Everyone who grows tomatoes on their site has come across yellowed or drooping leaves at least once in their life. This significantly affects the yield of plants, so the problem must be eliminated immediately. Next, we will describe the causes of yellow spots on tomato seedlings and methods of dealing with these ailments.
Causes of yellow spots on tomato seedlings
Yellow leaves of tomatoes are a sign that the plant is under stress.
They occur in tomatoes due to:
- improper care;
- diseases.
There are several types of yellowness:
- several lower yellowed leaves. This happens when transplanting tomatoes. The lower leaves can curl and dry out.
- yellow leaves with a blue tint. The reason is hypothermia.
- rapid yellowing of leaves at the bottom of the bush. These are symptoms of a damaged root system.
Poor care
Incorrect care can include errors in:
- watering;
- loosening;
- lighting;
- top dressing.
Failure to follow the watering regime can result in curled, yellow, drooping leaves. Plants wither and even die. Why is this happening? This is due to excess or lack of water. Tomatoes need abundant, but rare watering. Outdoors no more than 2 times a week. Volume - 5 liters for one bush. Best before lunch.
Do not place containers with water in the greenhouse. They create excess moisture.
Lack of minerals
Yellow leaves can occur due to a lack of minerals:
- with a lack of nitrogen, all plants become stained;
- copper - there are no spots, but the whole bush loses color;
- sulfur - leaves turn yellow, become tough;
- magnesium - small spots;
- manganese - fast yellowness, rot;
- phosphorus - yellowed top.
Loosening is performed to enrich the roots with oxygen. Too frequent, deep loosening can damage the roots. Depth - no more than 10 cm.
Incorrect lighting
Incorrect lighting - Another reason for yellowed leaves. Sunburns cause white spots. On hot, sunny days, bushes, seedlings should be shaded.
Tomato leaves should not be watered. This can lead to sunburn.
Damage by pests
Diseases affecting tomatoes can be:
- fungal;
- cladoporia (yellow-brown, brown spots);
- fusarium (yellow-green, twisted, sluggish leaves);
- late blight (brown spots);
- gray rot (brown spots, gray bloom);
- bacterial;
- bacterial cancer (white spots with a black center);
- viral;
- tobacco mosaic virus (mosaic color, with alternating dark and light green colors);
- curl virus (yellowness around the edges of the leaf).
When the first yellow leaves appear, they must be removed.
In greenhouses, greenhouses, there are more problems with tomatoes. There is high humidity, high air temperature - excellent conditions for the development of diseases. Therefore, watering - no more than once a week.
Why tomato leaves wither and die
Causes of drooping leaves:
- non-compliance with agricultural standards;
- disease.
Improper plant care consists in:
- dense planting;
- inappropriate area;
- insufficient, excessive amount of water;
- improperly selected soil;
- lack, excess of sunlight;
- overheating, hypothermia;
- in humid air;
- drafts;
- improper feeding.
With dense planting of seedlings, they shade each other. There is competition for sunlight. The bushes are stretched out. Roots run out of space. There is a struggle for water and nutrients. The result is a sluggish bush. Black leg disease may occur.
The fungal disease Fusarium causes wilting of tomato leaves. In this case, the roots acquire a reddish color, the leaves turn yellow. Diseases can only be defeated at an early stage of development. If the bush can no longer be cured, it must be removed, burned. To cultivate the land.
With a sufficient amount of water in plants, they are in a state of turgor. The deficiency causes them to fade. Excess moisture can lead to decay of the root, black leg.
Good lighting is necessary. Light is needed for photosynthesis. When planting seedlings early in the greenhouse, you can use additional lighting - fluorescent lamps. But do not light the plant during the day. Some processes in the plant take place only in the dark.
If the plants are in a greenhouse, the greenhouse air temperature during the day should be no higher than 28aboutC, at night - 18aboutC. Optimal - 24 - 26aboutC. At a temperature of 38 - 40aboutC leaves begin to fall. Regular ventilation is required.
Tomatoes love warmth. Cold can cause drooping leaves. At temperatures below 15about C they do not assimilate phosphorus, at 10about C is nitrogen.Top dressing of bushes should be balanced.
How to cure plants in a greenhouse
If the tomatoes have wilted, the leaves have turned yellow, the first step is to establish the cause. Sometimes changing growing conditions can help get rid of problems. It is required to adjust the level of watering, feeding, illumination, temperature.
The yellowed leaves must be removed, otherwise the plant may begin to fall and die.If there is a lack of a trace element, you need to feed it with the appropriate fertilizer. For example, nitrogen starvation is eliminated by spraying with urea.
For sunburns, reduce the amount of sunlight. In the case of seedlings, you can shade them with paper, covering the glass of the windows with it. In the case of improperly selected soil, waterlogging of the soil, tomatoes should be dug up and transplanted to a suitable place, otherwise the seedlings will begin to rot and disappear.
If the cause cannot be established, the tomatoes can be treated with copper sulfate (70 - 80 grams per 10 liters of water).
Tomatoes affected by diseases, pests must be treated with the appropriate preparation. Uproot the bushes themselves. Burn. To process the land, work equipment, gardener's clothes.
Prevention of wilting and yellowness of tomatoes on the windowsill
To prevent the appearance of problems with seedlings, you need to know the growing conditions of these nightshades. Only the right actions will help gardeners to deal with the problems that have arisen.
Required conditions for growing tomatoes:
- slightly acidic, neutral soil;
- daylight hours at least 12 hours;
- moderate amount of fertilizer;
- warm, dry air;
- regular ventilation;
- moderate watering.
What conditions are contraindicated for tomatoes:
- cold;
- high humidity of soil, air;
- heavy, acidic soil;
- dense planting of bushes;
- high air temperature;
- excess fertilizer.
As a preventive measure, you should regularly loosen the ground under the bushes. This contributes to the enrichment of the roots with oxygen. Water does not stagnate under tomatoes.
When planting, it is recommended to purchase tomato varieties resistant to diseases, pests... Seeds, soil, containers for planting, working equipment at the beginning of the season must be processed.
The distance between the seedlings is at least 40 cm. Depending on the variety. During the installation of the greenhouse, the greenhouse should provide a ventilation system. It is required to make a crop rotation every year. Tomatoes can be planted in the same place only 3 to 4 years after the last planting.
In early spring, late autumn, it is necessary to process the greenhouse, the greenhouse with sulfur bombs. This is done to destroy parasites, pests and diseases (rust, mottling).
Tomatoes should not be planted in soil where other nightshades used to grow.
There can be many reasons for wilting, yellow dots on tomatoes. Starting from ordinary biological aging, transplantation and up to serious illness. With proper care, adherence to preventive measures, all these problems can be avoided. Compliance with all norms of agricultural technology will reward the gardener with a bountiful harvest and help save the plantings.