Needy seedlings . . . . .HELP!

RomanX · March 25, 2017

My seedlings have nice, green leaves. . . . .but with purplish undersides!

How do I correct this deficiency??

I water from the bottom (they have 1+ sets of true leaves) with a complete water-soluble fertilizer (at half strength, this is ~ 7-17-13, with micro-nutrients included).

I let them "drink up" as much as they will, starting with 20 minutes. . thinking that that amount of time would do. It did, for a day or two: then purplish undersides again! Five days later, I bottom fertilized again, but this time let them "drink up" for 30 minutes. Same result: 1-2 days of normalcy, then back to purplish undersides!

I initially choose this complete fertilizer (Jack's Classic Bloom Bust4er) last year over MG Tomato Fertilizer for my mature tomato plants. . . after resolving nutritional deficiencies while "on" MG; once cured and fertilizers switched, my plants did not develop any more deficiencies. So this year, I compared the chemical analyses of MG Tomato and Jack's Classic: while MG offered higher N, it did not list the 2 crucial micro-nutrients but Jack's Classic did.

I'm wondering now if the seedlings need the higher N . . . more so than the micronutrients.

March 25, 2017	#1
RomanX Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: North Carolina Posts: 119	Needy seedlings . . . . .HELP! My seedlings have nice, green leaves. . . . .but with purplish undersides! How do I correct this deficiency?? I water from the bottom (they have 1+ sets of true leaves) with a complete water-soluble fertilizer (at half strength, this is ~ 7-17-13, with micro-nutrients included). I let them "drink up" as much as they will, starting with 20 minutes. . thinking that that amount of time would do. It did, for a day or two: then purplish undersides again! Five days later, I bottom fertilized again, but this time let them "drink up" for 30 minutes. Same result: 1-2 days of normalcy, then back to purplish undersides! I initially choose this complete fertilizer (Jack's Classic Bloom Bust4er) last year over MG Tomato Fertilizer for my mature tomato plants. . . after resolving nutritional deficiencies while "on" MG; once cured and fertilizers switched, my plants did not develop any more deficiencies. So this year, I compared the chemical analyses of MG Tomato and Jack's Classic: while MG offered higher N, it did not list the 2 crucial micro-nutrients but Jack's Classic did. I'm wondering now if the seedlings need the higher N . . . more so than the micronutrients.