[Dai]

Hi all, Does anyone have any idea why my tomato plants look like they are dying off?
Ive been nurturing them on a warm windowsill for ages an they have been fine until now.

[8doubles]

I always put my plants in the upstairs shower room !

That was a good dealwarmer than downstairs windowsills at 4am.

A max/min thermometer might give you a clue how warm the window is at night.

[Aunt Sally]

They have a condition called intervein chlorosis which would point to a magnesium deficiency.

Try giving them a little Epsom salts.

[JayG]

As long as you're sure they haven't been shocked by a spell of cold, or persistently over-watered, it could just be they are seriously short of food, although I don't like the look of the one with the wilting leaves.

How long have they been in those pots?

A liquid tomato feed wouldn't hurt, possibly with a pinch of Epsom salts too, although tomato feeds should contain magnesium anyway. One of the pepper plants is showing signs of chlorosis too, so give them all a feed.

[Dai]

Thanks for your replys guys!
I also thought (magnesium deficiency) so i mixed up a bit of tomato feed with a spoon full of epsom salts last week but it doesnt seem to have made any difference?!? (not yet anyhow)

I did pot them up in compost that i had left from last year and JayG they have been in those pots too long and they have also probably been watered too often (or not allowed to dry out i should say)

Im going to buy some new compost tomorrow so i shall pot them on into that and hope for the best.
(Im a little scared of over feeding them as they are so small still so ill let the new compost feed them and see how they go)

As for night time temperature im not sure how low that gets so ill buy a thermometer later and hope i dont kill them before it arrives.

Thanks again!

[JayG]

Any temperature of less than around 10C will stress them - obviously the lower and longer it stays that way the worse it would be for them.

The compost doesn't need to dry out between waterings, but equally shouldn't be soggy all the time either.

You could try repotting them a little deeper than they are now in the hope that they produce new roots from the stems, which could be a life saver if the roots have been damaged by over-watering.

Good luck - let us know how the patients are getting on. 

[Kristen]

They have a condition called intervein chlorosis which would point to a magnesium deficiency.

Try giving them a little Epsom salts.

They seem very small to be suffering from that? (normally seems to happen nearer to fruiting time for me).  Very prominent veins showing though, which is a classic symptom, although I would expect newer leaves to still be green?

Unless the compost had no fertiliser in it (supplier skimped on that or it is old being reused) again the plants don't look old enough to be suffering ... but I feed everything, regardless of whether compost may/may not/still contain fertiliser. I just use a very weak liquid fertiliser to be sure that all my plants have something to be getting on with.  So no harm doing that ...

I wonder if they have been over watered though?  Do the pots feel heavy if you lift one up? (compared to a similar sized pot just filled with compost straight out of the bag). If so don't water (or feed) them again until the weight has fallen to be the same as the comparison pot filled from the bag.

There is some dry leaf too - might be a collateral damage side effect, or some damage from bright sunlight perhaps?

If over watering / too much sun, or even no fertiliser in the compost, I would expect the Peppers to be complaining similarly too ... (assuming they have both been side-by-side for some time?)

[Kristen]

Actually the Pepper back-left looks similar now I look again more carefully

[jambop]

Is that some sort of sun refector you have made up ? Could be they have been scorched by the sun reflected on to them? What ever has happened only two plants in that whole tray look anything like healthy!

[BabbyAnn]

I'd go with lack of food, as in needs more nitrogen to give them a boost (a liquid feed would be best)  Also, are they getting enough light - the other week we had just days and days of dull cold weather with very little sunlight at all.  My seedlings simply halted but one day of sunshine and things started looking up.

[jambop]

Are these plants going into open ground or an unheated greenhouse? They are a bit well on if they are because you won't want them in until early May by which time the will be huge and the transplant will stall them. I have my seedlings in a cold frame just now down here in France the have not even been thinned yet but they should be ready for planting out second or third week in May which is fine for out door toms down here but you would be taking a huge chance back in most parts of the UK  .

[Lardman]

Deja vu...

Unhappy Toms / Peppers 2014

If it's not viral , It really can only be the growing medium at that stage. If it's not soaking wet get rid of it and repot the peppers in new compost (look for crawlies whilst you're at it) The toms Id probably bin and start again.

[jambop]

I think I can say without any doubt that the condition of those plants has nothing whatsoever to do with the nutrient supply ! Some of the leaves are shrivelled and most are drooping lack of feed does not do that to a plant.

[Nobbie]

Have you got the reflector between the window and the plants? Or have you just turned them round to photo? I'd start again with fresh compost as they'll soon catchup, I sowed two batches last year in mid march and mid April and there was virtually no difference come planting out time.

[Aunt Sally]

They have a condition called intervein chlorosis which would point to a magnesium deficiency.

Try giving them a little Epsom salts.

They seem very small to be suffering from that? (normally seems to happen nearer to fruiting time for me).  Very prominent veins showing though, which is a classic symptom, although I would expect newer leaves to still be green?

Any time they are lacking magnesium they will suffer as they can't produce their chlorophyll.  Fruiting time is a danger but so is lack of nutrients in a young plant.

Make sure not to overwater them, Dai. It washes nutrients from the potting compost and kills the roots stopping them take up any nutrients that are there.