Need help figuring out what's wrong with my plants

[jamserg]

This is my second batch of tomatoes. First batch had the same problem and I replaced them with a new one. First 2 pictures are plants in the ground, the third one is in the earthtainer. All three plants are from a nursery, so I'm pretty sure they were hardened off. I don't think it's a sunburn cause it was cloudy/rainy most of the time since I planted them. I need to figure out what's wrong so I don't ruin my third batch. tia

[OtterJon]

Hi jamserg,

People can get sunburned in cloudy weather and so can plants...If they come directly from a nursery..Typically they do not harden them off, but sell them directly from the greenhouses..They still need to be hardened off...as even cloudy weather youve been having can be stronger light from the sun than in a greenhouse....due to overcrowding I could be wrong, It really does look like sunburn to me...If it is..plants will be slow to get going, but should recover. Others will chime in as well...I'm sure. Curious...what are you doing for fertilizer? Here is a good article for some food for thought...hope it helps. http://voices.yahoo.com/5-common-mis...17.html?cat=32

Jon

[Simone]

I agree,

they really look sunburned...

Simone

[clkeiper]

Me, too. Sunburn. Leave them though. Don't pull them and start over. They will be fine.

[OtterJon]

And don't trim the burnt leaves yet...the plant will take back nutrients from the damaged leaves and branches before they wither.You'll get plenty of new growth in the coming weeks...

Jon

[b54red]

Sunburn.

[Wi-sunflower]

Yup sunscald.

My brother got the worst sunburn of his life on a cloudy day.

Carol

[jamserg]

Thanks, everybody. Haven't had this problem before (maybe not that bad). Very bizarre. Always something new So what schedule should I use for hardenning off against the sun? First day 2 hours, next 3 and so on for 7 days ?

[DogsandDirt]

Possibly wind burn or damage from wind chill? I have similar looking lesions on a few tomatoes and some tomatillos that appeared after a cold front moved through last Wednesday. Wind chills were at the freezing mark, and as bad as it was here I imagine Tulsa was worse.

[Worth1]

You have had some horrible weather up your way.
I bet what the others are saying is true.

They'll grow out of it.

Worth

[dice]

Feldon's hardening off guide:
http://www.settfest.com/2010/06/star.../#hardeningoff

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by OtterJon

People can get sunburned in cloudy weather and so can plants...If they come directly from a nursery..Typically they do not harden them off, but sell them directly from the greenhouses..They still need to be hardened off

I've never heard of a nursery selling a tomato plant that was not hardened off and that didn't advise you of this first. Once, I did buy a Black Cherry plant but the store owner made it very clear to me that it had not been hardened off and would need this process. It was their last plant and I really needed one.

Originally Posted by OtterJon

http://voices.yahoo.com/5-common-mis...17.html?cat=32

Jon

Again, the burden should not be on the customer to do this. Most people can't take the time off work to apply increasing amounts of early morning or late afternoon light to their plants over a 7 day period. Even as someone with flexibility in my work schedule, I've known the horror of putting out plants on an extremely cloudy day, only to be running errands and ~1 hour away from the house when the clouds suddenly part and hit my plants with full sun. I had to race home and put them back in the shade and still the damage was done. There are some tricks you can do (thanks Dice for linking my article) but still, nothing beats a fully hands-on hardening off, at least the first 2-3 days.


Plants you buy at a retailer should be "ready to go" in my opinion.