Ok, I know there have been discussions on fertilizers, but why no stickies? Or am I just blind? lol
I'm sure most of ya'll have seen my recent post with my yellow plants. Here's the deal....I start my seeds just like everyone else. I either use peat pellets, or MG starter soil. Pellets have worked for me in the past, but I doubt I will use them after this year. Too many issues this year. I am just using them now because I have a bunch of them! lol
Anypoo...looking at some people's threads, like Silver Surfers (sorry to pick on ya there buddy!), and it doesnt look like I do anything different than he does. Well, for the most part. I started off repotting my first batch of seedlings straight into a mix that I used for my full-sized plants last year. The mix was 4 parts peat moss, 2 parts Sta Green potting soil, 2 parts composted cow manure, and 1 part perlite. I bought a bag of dolomitic lime last year, but never opened it since my plants did AWESOME. If it aint broke, dont fix it, right?
Well, after a couple of weeks, I noticed my babies turning yellow. So, I gave them a shot of Epsom salt and fish emulsion, quarter strength. I guess I was under the impression that you shouldnt feed your seedlings too early. I guess I was wrong about that. I also talked to WickedMojo about this deal, and he said that last year he used the same potting soil, the Sta Green brand. It did the same thing to his plants. Well, about a week and a half ago, I RE-potted the affected plants into straight Pro Mix. The first time after that I watered them, I gave them a quarter strength fish emulsion with a scoop of the dolomitic lime disolved into the mix as well. The more and more I read about the yellowing, all signs pointed to a calcium deficiency. I read, on here, that the lime will give them a good bit of calcium. After the first feeding, 5 plants took a REAL bad turn. The leaves shriveled up, and started falling off. I dont mean got DRY, then shriveled up. The soil was moist. In an effort to save them, I pulled all of the "bad" leaves off so the plants could expend all of their energy into growing instead of fixing itself.
Just a few minutes ago, I watered them with the same fish emulsion/dolomitic lime solution, but added less water. It was closer to a half-strength solution this time. I wanted to be a little more drastic this time. I guess I will soon see how that works out.
So, on to a few questions...People on here talk about different fertlizers doing different things. i.e.Epsom salt giving the plants magnesium to make the plants greener. What about other fertilizers? What does, say, fish emulsion give them? And what does it do for the plant? That's just one example. I go to college, so I dont really have the time to break everything down. I know I COULD do it, I just dont have the time.
Also, what about the signs of issues with plants? Like a sticky on that? Take MY yellow-leaf problem as an example. What could the possibilities be? People have helped me out in my other thread. I appreciate all of ya'lls help! That's not what I mean. What I mean is maybe someone making a chart. X problem could be caused by this, or this, or this, etc.
I hope I didnt sound too mixed up here. My brain goes fuzzy when it gets overloaded with questions! lol
I'm sure most of ya'll have seen my recent post with my yellow plants. Here's the deal....I start my seeds just like everyone else. I either use peat pellets, or MG starter soil. Pellets have worked for me in the past, but I doubt I will use them after this year. Too many issues this year. I am just using them now because I have a bunch of them! lol
Anypoo...looking at some people's threads, like Silver Surfers (sorry to pick on ya there buddy!), and it doesnt look like I do anything different than he does. Well, for the most part. I started off repotting my first batch of seedlings straight into a mix that I used for my full-sized plants last year. The mix was 4 parts peat moss, 2 parts Sta Green potting soil, 2 parts composted cow manure, and 1 part perlite. I bought a bag of dolomitic lime last year, but never opened it since my plants did AWESOME. If it aint broke, dont fix it, right?
Well, after a couple of weeks, I noticed my babies turning yellow. So, I gave them a shot of Epsom salt and fish emulsion, quarter strength. I guess I was under the impression that you shouldnt feed your seedlings too early. I guess I was wrong about that. I also talked to WickedMojo about this deal, and he said that last year he used the same potting soil, the Sta Green brand. It did the same thing to his plants. Well, about a week and a half ago, I RE-potted the affected plants into straight Pro Mix. The first time after that I watered them, I gave them a quarter strength fish emulsion with a scoop of the dolomitic lime disolved into the mix as well. The more and more I read about the yellowing, all signs pointed to a calcium deficiency. I read, on here, that the lime will give them a good bit of calcium. After the first feeding, 5 plants took a REAL bad turn. The leaves shriveled up, and started falling off. I dont mean got DRY, then shriveled up. The soil was moist. In an effort to save them, I pulled all of the "bad" leaves off so the plants could expend all of their energy into growing instead of fixing itself.
Just a few minutes ago, I watered them with the same fish emulsion/dolomitic lime solution, but added less water. It was closer to a half-strength solution this time. I wanted to be a little more drastic this time. I guess I will soon see how that works out.
So, on to a few questions...People on here talk about different fertlizers doing different things. i.e.Epsom salt giving the plants magnesium to make the plants greener. What about other fertilizers? What does, say, fish emulsion give them? And what does it do for the plant? That's just one example. I go to college, so I dont really have the time to break everything down. I know I COULD do it, I just dont have the time.
Also, what about the signs of issues with plants? Like a sticky on that? Take MY yellow-leaf problem as an example. What could the possibilities be? People have helped me out in my other thread. I appreciate all of ya'lls help! That's not what I mean. What I mean is maybe someone making a chart. X problem could be caused by this, or this, or this, etc.
I hope I didnt sound too mixed up here. My brain goes fuzzy when it gets overloaded with questions! lol
