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Leaf discoloration on 3 plants (with photos link)

14 years ago

Newbie here with discolored leaves on 3 of my beloved new plants. Photos of the leaves at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandasarah/sets/72157 618552974024/

First is a false indigo bush (amorpha fruticosa). The leaves start by getting brown spots on them, then they get yellow and fall off. I'm worried about this guy!

Next is a Celeste fig. It only has a few yellow leaves so far. Both the amorpha and the fig were planted about 2 weeks ago. Soil is clay loam, and I amended the soil in the planting holes with compost and expanded shale. We did get an unusually HUGE amount of rain about 5 days ago, so the plants were super-drenched.

Finally I've got a tomatillo with leaves that turn pale yellow and fall off. First it was just the older bottom leaves, but now I'm seeing some small new growth leaves get spotty and yellow. Looking around online, this seems to resemble a salt problem, but I'm not sure what would have caused that. They are growing in whiskey barrels in a potting mix made of composted bark, peat, expanded shale and compost. Peppers growing in the same setup are showing no yellowing.

Any help VERY much appreciated!

Here is a link that might be useful: Leaf photos

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Comments (3)

zen_man
14 years ago
Those pictures look like nutrient deficiencies to me. Compost has to break down before plants can absorb its nutrients. I would suggest foliar feeding with a complete formula that also contains micronutrients. Spray generously so that some of the nutrient liquid drips into the soil where it can also be absorbed by the roots.

I use several commercial soluble nutrient formulas, including Miracle-Gro and Better-Gro. For foliar feeding, you don't want the stuff to be too concentrated, so I dilute it to about one teaspoon per gallon. If you will be spraying flower petals, which are extra sensitive, I would use only about one quarter teaspoon per gallon.

You could increase that to one tablespoon per gallon if you were not foliar spraying, but just watering the plant with a nutrient drench.

ZM
basilette
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion ZM. Is there any advantage to doing foliar feed vs. soil drench in this case? I could do either, but I'm curious as always ...
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zen_man
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Foliar feed gets to the leaves faster than a root feed, but I always spray on enough so that runoff from the leaves feeds the roots too.

ZM

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