Seedlings with curling leaves

SueCT · May 13, 2018

Wow, thank you everyone for all your posts and ideas. The potting mix was a giant bag I had not used up last year, and was stored in my garage so it stayed dry. Not sure if I used that particular bag for seedlings last year or potted plants, but I didn't see any evidence of contamination last year. It would have had to have been contaminated in my garage somehow and that seeems unlikely.

I looked and looked and cannot find any aphids. The white dots on the pic might have been pieces of pearlite that are in the mix. Not positive, but I just can't be sure which leaf that was and can't find any actual bugs.

The plants did shoot up pretty fast once transplanted so maybe they need to "slow thier roll" a bit, lol. If Carolyn is correct maybe the root growth didn't keep up with the top growth. Those leaves do feel a bit dry on the edges, so maybe not enough roots yet to feed and water all that growth. This would be the best possible reason. I WANT this to be the reason, lol. The combination of more light from the new lights and potting soil with fertilizer in it may have spurred more growth than was good. We also had a couple of days that were quite warm in the mid to upper 80s and there is no ac in that room and it got quite warm. That may have spurred some growth too. Since they do feel a little dry, I moved the lights up a few inches. It might decrease the heat over them a bit, and decrease the light they get somewhat to maybe slow them down a little. I am going to keep using the ceiling fan, which is gentle. Working on keeping them moist but not soggy. I started these a couple of weeks later than I usually do and I was concerned about how small they still were, and I transplanted them into the Miracle Grow when they were a bit smaller with less extensive root systems than in the past. So maybe it was a combination of all those things happening at one time. This pysiologic leaf roll can be scary stuff, lol. It looks so dramatic.

Unless I start to see aphids or some other bug, or evidence of leaf disease, there doesn't appear to be much more I can do. I will keep an eye on them for that. I don't have other potting mix to try unless I buy new. The one large bag I have left is unopened but it is the same brand bought at the same time, so if it was contamintion at the source, it would likely be manufactured and packaged at the same time and it would likely be contaminated too. But these bags I think I bought 2 years ago. They were a good deal on Amazon with free shipping and the UPS gal and her partner carried them all up the drive and stacked them in my garage for me. How much better can you get with heavy bags of potting mix? For those like me who like to shop online and appreciate having everything delivered right to me, those UPS drivers are the unsung heros of our time.

May 13, 2018	#11
SueCT Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,460	Wow, thank you everyone for all your posts and ideas. The potting mix was a giant bag I had not used up last year, and was stored in my garage so it stayed dry. Not sure if I used that particular bag for seedlings last year or potted plants, but I didn't see any evidence of contamination last year. It would have had to have been contaminated in my garage somehow and that seeems unlikely. I looked and looked and cannot find any aphids. The white dots on the pic might have been pieces of pearlite that are in the mix. Not positive, but I just can't be sure which leaf that was and can't find any actual bugs. The plants did shoot up pretty fast once transplanted so maybe they need to "slow thier roll" a bit, lol. If Carolyn is correct maybe the root growth didn't keep up with the top growth. Those leaves do feel a bit dry on the edges, so maybe not enough roots yet to feed and water all that growth. This would be the best possible reason. I WANT this to be the reason, lol. The combination of more light from the new lights and potting soil with fertilizer in it may have spurred more growth than was good. We also had a couple of days that were quite warm in the mid to upper 80s and there is no ac in that room and it got quite warm. That may have spurred some growth too. Since they do feel a little dry, I moved the lights up a few inches. It might decrease the heat over them a bit, and decrease the light they get somewhat to maybe slow them down a little. I am going to keep using the ceiling fan, which is gentle. Working on keeping them moist but not soggy. I started these a couple of weeks later than I usually do and I was concerned about how small they still were, and I transplanted them into the Miracle Grow when they were a bit smaller with less extensive root systems than in the past. So maybe it was a combination of all those things happening at one time. This pysiologic leaf roll can be scary stuff, lol. It looks so dramatic. Unless I start to see aphids or some other bug, or evidence of leaf disease, there doesn't appear to be much more I can do. I will keep an eye on them for that. I don't have other potting mix to try unless I buy new. The one large bag I have left is unopened but it is the same brand bought at the same time, so if it was contamintion at the source, it would likely be manufactured and packaged at the same time and it would likely be contaminated too. But these bags I think I bought 2 years ago. They were a good deal on Amazon with free shipping and the UPS gal and her partner carried them all up the drive and stacked them in my garage for me. How much better can you get with heavy bags of potting mix? For those like me who like to shop online and appreciate having everything delivered right to me, those UPS drivers are the unsung heros of our time.