This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Nutrient deficiency

Good point Allan... if you're going to keep the seedlings in pots more
than a couple of weeks they need to be fed.  Sterile seed starting mix
has *no* nutrients in it and, as Allan noted, artificial potting soils
(peat, perlite and vermiculite) have only a little if any.  Read the
label.  

(Allan:  I'm piping up here for two reasons 1) It's my nature and 2) in
the U.S. compost is a word limited to the material you make in a heap,
although you cam buy "composted manure".  The material you are referring
to is generally called "potting soil" in the U.S. and is a mix of peat,
perlite and vermiculte with maybe some lime and a little fertiliser --
does this sound correct?)


Steve  (Maritime...)

Allan Day wrote:
> 
> On Sat 28 Mar, Michael D. Cook wrote:
> > At 07:37 AM 3/27/98 -0600, you wrote:
> > >     However, they didn't grow hardly at all since I originally put them
> > >out there, and their leaves are turning purple.
> >
> > Stan, when tomato leaves turn purple (at least on the undersides) they are
> > suffering a nutrient deficiency.  A shot of weak liquid fertilizer should
> > fix it.
> >
> > I used peat pots to start tomatoes and peppers one year, and every single
> > seedling suffered from nutrient deficiency.  I have never had that problem
> > with seedlings in plastic pots.  Does the peat pot have anything to so with
> > it?  What with the mold, the too soggy/rapidly dessicated/no happy medium
> > quality, and the impenetrable walls that were supposed to give way to
> > roots, I will never use those pots again.
> > Sheila Smith mikecook@pipeline.com
> 
> It is not generally realised that multipurpose compost has only
> enough feed in it for three weeks, maybe less, particularly if
> it is stale. I encountered this problem and now mix in a scattering
> of a slow release (organic, maybe) general fertiliser in every bucket
> of multipurpose compost I use for seeds and potting. Liquid feeding
> also helps if you can do it, especially when applied over the leaves,
> but this doesn't always fit into my methods.
> --
> Allan Day Hereford HR2 7AU allan@crwys.demon.co.uk Tel:- 01432 275443
> (+answer m/c)
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index