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Leaves are yellowing then wilting up.

BELOW: If you zoom in on the leaf you can see white organisms along the midrib and veins.

Indoor grown under LED lighting with air conditioning.

These plants are in Miracle Grow Potting Mix with 6 mo fertilizer. I use FoxFarm "Big Grow" 8-4-4. It is possible the problem is photoinhibition as I doubled the light intensity a couple of days ago. I keep the lights on 24/7. I moved them outside in the shade to see if they will recover.

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I am experimenting with 2700K 90 CRI and 3000K 80 CRI strips of LEDs. I am trying to find the most efficient height and intensity. I made some very flexible fixtures where I can easily adjust height and light intensity.

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UPDATE

The "white organisms" were nothing. They were reflections off the trichrome.

Below is a close up. It's clearer if you click on the photo.

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DIAGNOSIS

The plants that I moved outside recovered. They look healthy now. Not very big but they were kept in the shade and 3" peat pots. I'm in Tampa so growing season does not start again until September.

I had the lights on 214/7. Tomato plants do not like a 24 hour photoperiod. Added a timer that shuts the lights off from midnight to 6 am.

This is a subsequent planting. The seeds for these sprouted on or about June 14th.
These pictures were taken July 5th (top) and July 17th (bottom). The partitions are 24" high. So the 16 watt plants are over 12". No yellowing.

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They would probably bigger then 12". I left them in the 1" peat pellets too long, they were root bound and about 3" high before I transplanted. Also I have been having problems with the peat pellets. The roots were having a hard time break through the netting that hold the peat. From now on I will transplant the seedlings within 1 week and I will remove the netting.

Misunderstood
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  • How are the roots doing? If it doesn't need nitrogen, it might have been overwatered, and the roots might be rotting. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Jun 20 '19 at 01:08
  • I see some new growth that looks healthy. When did you add the 8-4-4 what is the formula of the fertilizer in the soil? That first number has to be lower than the other 2 numbers. N has to be lower than P and K; 2-5-4 for example. Otherwise you are getting vegetative growth not reproductive growth. – stormy Jun 28 '19 at 22:03
  • @stormy I added another photo with better lighting. It's the new growth that yellows. I just received a timer to turn off the lights for 6 hrs. a day. I'm thinking the problem may be . I will be transplanting 20+ seedlings into grow bags today. – Misunderstood Jun 29 '19 at 19:38

1 Answers1

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This looks to be simply lack of balanced fertilizer; NPK. Have you fertilized with anything? Even non balanced fertilizer such as fish fertilizer or bone meal?

I would use Osmocote 14-14-14. Use at half the direction's advice. The cotyledon supplies enough chemistry to the baby plant until that plant is on it's 2 or 3rd set of leaves. Then YOU have to carefully with knowledge supply that plant fertilizer or this will happen.

Looks as if you have correctly used potting mix medium and NOT garden soil. Did you use any rock or gravel at the bottom of the pot beneath the soil and above the drain hole? If so, simply turn that pot over holding onto the plant and dump out the rock. Replace the volume with potting soil; sterilized potting soil with NO fertilizer added (you want to be fully in charge of fertilizer) and no funky gimmicks like water holding sponges and water holding gells. Plain, cheap sterilized potting soil medium.

Water thoroughly and do not water again until that pot feels LIGHT.

Fertilize with a BALANCED fertilizer. Osmocote 14-14-14 works best for those not familiar with the chemistry of fertilizers. Otherwise, Dr. Earth's 5-5-5 is good and when they get larger and flowering, switch to Growilla 2-5-4. This promotes reproductive growth for more tomatoes.

Where fertilizer is concerned; Less is Best, More is Death and None is Dumb.

If you've added fertilizer, then you have an entirely different problem. Insects will attack plants that are not vigorous and healthy. This is not being caused by those tiny dots (white fly?). The insect is simply a secondary problem.

Spray your plant, at night, out of doors with a properly mixed NEEM. Lie it on its side and make sure to spray beneath the leaves, even the top of the soil. Send a picture in *a few weeks after fertilizing, watering ONLY when that pot and soil and plant become obviously lighter and after spraying with NEEM.** Read the label on NEEM 5 times! Grins. That is what every pesticide operator is taught to do every single time they reach for a bottle of pesticide/herbicide/miticide/fungicide. These 'cides' mean KILL.

Healthy plants rarely have insect problems.

Growing in artificial light is great but you HAVE to have a major fan blowing on those plants; 24/7.

stormy
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  • These plants are in Miracle Grow Potting Mix with 6 mo fertilizer. I use FoxFarm "Big Grow" 8-4-4. It is possible the problem is photoinhibition as I doubled the light intensity a couple of days ago. I keep the lights on 24/7. I moved them outside in the shade to see if they will recover. I am switching from peat pots to grow bags (see added pic upper right). I do not want to pay over $10 per cu.ft. of potting soil. I have a new bag of Kellogg Potting Mix which I will mix with peat moss and compost and or worm castings. – Misunderstood Jun 20 '19 at 01:01
  • This makes far more sense, Misunderstood! First do not keep the lights on 24/7. Big no no. 18/6 is fine at the beginning just to get them vigorous and healthy. Towards the end of the season 12/12 promotes reproductive growth. Plants need their dark time. What plants got the chance to grow in the INTENSE light 24/7? None. What intensity did you start with and what intensity did you change your lights to ? How close were the lights to the plants. Out of doors under a secure shaded area is great. Don't add anything at all to the potting soil! No need for peat pots or grow bags...$$$ – stormy Jun 20 '19 at 06:22
  • 8-4-4 is too heavy with nitrogen in relation to the P and the K. This promotes vegetative growth not reproductive growth. I would bring your tomatoes back inside to their normal spots, add a fan, add Osmocote at 1/4 the directions, 2-5-4 Growilla would be a gentle balanced fertilizer. Moving plants is one of the biggest stressors of plants. They were not made to move but to stay in one place. Indoors to out of doors is a big deal and any sun on them could burn them, kill your tomato plants. Out of doors back to the indoors as well is stressful and needs acclimatization first. – stormy Jun 20 '19 at 06:29
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    RE: " ℎ ℎ". I live in Tampa and tomato grow season starts in September. Three weeks ago these plants were still seeds. When I reduce the photoperiod (or move them outdoors) they will begin to bloom. That is when I will change to FoxFarm's " " 2-8-4. About the 18/6 photoperiod, the science is mixed. Cornell said regarding lettuce germination: " ℎ 10 , ℎ ℎ 250 μ/2/. – Misunderstood Jun 20 '19 at 23:44
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    Cont'd. ℎ ℎ ( ℎ) 24 ℎ. ℎ ℎ ℎ ℎ ℎ ℎ" Source: http://cea.cals.cornell.edu/attachments/Cornell%20CEA%20Lettuce%20Handbook%20.pdf I recently completed building my LED fixtures for researching growing efficiently under LED lighting. I have another 20 seedlings ready for ℎ . – Misunderstood Jun 20 '19 at 23:53
  • This is a 214 page paper on Continuous Light (CL) for tomato plants. I have not yet read it. It appears there is an issue with continuous lighting and tomatoes. The paper is about locating the gene so GMO can be used to eliminate the problem with CL. : http://edepot.wur.nl/312846 – Misunderstood Jun 21 '19 at 00:10
  • RE: "' ℎ ℎ ". I'm using . Not potting soil. It has no sphagnum peat moss and clumps up like top soil. The peat moss is $3.75 per cu. ft. and the potting mix is $5.25/cu ft. Perlite is $8.50/cu ft. The idea is to improve the aeration and reduce the cost. RE: : In my experiment I have 8 different light treatments, so I need the plants in separate containers. Grow bags are 10¢ each. – Misunderstood Jun 21 '19 at 00:37
  • An OUT OF DOORS potting soil? I dump all my old leftover potting soils every year into or rather onto my beds. My son is into how to make PLANTS BETTER and sorry, this is just not at all cool. 24/7 light is not only unnatural it is contraindicated for all plants. How does top soil, 'clump up'? There is no cheaper way to make or get potting soil. None. Making potting soil does NOT save money! – stormy Jun 23 '19 at 22:02
  • RE:" !" There are many companies making potting soil, so there is money being made somewhere. – Misunderstood Jun 25 '19 at 00:42
  • You betcha they are...somewhat. Have you ever sterilized soil in your oven? MAJOR P U!! One gardener trying to make potting soil has a lot to collect: Vermiculite, coir, very little soil but that soil AND any compost has to be sterilized. Potted plants do not a terrarium make!! – stormy Jun 25 '19 at 00:47
  • RE: " 24/7 ℎ . " That's not what the science says. Guess you did not look at the references I posted. I have some beautiful bell pepper plants that have been under 24/7 lighting for a few months now. I have grown all kinds of house plants under 24/7 lighting too. Cannabis grows very well under 24/7 lighting. Indoor farming is big these days and there is a lot of papers written on the topic, maybe read some before going off on me. – Misunderstood Jun 25 '19 at 00:51
  • 2-8-4 is perfect for the late season. Misunderstood, you know quite a bit about this subject, grins! I think you would LOVE this book, all about how to grow ONE SPECIES of plant; Jorge Cervantes "Cannabis Encyclopedia". Brilliant DETAILED HOW to grow just ONE type of plant. You will love love love the detail, chemistry. For ANY PLANT..sort of. – stormy Jun 25 '19 at 00:52
  • Why would you think that plants who were genetically programmed for spring lighting, mid summer lighting and fall lighting with sleepy bye every night? Plants need time to reset, to repair. Trust me, 24/7 light is a huge no no. – stormy Jun 25 '19 at 00:54
  • I understand your logic. It's just that there has been actual research done that threw logic out the window. Read this, you can just read the title: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4499675/ – Misunderstood Jun 25 '19 at 05:07
  • All life needs rest. Time to rejuvenate, repair. Could you imagine slaves being made to work 24/7? Human slaves? Animal slaves. I shall go read this article. Did you know that all life on this planet shares 99% DNA? 99% was thrown out there by someone even if we shared 10 % DNA, what does that tell you? Anyway, what about the life in the soil needing night time? No no no I won't go for making plants run their factories 24/7. And there has been lots of research that has been found to be bogus. – stormy Jun 25 '19 at 11:28
  • This article may have some basis but sorry, 24/7 isn't fair to the plants nor is it what plants have evolved to deal with. This is like making a bitch dog have puppies continuously. Ugh, this sounds heavy but it is true. – stormy Jun 28 '19 at 21:23
  • @Misunderstood Perfect example that plants are SURVIVORS. 24/7 will never be beneficial to plants, perhaps they make lots before they are pooped? Only commercial growers might try this, but you are trying to learn this stuff. Under artificial lighting, artificial everything. There is no hurry to MAKE more food, right? Try doing a few plants under 24/7, just put up black garbage bags to block the light from the rest of your crop that get night time. Marijuana? It is a flat out rule, 24/7 is a no no! Check out that great book; Jorge Cervantes; the cannabis encyclopedia. !! – stormy Jun 28 '19 at 22:13
  • Yellowing leaves at the top of the plant with nice healthy plenty of nitrogen leaves at the bottom show a MANUAL problem. If chemical, it might be ZINC. Nitrogen as you know is mobile so when N is not available the lower leaves give up their Nitrogen for the newer growth. Pale yellow leaves of the new growth is usually too much heat and light. Or low Zinc which is kind of rare. – stormy Jul 12 '19 at 23:11