2
points
Leaves of veggies plants turned color...why?

General    State College, PA

About 1 week ago I planted several seedlings outside in my garden - they had grown indoors from seeds, and then I acclimated them to the outdoors before planting them in the ground. They looked OK for the first 2 days after planting, and then I didn't visit the garden for a while. Yesterday I found that several of the plants have either dark or white leaves, all of which used to be dark green. What may have happened to them?


Posted by: Ruth Nissly (6 points) Ruth Nissly
Posted: May 2, 2014




Answers

1
point
Perhaps they were not acclimated enough to the intensity of light in the garden.

When I plant seedlings as small as those and don't plan to check on them every day, I often use floating row cover to help them get acclimated. Or I place large pots nearby to shade them from afternoon sun, which is more harsh than morning sun.


Posted by: Tanya in the Garden (128 points) Tanya in the Garden
Posted: May 3, 2014




1
point
Such coloration can be a sign of phosphorous deficiency
See here some stuff in Corn http://msucares.com/crops/corn/corn_s...

also here, http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/so...

Here is a resource highlighting the different types of deficiency and what to add
http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/ex...

For phosphorous
"Anything with the words
“phosphate” or “bone.” Also greensand"


Posted by: David Hughes (66 points) David Hughes
Posted: May 3, 2014




1
point
It looks like a bit of shock caused by (1) plants not quite ready for higher light intensity or (2) cold shock due to low night temperatures. That being said, the youngest leaves look green and fine and they provide an important clue that these plants should snap out of it pretty quickly.


Posted by: Charlie B. (5 points) Charlie B.
Posted: May 5, 2014




1
point
Update! The weather has been much warmer lately. I also amended the soil 9 days ago with fertilizer including phosphorous. The plants are continuing to make new green growth, and with most of the old, bad leaves removed they look much like normal plants. The broccoli & cauliflower are already budding, which is not ideal but oh well - this is as far as I've gotten the types of plants to grow so far in my 5 years of trying.


Posted by: Ruth Nissly (6 points) Ruth Nissly
Posted: May 13, 2014




1
point
It's already been mentioned but the purply leaves on the brassicas is almost certainly a phosphorous deficiency --BUT-- phosphorous uptake is limited by soil temperature! You probably had enough phosphorous available but it couldn't be used by the plant until the soil warmed.
If you've had a spring in PA anything like we've had in NY, the coolness is causing all sorts of issues!
Glad to see they're doing better.


Posted by: Deb (7 points) Deb
Posted: May 26, 2014




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