Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: surbie100 on May 20, 2013, 22:19
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Do any of you know why the top leaves on my plants are starting to turn yellow? And what to do?
I've not grown them before. They are in MPC, repotted a couple of weeks ago, and currently kept inside on a windowsill. The sun is now too high to shine in directly and I was wondering whether they were getting enough light. 2 of the 4 are starting to produce buds, but they are all yellowing.
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Is there any sign of whitefly or greenfly on the underside of the leaves? If not, it might well be what you suspect - that they are suffering from a lack of direct light.
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They are clean as a whistle, so maybe it's the light then. Best get my plastic greenhousemebob up on the site sharpish for the benefit of them and everything else!
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Do remember that the Cape Gooseberry is a member of the potato/tomato family and can get blight!
I grew several plants one year outside and had loads of small (but very tasty) fruits. I was planning to cut them back and store over winter as they are perennial but blight got the lot!!!!
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Thanks for that, I hadn't thought of blight risk. I don't have a garden so they have to go out on the plot. I suppose I need to think of them as an annual, as there is not much chance they will avoid it there.
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I would have thought it was a bit too early still for blight. I think it needs at least 48 hours at a min temperature of 10 degrees to develop(?)
You would have to be pretty unlucky to get it indoors.
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Sorry, I should have been clearer. Blight is pretty inevitable on my site, or it was last year with so many people not bothering to check and remove diseased plants.
I know I haven't got it yet (and touch wood my earlies and charlottes will be spared over the next few months!) but what I meant was that I should be prepared for it affecting the cape gooseberries - and any tomatoes I have up there.
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Ahh OK :)
To be honest Surbs, I think you will find most sites suffer because the growing is so concentrated :( I know our site suffers badly. If you can cover the plants with a cloche or similar, that will help keep it at bay for as long as possible.
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I have grown these many times and they often do this.
Give them a bit ofweak high nitrogen feed - Vitax make a soluble one (it's got a big savoy cabbage on the box) and they should be fine.
They seem to shock easy when transplanted but tend to get over it fairly easily - they can be sulky plants.
Mine live in an outdoor greenhouse in the back garden and they are tiny compared to yours! However, they do have growth spurts. They are totally delicious fruits and worth all the moodiness!
I've never known my cape gooseberries to get blight - even when the toms get it. Maybe the toms haven't had it then... ???
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Thanks :)
Will try that. Am used to moody plants, though not these admittedly.