Pruning and Repotting...

[dmforcier]

I'm not the greatest at diagnosing nutrient deficiencies, but you have some clear interveinal chlorosis, generally indicating lack of Mg. Some plants seem to have edge curling.

Have you checked the pH of your water? What are you feeding? Are you using a pre-fertilized soil mix?

[murihikukid]

Patti..I have looked at the righand link ...Very interesting and the Tomato variety really interests me..His system is taking full advantage of his cage and its something I have thought of...When I get time I might try and design a cage to try myself ...I would make it square??? simply because I Think it may be easier to make ..........Its still blowing a gale...Maybe I should put lights outside and work during the night as it often dies down then...
Regards Ron

[murihikukid]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

I'm not the greatest at diagnosing nutrient deficiencies, but you have some clear interveinal chlorosis, generally indicating lack of Mg. Some plants seem to have edge curling.

Have you checked the pH of your water? What are you feeding? Are you using a pre-fertilized soil mix?

Hi...Yes I noticed the edge curling....To be honest I have not tested my water Ph...I used Yates Super potting mix and added perlite ..I packed a bottom layer down in the pottle gave it a sprinkle of water then sprinkled tricaderna and some ground oyster shell on it....then I put a handful of the soil mix in it and poked a centre hole down to the top of the bottom layer and carefully put my seedling in and just used my finger to get soil into the hole before tapping the pottle on the table which seems to get the loose soil neatly round the stem ..Just pushed it down slightly to keep it upright and watered round the side of the pottle...They have been under lights but not all have the deficientcy yet same soil mix...

I am going to repot tonight starting with the worst ones ...I am hoping the new soil mix I use will provide them with the nutrient they require...I presume I could put epsom salts around the roots...
It seems I might have found a supplier here in New Zealand of everything required ...which is great news for me..just waiting for a price list before ordering...

Thanks Ron..

[dmforcier]

Check your water pH. I have alkaline water here at 8.5+ pH, and that caused a nasty Mg deficiency before I noticed it. The thing is, all nutrients are affected by pH, so the longer it goes on the more deficiencies you will see. It's not that the nutrient is lacking in the soil. It is that the pH is wrong to allow the plant to take up nutrient(s). Peat based soils are naturally around the sweet spot of 6.3 pH, but alkaline water will gradually drive that up.

IME different varieties react to nutrient deficiencies differently. For instance, I saw the Mg problem in a couple of big superhot C.chinense varieties while all the other plants seemed perfectly happy. As a matter of interest, check if your chlorotic plants are all of the same variety or two.

One site I looked at recommended epsom salt foliar spray, but watering with it should work too unless the soil pH is too high.

[MissS]

Ron those babies need to be fed some Miracle Grow at full strength. They look to be very hungry. If in the next 7 days they do not green up then follow up with some Epsom salts. When you get around to re-planting them be sure to water them in with some MG too.

Square cages are great. I use them. You can even make them out of fencing and if you use 4 movable sides then you can make them fold up for storage.

Calmag is a much better source of calcium than what you are using. It also greens your plants up beautifully by adding magnesium. This will help you to have strong sturdy stems, aid with blossom end rot and green up the plants. You will still need to provide the plants with fertiliser.

[murihikukid]

Patti...As soon as I get an email from the guy I will be right into it...I have been checking constantly...Its the same as the Perlite ...I have been waiting for a day and a half now on the promise he was going to ring me up and give me a price to bring it down from Christchurch....half the time they come down half empty so I am hoping for a good price..I must give them another ring...I have the alloy piece above the door on now... but need a new drill just to secure it properly...then I want to put some removable covers on the screen door so that I can use it in all weather...
What about if I repot the worst tonight in the new soil and water them in with MG....or should I leave the repotting...Regards Ron

[murihikukid]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Have you checked the pH of your water? What are you feeding? Are you using a pre-fertilized soil mix?

Hi..I filled my 1 litre spray bottle up with cold water and put my Ph meter in it....its showing 6.... Thanks Ron

[MissS]

Go right ahead and get those re-potted and feed them well.

Good luck working on the repairs.

~ Patti

[murihikukid]

Patti...I have 9.6 Litre plastic buckets and have drilled drainage holes in them....I have the plants sorted out with the yellowing ones first to repot ...I have a fresh batch of soil mixed up ..will need a second ....just the supersoil and perlite ..I am wondering whether to add calcium in the mix or just sprinkle some in the root hole with the T-Derma and put my plant on the dirt ..I will repot with same precedure as my little ones...then I will put MG round the outside of the soil in the pot (1litre) ...

It will be a long night ..there is cricket on soon but it should only take me til 3am (after the cricket is finished...
Still no reply from Nelson or the transport company re price for picking up Perlite for me...He said 2 hours to get back to me and in the morning that will be two days ago....Whats happening about credibility ...these people are letting voice mail run their businesss... The wind has died right down and no rain....then in 12 hours time at 9am away it will go again.....People are getting sick of it....Cheers Ron

[murihikukid]

Patti..What did I say ??3am....Just finished repotting 20 into buckets and gave all my new baby seedlings a small drink of very weak MG....I have had it?? and its 5.15am...and I can hear the wind starting up...I am going to make a sandwich and a cup of chocolate and wash down half a Panadol Night cap to help me get to sleep ..I actually did the repotting inside so there are buckets everywhere with tomatoes in them ...I really think I deserve some good tomatoes with all my work...I have made contact with a local area company who do soil etc in fact they supply the Rowing club for their Garden fund raising just prior to Xmas... They are bringing in a bag of Perlite ...$40...its all they have...
Regards Ron

[MissS]

I'm sorry Ron but while you were potting I was asleep. Now that I am up for the day, it is time for you to turn in.

You must have missed it. I said earlier to give your yellowing plants a FULL strength dose of Miracle Grow. Now just wait until they dry out some and then feed again. I think that it is best to work the calcium throughout the soil. The plants will then have it available for quite some time. Calcium is a very important nutrient for tomato plants.

[murihikukid]

Patti... I made up a mix of 8 litres and 2 spoonfulls of MG....and watered them in with it..do I need CalMag?l
I am really getting upset ?? when I think I have a company who can supply with the products I require.....the manager does not acknowledge an email so tonight I used their online email and it bounced with a reason "quota full"....whatever that means...To make matters worse they have an agent sort of in my area (lower South Island ) who apparantly does not have an email address ...does not inspire confidence....

Now I find a truck company that does back loading would charge me more than a courier ...Strange..and still no reply to my inquiry you gave me the link for...

Regards Ron...

[MissS]

Ron, this company most likely does not sell their products directly to the consumer. What you need to find out is if there is a retailer that they supply who sells locally. The "quota full" means that their mailbox is full and has no room for further messages. You might have to phone the south island agent to have your questions answered.
I have mentioned Calmag to you numerous times. I really do think that anyone growing in pots should be using it. It does not mean that you need to buy it from this source. If you can find it, you will be very happy that you bought it.
In going back to the Fungi Perfecti site, it does state that New Zealand has restrictions. Maybe you could kindly ask them if they know of a reliable source of mycos in NZ.

Regards ~ Patti

[murihikukid]

The following message to <info@fungi.com> was undeliverable.
The reason for the problem:
5.4.7 - Delivery expired (message too old) 552-'Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation'

**********************************
Patti..Heres another one failed..I think this was my email to the Mycogrow you use....
Most of my young plants are outside and many look a terrible colour ..I will take a photo later and post it.....I have got to correct this in my opinion...but also why has this happened ..To me it must be the soil yet I purchased what I thought would be top quality soil for their start in life..I presume it will take some time before the plants show a reaction to the new soil they are now in and the MG they were watered in with..
As for SAFA I will just have to ring that company ...It does seem strange ..How come the top guys email box is full????

Now I do need advice on how plants react to Shelfing in a greenhouse ...Can I grow the smaller plants on top of each other ....At this stage I am running out of space because everything is on the floor and I feel that I need to set up Shelfing system to utilise to use space above that is not being used...This hopefully will be Temporary ....

Regards Ron

[dmforcier]

In many cases the existing discolored foliage won't suddenly become green when you fertilize. Watch the new growth to see the effect of effective fertilization take effect.