What to do if tomato seedlings wilt. Why do seedlings wither and fall, why do they turn yellow and may even die. Unsuitable place for growing seedlings

Tomatoes are very fastidious plants that require careful care during the period of hardening and planting in the ground. Tomato seedlings planted in the late period most often wither and are susceptible to disease. Therefore, you should care for these plants carefully if you want to get a rich harvest.

Tomato seedlings require very careful care

Reasons why tomato seedlings wither and fall

Most gardeners who have not paid enough attention to tomatoes, or who are planting them for the first time, often have questions: why do tomatoes wither or the leaves of seedlings turn yellow. There may be several reasons for these troubles. They are usually divided into two groups:

1. Incorrect care.
2. Diseases.

Improper care

Any summer resident planning to grow tomatoes should know the rules for caring for seedlings. The quality of the harvest depends on compliance with:

Overwatering

Seedlings, unlike bushes in the ground, love moisture very much, so they need regular, abundant watering. But if you notice that the tomato leaves are starting to turn yellow and fall off, check the roots. Each pot or cup with seedlings must have drainage holes through which excess moisture will escape. If such holes become clogged or you make them too small, the roots will begin to rot.

Overwatering causes leaves to curl downwards and produce a musty odor.

The top of the seedling falls. What to do in this case? You need to stop watering and clean the drainage holes.

Observe the seedlings. If the soil in which the seedling sits is constantly wet, then you should increase the holes and reduce the amount of watering.

Insufficient watering

But sometimes the situation can turn in the other direction. If you notice that tomato leaves are withering and a seedling is falling, pull one out by the roots and examine it. A dry root and dry, crumbly soil indicate that the plant has not been properly cared for.

Drying of seedlings due to insufficient and irregular watering

Insufficient irrigation of the soil with water leads to drying out of tomatoes. Increase the number of times you water your plants.

Excessive heat

All tomato seedlings love warmth, but too much heat can damage them. Therefore, during the growing period of tomatoes, do not place the container with seedlings on the windowsill or near heating appliances.

Excess heat causes wilting and death of seedlings

If you leave the seedlings near the battery for a long time, the plant will wither before it has time to grow.

The root will remain good, the soil will be moist, but the plant itself will die. Choose warm places for tomato seedlings, but far from heating appliances. And then you will be able to grow seedlings worthy of planting.

Drafts

Tomatoes love plenty of fresh air, but regular cold drafts can be detrimental to them.

The result of cold drafts is the curling and death of leaves

Cold air currents cause the leaves to fall and wither. The problem is easily solved by regular ventilation, but before that you just need to take the seedlings to another room.

Tomato diseases

The consequences of improper care can be eliminated by adjusting watering or moving the tray with seedlings to another place. But if the seedlings are infected with tomato disease, then it is more difficult to save the crop. Prevention of tomato diseases should begin at the sowing stage. To ensure that the plant does not get sick and produces a good harvest, it is necessary to disinfect the soil and planting tools. The soil can be disinfected with potassium permanganate or heated in the oven.

Late blight of tomatoes begins with spots and drooping leaves

All tomato diseases cannot withstand high temperatures.

The main pests that can affect not only tomato leaves, but also the seedlings themselves are: fusarium and blackleg.

The cause of infection with these diseases is poor quality soil. Even if the soil for seedlings was purchased in a store, it is recommended to additionally heat it in the oven.

Fusarium

A fungal disease that is dangerous for tomato seedlings and can enter your home with poor-quality soil. If you notice that the leaves are falling off and dark brown veins have appeared on the roots, then you should pull the seedling out of the ground. If the seedling itself has not withered, then you can transplant it into clean soil and the problem will be solved. But if the leaves dry out, then the seedling will have to be thrown away.

Fusarium blight of tomato seedlings

After you have discovered the disease, before replanting, disinfect the container into which you will replant the tomato.

If you do not pay due attention to watering the plants or overwatering the soil, you can infect the plants with the blackleg disease. Stagnation of water will cause the stem of the plant to begin to darken and the leaves to fall off. With this disease, the roots rot slowly and cannot be restored. There is a risk of losing the entire harvest, since the seedlings are very close, and the disease is easily transmitted.

Black leg of tomato seedlings

There is a way that will help prevent the possibility of infection even at the planting stage.

To do this, it is enough to dilute a small amount of potassium permanganate (the water should be barely noticeable pink) in water and sprinkle the soil generously with this solution.

Increased soil acidity - seedlings grow poorly and wither

If you notice that the seedlings are withering and darkening, then try pouring this solution onto the already grown seedlings; this will help protect the crop if the disease is not in an advanced stage.

Kira Stoletova

It is not always easy to understand why tomato seedlings die. Often strong and healthy-looking plants begin to wither and dry out. If you don’t find the reason for this in time, you can lose all the plantings and harvest.

Watering

Seedlings may die due to infrequent watering.

The plant first withers, and then the leaves and ends of the shoots begin to dry. Tomatoes need to be watered generously, but not very often. It is better to wait until the surface layer of soil is completely dry.

If the container does not have drainage holes through which excess water can drain, the soil becomes compacted and liquid stagnation occurs. In this case, the roots of the seedlings may rot. To avoid this, sand and pieces of charcoal are added to the soil as drainage. They prevent stagnation of water and rotting of the underground parts of the seedling.

Often amateur gardeners grow seedlings on the windowsill. In this case, the temperature in the room may be at the optimal level, but it does not take into account that the window sill is cold. This leads to the fact that the roots of the seedlings stop working, absorbing moisture from the soil and evaporating it through the leaves. Stagnation of water in the growing container causes rotting of the roots.

Temperature and lighting

Temperature is of great importance for the growth of tomatoes.

At temperatures above 35⁰ C, it dries out and dies, and below 15 ° C it stops growing. The optimal temperature for healthy growth is 18-22⁰ C.

When growing tomatoes on a windowsill, you need to make sure there are no drafts. Cold air can cause seedling death. When the vents are open for ventilation, containers with tomato seedlings must be removed. Seedlings should receive a large amount of light; if there is not enough lighting, the seedlings will stretch out greatly, after which they will fall down or break under their weight.

To avoid this, additional lighting is provided. To do this, use phytolamps or regular ultraviolet lamps. At night the backlight is removed, because... in the dark, the leaves process the sunlight received during the day into carbohydrates. It is necessary to carefully adjust the power of the lamps so that the leaves do not get burned.

Planting density

Seedlings may die due to the density of seed plantings. It is necessary to maintain a distance of 5 cm between rows, and 2-3 cm between plants. This is done so that the sprouts do not shade each other.

Also, dense planting may lack moisture and nutrients. The roots are strongly intertwined, which complicates further picking of tomatoes and transplanting them into separate containers or open ground.

Top dressing

Fertilizing is a very important part in growing tomatoes. It gives impetus to the rapid and healthy growth of seedlings. Therefore, with a lack of nutrients, plants begin to wither, turn yellow and die.

An excess of mineral fertilizers in the soil not only negatively affects the quality of grown fruits, but can also burn the delicate roots of plants. If this happens, then you urgently need to transplant the plants into a clean substrate.

Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):

A good substrate for growing seedlings is peat-based soil. But not all peat is suitable, only high-moor peat. It has already weathered well, decomposed, and has lost a significant part of its acidity. Lower peat is more acidic. Using it in soil preparation, at best, leads to delayed growth and development, and at worst, to the rapid death of seedlings.

Errors when picking

Another cause of disease and death of seedlings may be improper picking of the seedling. They dive when 2-3 leaves appear. Be sure to pinch a small part of the central root. This provokes intensive growth of lateral roots.

The main picking errors that cause the death of tomatoes are:

1. Pinching off too much of the rhizome. The young plant loses the possibility of normal root nutrition and dies from this.
2. Damage to other roots. If the bark system is quite developed at the time of picking, then you need to remove the plants from the ground using the transshipment method. Otherwise, irreparable damage will be caused to the roots.
3. Use untreated pick pliers or scissors. Various pathogens and fungal spores can enter the tomato through the cut. To avoid this, all tools are pre-treated, and the soil is spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate.

Picked seedlings are watered abundantly and placed in a warm, slightly shaded place. The first few days, young plants may look slightly drooping. This is not a sign of illness.

Consequences

The most dangerous disease is blackleg - it provokes drying of the stem tissues. It becomes like a section of thin black thread. Everything that is above this jumper dries and dies. First, the castings bend, and after that the growing point dies off completely.

The disease disrupts the circulation of juices in seedlings. It is advisable to treat plants while the surface of the stem has just begun to darken slightly, but has not begun to thin. The remaining tomatoes need to be removed from the box, because... there will be no use for them. They are carriers of a fungal infection, so they need to be destroyed so that the entire planting does not die.

Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):

The source of infection called rhizoctonia, or blackleg, is soil. Therefore, a mandatory practice when growing your own seedlings is disinfection of the soil, including store-bought soil. Thickened crops, excessive soil moisture and poor ventilation contribute to the development of the disease. At the first signs of disease in a box with seedlings (1-2 “fallen” seedlings), watering is sharply reduced, the surface of the soil is sprinkled (preferably especially carefully near the plant stems) with ash or crushed tablets of activated carbon.

Prevention

To understand why tomato seedlings die, you need to take a close look at the growing conditions in order to prevent this in time. Preventive measures:

• disinfection of the soil before planting by calcination or treatment with chemicals;

Poor-quality planting material is one of the many reasons for the death of seedlings when growing them at home or in a greenhouse. There is no need to buy planting material from hand, but choose only trusted manufacturers.

What a pity it is to see that the seedlings that we nurture at an early stage of development suddenly begin to wither and the leaves turn yellow. All the reasons why seedlings wither, fall, or their leaves turn yellow can be combined into two main groups. These are, first of all, errors in caring for young seedlings and diseases or pests.

Why do seedling leaves wither?

A sad sight. But there is more than one reason. No matter how sorry you are, you will have to pull at least one seedling out of the ground and carefully examine both the top and the roots. And pay attention to the ground.

Any seedling loves moisture. Tomato seedlings are no exception. But if water stagnates in the container in which you grow seedlings, the roots may suffocate. It is in this case that the reaction of the seedlings is withering of the leaves. What should you do first? Make drainage holes in the bottom of the container or, if there are any, make them wider so that excess water can drain into the pan.

The second reason for wilting is too dry air in the room. Tomato seedlings love warmth, but if you place them next to a hot radiator, the dry air may cause the seedlings to become lethargic. In this case, the tomato seedlings should be placed away from the heat source and they will come to life. Don't forget to spray it. Spraying moisture will increase air humidity and provide additional moisture to the leaves.

The third reason is drafts. Fresh air is good for seedlings. But streams of cold air from an open window are destructive for young leaves - they wither. This problem can also be easily corrected - move the containers with tomato seedlings to another place or do not open the window for a while, do not create a draft.

Well, the fourth reason is elementary - drying out of the soil, insufficient watering. Just water the seedlings.

All of the reasons listed above are mistakes in caring for tomato seedlings, which are quite easy to eliminate. But the same mistakes can turn into more complex problems that are more difficult to deal with.

Excess moisture and stagnation of water in seedling containers can lead to a very insidious disease - black leg. It is with the “black leg” disease that the seedlings fall.

How to determine it? Easily. Inspect the stem of the seedling. It begins to darken from below, and the stem becomes soft and may fall. At the same time, the roots of the seedling look healthy, and the leaves wither. And then both the roots and the entire plant die. At this stage, the plants can no longer be helped.

Black leg on tomato seedlings

If you notice signs of the disease at the very beginning, when not all seedlings are affected by blackleg, but only a smaller part of them, there is only one way out: transplant healthy plants into another disinfected container filled with new soil. Diseased plants cannot be brought back to life.

But it is best if you prevent this disease in advance. It helps to avoid it by watering the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Another way. The drug Metronidazole is required (sold at the pharmacy). Dissolve 1 tablet in 1 liter of water. Spray the seedlings with this solution, you can water the soil. The product applied in advance provides 100% protection against blackleg.

Why do the leaves of tomato seedlings turn yellow?

There is more than one reason for this. Experts identify six factors that contribute to yellowing of leaves. If you pay attention to this in time, there is a high probability of helping tomato seedlings and eliminating the causes.

1. Yellowing of the lower leaves after transplanting seedlings into the ground to a permanent place. This usually happens when the seedlings grew in small pots or cells. And after transplantation, the roots began to grow rapidly, taking food from the lower leaves. Try not to allow the root system to overgrow. Start replanting plants until the roots of the earthen ball are completely entwined. Then the roots will grow naturally.
2. Leaves turn yellow and blue when the top of the plant or roots experience sudden temperature fluctuations. This is the cause of measles nutritional disorder. It has already been said above that it is advisable to avoid overcooling of tomato seedlings.
3. Yellowing of only the lower leaves occurs when the root system is severely damaged during replanting or loosening the soil. For the plant to recover, it needs time to grow new roots and leaves.
4. Lack of moisture can also cause yellowing leaves. As you know, the tomato plant has a long tap root, which receives moisture and nutrition from the depths. And if you water your tomatoes only from above with a small amount of water, then it is this main root that does not have enough water. The basic rule for watering tomatoes is rarely, but abundantly.
5. When yellowing occurs, you should pay attention to where and in what part of the plant the leaves turn yellow. When there is a lack of nitrogen, yellow spots appear on the leaves. If there is not enough calcium, the top of the tomato begins to turn yellow. If tomatoes receive little copper along with their nutrition, the leaves in the lower tier of the plant turn pale and yellow. Sulfur deficiency leads to the fact that the leaves not only turn yellow, but also thicken and become hard to the touch. There is little manganese and iron in the soil - the leaves also first turn yellow and then dry out. The edges of the leaves turn yellow - there is not enough magnesium. The top of the leaf turns yellow - there is not enough phosphorus. And the whole leaf turns yellow - on the contrary, there is a lot of phosphorus.
6. The fungal disease fusarium is another cause of yellowing leaves. Not only the yellowness, but also the simultaneous lethargy of the leaves, as if the tomatoes have not been watered for a long time, will help determine whether the plant is suffering from this disease or another reason. Of course, prevention is the best way to combat fusarium. But, if this does happen, treat the seedlings 3-4 times with an interval of 1.5-2 weeks, for example, with Fitosporin.

Happy harvest!