Tiny black speckles on seedlings

Tomatovator · April 1, 2008

I potted up my plants to 2" cells a week ago and have them in cool conditions in the garage under Fluorescent lights. They look to be growing nicely but today I noticed several of the plants as having tiny black speckles on the leaves. The are very, very small as if the plants were dusted with potting mix. This is not the case and the speckles do not brush off. Ever hear of this? Are these plants soon to be dead? Should I be starting more seeds just in case?

bonekittyslug · April 2, 2008

I usually have some varieties each year that have those tiny black speckles. Can't remember which ones of past varieties did, however, this year Black Krim does.

What to do??? Relax, just ignore them.

I've never had any problem come out of the tiny speckles. As the plants get bigger I seem to forget they were there at all.

I still don't know what they are, but, in my experience, I never worry about them.

Ruth_10 · April 2, 2008

I saw something similar on one of my Kimberly seedlings a couple of weeks ago. I moved them away from the other seedlings to a windowsill, just to be safe. They look fine now.

pbud · April 2, 2008

I've had this happen before too. I did what Ruth did and moved the plants with the tiny black specks away from the others, but nothing bad ever came of the specks and they grew out of it into healthy problem-free plants. This year I left the few with black specks in with the other plants and nothing bad happened.

April 1, 2008	#1
Tomatovator Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pennsylvania Zone 6 Posts: 461	Tiny black speckles on seedlings I potted up my plants to 2" cells a week ago and have them in cool conditions in the garage under Fluorescent lights. They look to be growing nicely but today I noticed several of the plants as having tiny black speckles on the leaves. The are very, very small as if the plants were dusted with potting mix. This is not the case and the speckles do not brush off. Ever hear of this? Are these plants soon to be dead? Should I be starting more seeds just in case?

April 2, 2008	#2
bonekittyslug Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: SW VA Zone 6b-7a Posts: 176	I usually have some varieties each year that have those tiny black speckles. Can't remember which ones of past varieties did, however, this year Black Krim does. What to do??? Relax, just ignore them. I've never had any problem come out of the tiny speckles. As the plants get bigger I seem to forget they were there at all. I still don't know what they are, but, in my experience, I never worry about them. __________________ More Harvest, Mark The life of a cat...Sleep 'til you're hungry...Eat 'til you're tired! Spay or neuter your best friend!!

April 2, 2008	#3
Ruth_10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MO z6a near St. Louis Posts: 1,349	I saw something similar on one of my Kimberly seedlings a couple of weeks ago. I moved them away from the other seedlings to a windowsill, just to be safe. They look fine now. __________________ --Ruth Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.

April 2, 2008	#4
pbud Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bay Area Posts: 173	I've had this happen before too. I did what Ruth did and moved the plants with the tiny black specks away from the others, but nothing bad ever came of the specks and they grew out of it into healthy problem-free plants. This year I left the few with black specks in with the other plants and nothing bad happened.