why did you post this in the GALLERY.. if you didnt put a picture in it.. perhaps you will get more replies on the DISCUSSIONS side of the annual forum good luck ken PS: though vinca is a perennial .... as far as i know ....

Kate, "They are native plants from the southwest that like good drainage/rocky soil. Their first set of real leaves are turning a bit yellowish & I am concerned... I used sterilized peat moss & vermiculite to plant them in." Both peat moss and vermiculite are water retentive -- the very opposite of good drainage. These seedlings may be drowning. Also, how strong was that hydrogen peroxide you watered them with? You may have burned the root hairs right off of them. Normally perlite is added to peat moss to increase the drainage. The perlite retains air, which is the very opposite of vermiculite, which retains water. Vermiculite in a fairly fine form is best used on the surface of a seed-starting medium to keep moisture there to aid germination. Mixing it into peat moss is a questionable practice. Most professional growing media based on peat moss have some nutrients added, including a significant amount calcium, which is absent from most soluble fertilizers. If your media does contain just peat moss and vermiculite, it is both sterile and devoid of nutrients. You should water with a one-half strength complete liquid fertilizer that contains a complete complement of trace elements. Since your growing media is sterile, it doesn't contain the usual population of soil bacteria and other organisms, so you should not use a formula that contains any urea. Unlike in garden soil, the urea won't be converted to nitrates and it will just build up to potentially toxic levels. Also, the ammonia form of nitrogen is bad for some plants, such as pansies and -- who knows -- maybe your Oenothera. So, ideally, your soluble fertilizer should contain nitrogen only in the nitrate form. "Maybe I need to put them in a sandy mixture??" I would try that. And weak soluble nutrients. With sand you are essentially using a form of hydroponics, so a hydroponics supply house would be a place to look for suitable nutrient formulations. Since your plants need both phosphate ions and calcium ions and since calcium phosphate is relatively insoluble, you need to alternate feedings of calcium nitrate and a soluble formula containing everything else including the soluble phosphates. I don't know of a formula that uses chelated calcium (although there may be such a thing) so, as far as I know, no single soluble nutrient formulation is adequate for your sterile growing medium. When it is said that a native plant prefers lean, nutrient poor soil, that usually means low nitrogen and good drainage, but not no nutrients at all. Including trace elements, all plants need a minimal amount of over 15 different elements, and many element pairs need to appear in a ratio to each other that falls within a particular range, so excesses can be as harmful as shortages. MM

First of all, yellowing and brown spots on the leaves of tomato plants can be a sign of different types of diseases, such as early blight, late blight, or septoria leaf spot. These diseases are usually caused by fungi that thrive in warm, humid environments and can spread rapidly in crowded, humid conditions. Based on your description, your tomato plants may be experiencing some type of fungal disease. Brown spots on the leaves, along with the white residue you mentioned, are common signs of fungal infection. Additionally, the presence of fruit flies on plants could also indicate fungal growth, as fruit flies are attracted to the sweet odor produced by fungi. To address the problem, it is important to take some steps to prevent further spread of the disease. First, you should remove all infected leaves and dispose of them in the trash, rather than composting them. This will prevent the spores from spreading to other plants. You may also consider applying a fungicide spray to the remaining leaves, especially if you see new spots appearing. As for leaf yellowing, this could be due to a variety of factors, including nutrient deficiencies, overwatering, or pests. You mentioned that your soil was low in nitrogen and phosphate, so applying organic fertilizer was a good next step. However, it can take a while for the plants to recover, as the yellowing can be the result of previous stressors. As for fruit flies, you may want to try some natural remedies, such as using sticky traps or applying a dish soap and water solution to the floor. These methods can help reduce the number of flies without the use of harmful chemicals. Finally, since you mentioned that you are a novice tomato gardener, it's always a good idea to do some research and educate yourself on common problems tomato plants can face. I would recommend visiting a website like https://thegardenplants.com/pests-diseases/leaf-problems/, which from what I've seen has quite a bit of information on leaf problems on various types of plants, although I don't think there is an article on tomatoes many of the solutions for these problems are useful regardless of the plant in question. I hope this information is useful to you and good luck with your tomato plants!

They look ok to me. Tell the person you plan on gifting them to that they should quarantine them for a week or two before planting them. I do this with any plants that I buy, or that are gifted to me. Oh and the big one that attacks egg plants is not spider mites it is flea beetles. They leave holes in the leaves like no tomorrow. I had an egg plant that had them. I planted it far away from everything else in a guerilla hole. The weather killed it right as it was starting to set some good eggplants. It grew like mad anyhow.