Wilting tomato leaves, asking for a friend.. Really

[Jetstar]

My friend on the other side of town has a Apple tablet and he called me this morning, his wife is growing some tomatoes their about 6 weeks old. In the last week several plants have what looks like white stripes on some of the leaves and I also saw some bottom leaves curling up and a few that were ready to fall off. She put them in bigger pots last Sunday, but she said they were having the same issue before she re- potted them. I asked if she had fertilized them and he said he didn't think she had... Any advice would help she's quite worried... Thanks

I'm gonna try to get her to sign up on this site ASAP!

[KarenO]

A Photo would help quite a lot. Have her send you one if possible. Also where are they, what are they planted in, etc. I’ll help if I can but need more info.

KarenO

[Jetstar]

Karen, I don't have a way to get you a pic. I'll try to get her to send me one by email she re-potted them in Schultz moisture plus potting mix, as soon as i can get a pic. I'll post it.

[Jetstar]

Here's the pic's.

[wxcrawler]

Some of those look sunburned.

[Jetstar]

Wxcrawler, she says they've never seen the sun. I know she picked up a LED grow light about 2 weeks ago, I talked to her on the phone and asked her how she watered the seedlings & fertilized them from the top, I explained that they should be watered & feed from the bottom.

[Labradors2]

We definitely need a photo if you could get him to send you one and post it here. It could take a weeks for him to be accepted as a member here and it sounds as if he needs help pronto.

The only thing I can think of WRT white stripes is Leaf Miners, but I think the plants would have to be outside or in a greenhouse to get those.

Linda

[Labradors2]

If they weren't allowed outside, they were too close to the lights!

Not to worry as they will recover.

Linda

[Jetstar]

Labradore2, I relayed the message, hope this works for her... Thanks!!

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

If they weren't allowed outside, they were too close to the lights!

Not to worry as they will recover.

Linda

agree with Linda

KarenO

[Jetstar]

She asked me what would be a good distance for the light? I told her my LED is 3-1/2 or 4" depending on the plants height. If that's to close let me know.

[jtjmartin]

I have several tomatoes every year that look like that due to sunburn. I guess light burn is a close cousin!

They recover and toughen up fairly quick.

Jeff

[HudsonValley]

I had a similar problem my first year with grow lights. The worst-hit were the plants in white, shiny cups -- I remember thinking that the light reflected so strongly that it burned the leaves; the plants in dark green nursery pots were not badly unaffected. Moving the lights (T5s) to a distance of 6" helped, as did leaving the lights off for 8-9 hours/day.

[wxcrawler]

I did this to my seedlings the first year I had my T5 bulbs. They ended up doing just fine. I have to move mine at least 6-8" below the lights or they get burned.

Lee

[Jetstar]

Did a follow up with her husband today on the phone and I asked the question I now realize I should have asked when she told me she had a problem with her seedlings... I was wondering I asked how much does she run the grow lights? Well we never shut them off!... It taught me a lesson I'm sorry I wasted your time people, I told him to put the light on a timer and set it to 12 hrs on and the plants should recover... Thanks again for all the timely advice!!