive nutrients as well as incorrect watering are the main reasons for such problems. In addition, the young plants may lack magnesium or are fertilized excessively. In such cases, you should use less fertilizer and better potting soil to properly treat such symptoms.
- One option when growing seedlings from tomatoes is to water them with solutions of Epsom salts and water.
- Since many fertilizers contain potassium, this can lead to magnesium deficiency since tomato plants prefer potassium-rich soil.
- Faded plant leaves are often related to inappropriate lighting conditions or a lack of nitrogen. If there are several hours of sunshine per day, you should grow your plant in larger containers with fresh and nutrient-rich potting soil.
- You can also ensure a more consistent supply of nutrients by adding some to your soilhomemade compostmix in.
- As for plant leaves turning purple, this can also happen due to overwatering or a lack of phosphorus and potassium. In such cases, nourish yoursTomato plants with fertilizers, which is rich in trace elements.
- When watering the plants, you should also use lukewarm water to prevent cold shock. Good drainage also plays a crucial role.
- If you are dealing with browning leaves or stems, this may be due to pest infestation, as well as underwatering or overwatering. Control pests or mold by using your own insecticides and fungicides to avoid chemical products. Also remove all affected plant leaves.
Why do leaves wilt and curl when you grow seedlings from tomatoes?
This problem is also usually due to incorrect watering of tomato seedlings. In addition, drying out or overwatering determine the deformation of plant leaves. After just a day without watering, tomato plants may begin to look brittle and curled, or with too much water, wilt and theirLeave leaves hanging. In this way, the plants try to store the moisture they contain, which leads to wavy leaves. Excessive sunlight or grow lights can also cause plant leaves to dry out.
Here's how to harden off tomatoes to avoid sunburnread here.
- Try to create a watering schedule to always provide the seedlings with an optimal amount of water. You should not flood the potting soil, but keep it constantly moist.
- Expose young plants to sunlight gradually throughout the growing season by initially positioning them in dappled shade. Also make sure air can circulate well and your containers are sterile.
- You can also use a potting mix rich in wormstone and perlite to help the seedlings grow.
What causes slow growth and can it be accelerated?
It also often happens that tomato seedlings grow too slowly despite good lighting conditions and optimal plant care. This may depend on various factors, such as insufficiently warmed soil. Slowed growth also often happens after repotting the plant. In addition, maintaining an optimal soil temperature is essential to accelerate the growth process. This allows the buds to develop faster and soon produce new flowers. So, provide the best soil conditions for your seedlings by taking the following steps:
- You can grow tomato seedlings by keeping them at temperatures of up to 20 degrees Celsius. You can try to add additional heat to the potting soil by spraying it with warm water. This can help promote faster growth, although you can also add warm water in the bottom bowl.
- Even after repotting, try to prevent possible pest infestation and provide more light and improved soil quality. This will allow your tomato plants to thrive again quickly.
How to grow tomato seedlings and prevent plants from becoming leggy
Sometimes the seedlings grow too large, but this can weaken the stems and make them spindly. The main reason for this is insufficient light, which is why the plants lean towards the sun and form lanky stems. This usually results in the young tomato plant developing few or no leaves. This should prompt you to make some changes when choosing a location.
- In such cases, make sure your plant gets enough indirect sunlight. You should keep the plants at least 15 cm away from the light source.
- Also consider using grow lights with red spectra to help tomato plants grow shorter and stockier. Artificial lighting requires at least 12 to 16 hours a day, while 6 to 8 daily hours of sunshine would be enough.
- If there is a lack of light, try moving the plants outside, with the outside temperature should be at least 10 degrees Celsius. You can also use a window sill for this if your window faces south.
Prevent fungal diseases and other damage
Black fungus and spots on plant leaves can also be common problems if you were to grow tomato seedlings. This is because young tomato plants are very susceptible to pests and fungal diseases. These can strip the latex from the plants and leave them with mottled leaves. Whiteflies are usually to blame for this, as fungi feed on honeydew. In such situations, you should take appropriate action.
- You can try repotting the seedlings in sterile and light fluffy potting soil that is also slightly warm and moist. The optimal temperature is above 21 degrees Celsius.
- You should also avoid nitrogen fertilizer until several plant leaves emerge.
- Allow the soil surface to dry out slightly between waterings to help the plant establish more quickly.
- For flies, you can try sticky traps to catch the pests near your plant. Alternatively, you can use insecticides on growing tomato plants to prevent an infestation.
- If you are faced with fungal diseases, you can use fungicides that contain copper. You should not encourage fungal growth or overwater your plant.
- Humidity also plays an important role and you should remove dirt from the ground around your plant as regularly as possible.
- In addition, you can solve most problems with plant diseases and pests by growing seedlings from heirloom tomatoes.
