Did you put it on so it directly contacts the leaves or stems? If so, rinse it off. That's actually not so bad as the injury will probably be localized.

If you put too much in the containers, flush out the soil thoroughly. Do it over your lawn so it doesn't run fertilizer into the storm drains.

Edit; you might also just pick it out with your fingers if you only have a couple plants. Do that before you flush obviously.

Cheap fertilizers like 10-10-10 are instant release and ought to be applied carefully and in small amounts in containers. Do a little every week instead of all at once. You will also need to supplement them with a fertilizer that has micronutrients (more than just NPK) -- like miracle gro or osmocote.

This post was edited by gosalsk on Fri, May 23, 14 at 9:41

Post a pic of the plants...it may not be burn at all.

Josh

^^agree, please post some pics... it may be something else.

Hey, sorry haven't posted any photos yet. I have a very old cellphone so I am going to have to get a friend to take a good quality picture and upload it. So after panicking and searching all over gardenweb, I think I have figured out what is wrong.

1. My pumpkin leaves appear to be perfectly normal (I have never grown vegetables/mellons before), I have seen several photos of pumpkin leaves that have sort of a silvery color to their veins.

2. All the brown spots (holes), yellow areas on the leaves, and brown squiggly lines on my ichiban eggplants, watermelons, and tomatoes appear to be the work of aphids and leafminers.

3. My "containes choice" tomatoes have leaf curl (they are curled up). Not sure what this is due to, I checked the soil today and it is not wet so I don't think it is over watering. Maybe the sun radiating up off of the asphalt they are sitting on?

So all of my veggies are in containers, the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers (who are not being bothered by anything) are planted singly in 5 gallon buckets. The mellons and pumpkins are planted singly in 18 gallon tubs.

I planted them in a mix of miracle grow potting soil/garden soil mix, large drainage holes in the bottoms of the containers and a small layer of mulch at the bottom of each container for drainage. I also have a small layer of mulch on top around the plants to keep the soil from washing out during rain and help keep in moisture.

I live in an apartment on top of the clinic where I work so my garden (I will take pics - it is so awesome) is sitting on asphalt. I have all of my containers sitting on small boards so they are up off the ground about an inch. There is a big chain-link fence which I am using as a trellis for my watermelons and pumpkins behind the veggie containers.

So my questions are:

1. Is there any way to kill leafminers?

2. Should I use "seven dust" or a soap spray for the aphids?

3. I live in Aiken, SC. It is currently anywhere from 88-92 degrees during the day here. How often should I water my veggies? I have been doing once daily (around 5:45 am) if has been hot out and eod if it has been really overcast or raining. They don't look over watered to me but some friends told me I could be making them "water dependent". I really feel like they need the watering, I mean they are in buckets sitting on asphalt in direct sunlight all day long.

Thanks for reading my giant letter!!!

No offense, but the people giving you advice don't sound like they know a lot about container gardening. Tomatoes in the ground can have problems that might be called being "water dependent" if you only water lightly every day when what they need is deep watering less often. If there's only moisture in the top inches of soil, the roots won't go deep like they need to to handle hot temperatures. But in containers you need to water thoroughly until water runs out the drainage holes. In your temperatures you may need to water every day. It's best to stick your index finger deep into the soil to see if it's dry before watering, but you don't want them to wilt.

Unfortunately the MiracleGro soil mixes are not good to use in containers. You should have used soilless potting mix, not anything called soil, in a container. And it's best not to use a drainage layer of coarser material in the bottom the pot because that actually slows down drainage instead of helping. But, the good news is that the plants you are growing will probably be fine in your climate because their roots will fill those containers and are unlikely to get root rot from the heavier mix.

On the pests you should move slowly and try to determine what they are before using any pesticide. Each pest responds to different pesticides. All outdoor plants are going to be attacked by pests, but they don't necessarily need to be killed off unless they threaten to destroy your crop. And plants can be damaged if you don't use them only as needed and strictly according to label directions. Sevin is a very powerful poison that I would never use because it kills good insects like bees and lady bugs along with bad ones. There are other, safer pesticides. If you can show us those photos, we might be able to help figure out what you have.

Not quite sure how you would make that assumption ohiofem, seeing that only one poster actually even recommended anything other than posting pics. Anyway...

Sorry. I didn't mean that people in this discussion didn't know about container gardening. I was talking about the fellow gardener who said all veggies love 10-10-10 and the friend who told her she would make her tomatoes water dependent by watering every day.

Okay here are some pictures!

Firstly, this is my vegetable garden. (My eggplants were the last thing I planted so they are still kind of small).

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That silvery vein pattern is what concerned me about the pumpkins but I think after looking at other pictures that it is normal.

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Weird brown spot that has shown up on one of my pumpkin leaves, I have two "wee be littles" in a 10 gallon tub. I am separating them later today.

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The leaf curling on the "containers choice" tomatoes

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Brown spots with holes, insects? On the containers choice.

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This set of leaves on the containers choice has a few "bleached" spots on it. Not sure what is causing this.

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Leaf miners? On my water melon leaves.

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This is just a cute picture of my flower bed :p

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Thanks for taking a look and helping me with advice!!!

I don't see any significant insect damage. Definitely no leaf miner damage. Looks more like a fertilizer problem. Maybe a lack of trace minerals along with unbalanced NPK. 10-10-10 is not really balanced since plants need more N and K than P. My advice is to use a soluble fertilizer like MiracleGro all purpose 24-8-16 or liquid 12- 4-8. I'd be interested in hearing the advice of others here.

Thanks for all of your input Ohiofem, I actually have put MiracleGro all purpose 24-8-16 on all of them about a 16 days before the 10-10-10. I haven't put any more fertilizer on because I was afraid I would overdo it, especially since they are planted in MiracleGro soil.

Also are you sure this isn'`t leaf miner damage? I had to have a friend take the pics since my phone is old. Some of the other leaves have very distinct brown squiggles on them - similar to pictures I have seen around the forum.

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Sorry I am so paranoid about all of my veggies, this is the first time I have ever tried to grow them. Might be a little over protective :p

O! well. I don't see anything for concern there.
There have been just a few burns on few leaves. That is caused by some grains of fertilizer landing on the leaves. So everything looks fine to me and it does not seem that you have over fertilized you plants either.

And there is no leaf miner marks. What you see is just leaves own veins.

Looking more closely, I see possible leaf miner damage at the tip of that leaf, although I think it is more likely to just be normal environmental damage. But, my understanding is that leaf miners don't really do much damage to cucurbits, like melons, because there are other insects that keep them under control. In fact, it appears that using harsh chemicals like Sevin kills off the good insects and makes it more likely that leaf miners will get out of control. Here's a quote from an extension service discussion about leaf miners:

Because of numerous parasites, leafminers are generally not serious pests, but can be sporadic in their attacks. The destruction of beneficials by frequent applications of organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids applied to control other pests can result in leafminer outbreaks. Of the numerous parasites that attack the leafminer in California, the most abundant is the parasitic eulophid wasp, Solenotus intermedius, but Diglyphus spp. and Chrysocharis spp. are probably the most important for controlling leafminers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Management guidelines for leaf miners on cucurbits

Thanks everybody! I guess I am just a little over-protective of them since I have never grown veggies before. Also, I will not be applying any insecticide.

I went ahead and watered them with MiracleGro all purpose 24-8-16 and split the pumpkin plants up into individual tubs. They all look really good, the watermelons are blooming and I am hand pollinating them due to a lack of bees.

Thank you again for all of your advice and encouragement!

I agree with the above advice. I would suggest elevating your containers on some bricks or scraps of wood though to aid the drainage and increase the airflow which should help keep them cooler.

Oh I did that a few weeks ago howelbama, I went to HomeDepot and had them cut a few boards for me. The containers are all sitting over an inch above the ground and drain really well.

"Unfortunately the MiracleGro soil mixes are not good to use in containers. You should have used soilless potting mix,"

Well I disagree, soiless mixes are dead mixes and should be avoided with vegetables. The mix used is potting and garden, was actually a very smart move for plants grown.