Why did tomatoes begin to turn yellow after picking? Tomato seedlings turn yellow and dry out: why does this happen and what to do? Yellowing of tomatoes due to problems with the root system

Tomatoes are perhaps the most desired vegetable on our table. Despite the fact that tomatoes appeared in the diet of Europeans not so long ago, in comparison with other vegetable crops, today it is extremely difficult to imagine a summer diet without tomato salads or a winter table without canned tomatoes. In addition, it is also difficult to imagine any borscht without tomato paste or tomato juice. We can conclude that tomatoes are an irreplaceable thing on our tables, even if not in their pure form.

You can grow tomatoes in any region, since today there are a huge number of varieties that are bred for certain climatic conditions. In addition, there are varieties that are intended exclusively for growing in greenhouses, greenhouses or even on balconies.

The advantage of growing tomatoes is growing their seedlings from seeds, which significantly saves money and allows you to control the growing process from the very beginning. Despite the simplicity of this process, many often encounter such an unpleasant phenomenon as yellowed leaves of seedlings. This one factor significantly affects the yield and taste of tomatoes. This article will talk about what needs to be done so that tomatoes can grow well and properly, why yellowness appears on tomato leaves and how to deal with this phenomenon.

Necessary conditions for growing tomatoes

In order for the harvest to be truly worthy, it is necessary to make sure that the seedlings are healthy and can gain a foothold in the open ground. In the future, in order for tomatoes to grow properly, it is necessary to create seedlings conditions, in which they are comfortable to be, namely this:

However, there are the following factors that may affect deterioration condition of seedlings or contributing to its death, namely this:

  • irregular watering;
  • watering cold water;
  • excess fertilizers, especially those containing nitrogen;
  • stagnant air;
  • feeding fresh manure;
  • waterlogging of the soil (excessive watering);
  • high humidity air;
  • prolonged cold spells;
  • acidic soil;
  • stagnant heat with temperatures above 35 degrees.

Why does yellowness appear on tomato seedlings?

In most cases seedling begins to turn yellow for the following reasons:

  • low level of soil quality in which tomato seedlings are grown;
  • excess or deficiency of various nutrients;
  • improper watering;
  • deficit sunlight;
  • close planting of seedlings, in which the seedlings cannot grow and develop normally.

The presence of at least one negative factor can lead to a deterioration in both the appearance of the plant and a decrease in yield. To do this, you need to react in time and try to correct the current situation. Needs a closer look every from possible reasons, due to which the seedlings begin to turn yellow and form an action plan to prevent the death of the plant.

The influence of soil on tomato seedlings

To obtain high-quality planting material, it is necessary to plant tomato seeds only in purchased soil for seedlings. It is strictly forbidden to use fence soil or already used soil for indoor flowers. This is due to the fact that seedlings tomatoes are very fragile, and its roots are weak, the use of unsuitable soil can cause the appearance of yellowness or the seedlings may not sprout at all due to the heaviness or acidity of the soil.

The effect of watering on tomato seedlings

Tomatoes prefer even and moderate watering. Excessive watering leads to soil oxidation and a lack of air in the soil, which leads to the slow death of the root system, the first signal of this phenomenon is yellowed cotyledon leaves of seedlings. Neglect Watering is also not allowed, since from a lack of water the seedlings immediately begin to turn yellow. It is worth remembering that in dry soil the absorption of nutrients important for the plant noticeably deteriorates, after which phosphorus and nitrogen begin to move into the stems and such a detrimental phenomenon as yellowing occurs.

The effect of fertilizing on tomato seedlings

If the plant does not have enough nitrogen, or, conversely, there is an excess of it, this leads to a clear yellowing of the leaves. Nitrogen is part of chlorophylls and proteins, and such nutrition must be balanced and provided to the plant at all stages of its growth and formation. In addition, it is worth noting that the plant has properties transport nitrogen to those parts of the plant where it is needed most, for example, from old leaves to young ones. If the tips of the leaves turn yellow and then dry out, this indicates a lack of potassium in the seedlings.

Lack of lighting and close planting of tomato seedlings

For normal growth and formation, seedlings need a long daylight hours, the minimum of which should be twelve hours during one day. Lack of light can affect the appearance of yellowness on tomato leaves. You can increase the daylight hours for tomatoes using a fluorescent lamp or a phytolamp. It is worth remembering that tomatoes cannot be illuminated around the clock, as there is a risk of iron deficiency in the leaves, which also leads to yellowing.

Planting of seed material should be done sparsely. If the seeds are planted close to each other, they begin to stretch out and turn yellow due to a lack of required area, on which are located nutrients. Very often, when seedlings are planted densely, such an unpleasant phenomenon as late blight is observed.

In addition to yellowing seedlings can lead to:

  • improper use of fertilizer or its low quality;
  • water entering seedlings during daylight, which causes leaf burn;
  • pet excrement getting into the ground with seedlings.

Ways to remove yellowness from seedlings

If the cause of yellowness is excessive watering of the seedlings, then, in the case when the soil has not yet become sour, it can be sprinkled with ash. But if the soil begins to sour, you should transplant the tomatoes into fresh soil. It is worth remembering that this must be done extremely carefully, since, in addition to the fact that the seedlings already feel very bad, they also have fragile root system.

transfer to new ground required also if:

If yellowness appears on the leaves due to lack of fertilizer, the plants should be fed without fail. An addition to such therapy for tomatoes can be foliar feeding chelates.

A universal method in the treatment of tomato leaves is to treat the leaves with an epin solution. Such a solution can remove the consequences of any negative nature.

The leaves of tomato seedlings turn yellow for several main reasons: lack of nutrients, problems with the roots (for example, the container is too small), lack of light and problems with watering.

But how can you determine why your tomato seedlings are turning yellow? Let's try to figure it out.

Tomato seedlings turn yellow: what to do?

Tomato seedlings turn yellow due to nutrient deficiency

Nitrogen . Most often, when seedlings turn yellow, the following picture is observed: the lower lower leaves of tomato seedlings turn yellow (and not just the veins), which dry out and fall off over time. The plant itself also looks pale and thin. This is a classic picture of nitrogen deficiency. Nitrogen may also be low in the tomato soil, or it may have been washed out through drainage slits due to excessive watering.

In principle, there is nothing catastrophic in this. Of course, the plant will lag a little behind in development, but with your surgical intervention significant losses will be avoided. If you have fertilizer for “adult” plants, you can use it, but at a concentration 2 times lower than for “adults”.

For example, they take ammonium nitrate or urea (urea) and dissolved in water at the rate of 1 g per 1 liter of water (1 tablespoon per bucket). If we were talking about preventive feeding, we could get by with watering, but here it is better to both water and spray the plants so that the plant receives nutrition faster. Please note that yellow leaves The seedlings will not turn green, but the young ones will grow healthy. But there is also no need to overfeed the seedlings with nitrogen - so as not to “get fatty”. Feeding is carried out several times at two to three day intervals.

It happens that the leaves of tomato seedlings turn yellow due to a lack of other elements, but this happens less often. In this case, it is recommended to treat the plants with complex mineral fertilizers, the range of which is widely presented on the shelves of gardening stores. In addition to nitrogen, they also contain vital micro- and macroelements.

Specifically for tomato seedlings, the leaves may turn yellow from a lack of:

- Iron. If young leaves have green veins, and the leaf tissue between them has turned yellow, this indicates a lack of iron. Most often this happens if you are too carried away with potassium permanganate - it interferes with iron absorption.

- Copper . There is a lot of peat in purchased soils, which is why plants may suffer from a lack of copper. It looks, rather, not like yellowing of the leaves of the seedlings, but like their curling, wilting, and inability to straighten even after watering: due to copper deficiency, root rot begins, and the roots cannot provide the plants with nutrition.

-Phosphorus . In this case, the underside of the leaves and the stem of the plant do not turn yellow, but also change color: they acquire a purple tint, and top part the leaf turns dark green. The leaves become smaller and rust may appear on the roots. The reason for phosphorus starvation can be not only a lack of this element in the soil, but also too low temperatures, due to which phosphorus is not absorbed.

Tomato seedlings turn yellow from heavy watering

Lack of moisture is, of course, a serious reason why young plants may turn yellow. But in practice, the opposite is more often the case - you do the seedlings a disservice and water them too often. As a result, an unimaginable number of fungi and bacteria multiply in the soil, and the root system is suppressed and, possibly, begins to rot. Very often the situation is aggravated by lack of light and dense soil. In this case, the leaves lighten, turn yellow, and necrosis (dry spots) appear on them. Wherein The cotyledon leaves of tomato seedlings also turn yellow.

It is possible to save these plants, although this is quite labor-intensive. Carefully remove all the contents from the container, clean the roots from the soil and see if they are damaged. If they are seriously damaged - black, rotten, dark - it is unlikely that such a plant can be brought back to life. If it’s insignificant, use scissors to cut off the rotten parts. If the roots are white, root rot has not had time to reach your tomatoes.

Tomato seedlings are transplanted into new soil– light, barely damp, and always in a spacious container. Immediately after planting, you can water it with a small amount (about 2 tablespoons) of a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Provide the plant with enough light, and in future, do not flood it. The soil should not be constantly wet - it is watered as it dries, and it must be loosened from time to time so that a “crust” does not form on the surface, preventing air from reaching the roots. Otherwise, is it any wonder Why do the leaves of tomato seedlings turn yellow?

Tomato seedlings turn yellow: other reasons

-Small capacity . When the seedlings outgrow, their root system becomes crowded and cannot “feed” the seedlings properly. The plant needs to be planted urgently permanent place, or transplant into a larger container.

- Lack of light . With a lack of lighting, especially accompanied low temperatures, tomato seedlings may turn yellow. Tomatoes need additional light in the morning and evening, or plant the seeds a little later - when the daylight hours become longer.

- Stress. After transplanting (picking, or to a permanent place), the seedlings may turn yellow as the root system is reconstructed to a new habitat. This is a normal phenomenon, but the plant can be helped by feeding it with a growth stimulant (Epin, etc.). And before moving to a permanent place, it is better to harden the seedlings - this way they will more easily adapt to the new environment.

Tomato seedlings turn yellow- this is an alarming, but not the only signal that something is wrong with the plant. Black leg, wilting of leaves, stretching of seedlings - all this can happen if you do not follow cultivation techniques. Often the cause of yellowing or wilting of tomato leaves can be difficult to determine, since there are several causes and they exacerbate each other (for example, cold soil and excessive watering, lack of nitrogen and lack of light). That is why it is easier to take preventive measures when growing tomato seedlings than medicinal ones: feed the seedlings in a timely manner, treat them against pests, protect them from drafts, and most importantly, respond in a timely manner to the slightest signs of poor health of your plants.

A garden at the dacha starts with tomatoes. Everyone’s favorite and most common crop that you can grow with your own hands from seed to harvest. Growing seedlings does not require special effort, but sometimes, just yesterday, green and cheerful tomato seedlings suddenly fade, the lower leaves begin to turn yellow or fade, become covered yellow spots. The seedlings are sick, and the reasons may be different. They can be divided into separate groups: soil, environment, nutrition, watering, diseases, fertilizing, etc. By analyzing the growing process from sowing to disease, it is possible to establish the cause and eliminate it.

The soil mixture is dense; when watered, it floats into a heavy lump. Properly prepared soil consists of humus, sand, peat, turf or forest soil. Instead of the last two components when preparing the soil mixture for sowing seeds, you can take soil from the garden where you have not used chemicals protection. It is necessary to replace the soil with a properly prepared substrate and replant the plant. Using a fork or pointed stick, pierce the soil along the edge of the planting container to the bottom to allow air to penetrate inside.

Moisture stagnation

Excessive watering with stagnant water causes “root suffocation.” The root system of plants lacks oxygen. Stop watering until the soil layer dries out to ¾ of the height of the container or to the depth of an outstretched finger. You can even transplant the plant into another free container and lightly moisten the plant for the first days with a fine spray (as needed). When replanting, remove diseased roots. Before planting, dip the roots in a root solution.

Insufficient watering

Seedlings simply lack moisture in overdried soil. Simply water the plants with warm, settled water.

Unsuitable temperature conditions

For tomatoes, soil temperature is very important. After emergence and up to 2 weeks of age, the soil temperature during the day should be +18-20 °C, at night +15 °C. Over the next 2-3 weeks, the temperature remains the same during the day, but at night it is necessary to reduce it to +12-13 °C. If there are few seedlings, put the trays with pots in a cool place at night.

Proper watering very important for tomato seedlings

Environment

During the day in the first 10 days after germination, the air temperature is +15-17 °C, and at night +8-10 °C. It is necessary to ventilate the room in order to reduce the temperature; at this time, it is advisable to remove the seedlings from the draft. At night, move the seedlings to a cool place. 15-20 days before landing in open ground a seedling hardening procedure is necessary. Stressful condition after planting in open ground, caused by changing conditions environment, will lead to a long-term painful state of plants, which will be reflected in yellowing of the leaves along with other signs.

Insufficient lighting

Tomatoes are light lovers. With a lack of lighting, a long period of cloudy days reduces the activity of photosynthesis of the leaves, they begin to turn yellow. Additional lighting is required.

Insufficient air humidity

Dry air causes the entire plant to wilt and/or the leaves to turn yellow. It is necessary to remove plants from hot radiators, where the air is always drier. Spray the plants with a fine spray bottle. Reception will increase air humidity and provide additional moisture to the vegetative mass of plants.

Other reasons

Yellowing lower leaves can be observed when growing seedlings in containers that are too small in volume, with poor-quality picking, mechanical damage roots when loosening plants after watering and other physical reasons.

Nutrient supply

A properly prepared and fertilized soil mixture should provide 80-90% of the growing seedlings with nutrients. When there is a deficiency or oversaturation of the soil with nutritional elements, the plants look equally depressed. You can determine which element is missing by the color of the leaves.

    • On a poor substrate, the plants are thin, overgrown, with transparent green leaves and stems. Complete feeding required mineral fertilizer, it is better to be complex, in which all the elements are in the optimal ratio (nitroammophoska, nitrophos, Kemira-universal, crystallin, crystallon). The last 3 types of fertilizers contain boron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, and molybdenum.
    • With a lack of nitrogen, the leaves become covered with yellow spots, the color of the leaf blades becomes light green with a grayish tint; with an excess, the plants are intensely green, fatty, but loose. It is enough to feed with a solution of urea or saltpeter.

  • With a lack of phosphorus, the tops of the leaves turn yellow, the leaf blade along the veins and the stems take on a blue-violet or violet-bronze hue (not to be confused with a varietal trait or exposure to cold when the room temperature drops). With an excess of phosphorus, the entire leaf turns intensely yellow. Apply a level teaspoon of superphosphate under adult seedlings and water the plants or feed with superphosphate extract (root, foliar).
  • With a lack of potassium, the edges of the leaves become covered with a brown border, and the leaves curl into a tube. The leaf blade takes on a violet-blue hue. It is best to add wood ash under each plant.
  • Plants are depressed if there is a lack of other elements in the soil, incl. microelements (magnesium, calcium, boron, copper, iron, sulfur, etc.). The leaves take on a yellow-green mosaic color. Foliar feeding ready-made composition microelements (buy in a store, look at the composition) will correct the condition of the plants. You can spray the plants with a solution of Kemira, which also contains microelements. The concentration of solutions is no more than 0.1-0.05%.

External manifestations of a deficiency of an individual element can be traced according to individual characteristics. You can limit yourself to fertilizing with appropriate fertilizer.


Timely fertilizing helps the plants to recover and subsequently forms a fairly high-quality harvest.

Diagnosis of diseases due to yellowing leaves

Like others vegetable crops, tomato seedlings are susceptible to diseases if growing technology is violated. Most often this fungal diseases(root rot, fusarium wilt, brown leaf spot, etc.). Some diseases are externally manifested by a characteristic change in the color of the leaves.

  • Fusarium damage to plants (popularly called simply yellowing) is externally manifested in yellowing of the leaves, which is simultaneously accompanied by their lethargy (subject to normal watering). Even with unknown etiology, in order to prevent the disease, plants need to be treated with biofungicides (phytosporin, bactofit, phyto-doctor, phytocide, planriz, and the soil is also treated with the latter) 2-3 times a month.
  • Brown leaf spot starts from the lower tier. Yellowish spots appear on the upper side of the leaf blades, and a delicate olive coating of mycelium appears on the lower side. Over time, the leaves turn brown, dry out and fall off. Preventively and with therapeutic purpose diseased plants are sprayed with the same biofungicides that are used against fusarium. You can use 1% Bordeaux mixture to treat plants. The procedures are repeated after 7-12 days 2-3 times.

In order for seedlings to grow healthy, it is necessary, despite the healthy appearance, spray them with biofungicides, which will increase the overall immunity of plants to diseases of various natures.

Sometimes problems arise when growing tomato seedlings. For example, the leaves of the shoots begin to turn yellow. To correct the situation, you need to understand why the leaves have changed color.

More often, yellowing is associated with errors in care, and the problems are solved in a complex manner.

Main reasons:

  1. Tightness. If the seedlings are not transplanted on time or are planted into small containers, the roots become crowded. They take nutrients and moisture from each other and intertwine their roots. As a result, plants cannot fully develop.
  2. Lack of light. Tomato leaves need sunlight to produce energy. And without it, photosynthesis is impossible.
  3. Errors with watering. With excessive watering, the soil becomes compacted, air stops flowing to the root system, and fungi become more active. With poor watering, the roots dry out and die.
  4. Unsuitable temperature. In the heat, tomato seedlings “burn.” In the cold, metabolism is disrupted.
  5. Stress. It happens when the conditions of detention change: for example, moving boxes to another place or transplanting.
  6. Imbalance of microelements in the soil. For tomatoes, both a lack and an excess of fertilizers are unfavorable. Tomatoes are sensitive to nitrogen, magnesium, zinc, potassium, manganese and iron.

Yellowing of tomato leaves may be caused by unsuitable soil for this crop. Tomatoes do not like heavy, acidic and saline soil.

How to heal yellowed seedlings

Yellowed leaves are cut off with a sharp instrument: they do not bring any benefit and take away nutrition.

If there is a lot of yellowness, and the cause is difficult to determine, it is better to transplant the sprouts into a spacious container and new soil, prepared taking into account all the requirements - disinfected, loose, fertilized.

If the cotyledon leaves turn yellow

Cotyledon leaves of tomatoes often turn yellow due to excess moisture. In this case, the soil is allowed to dry slightly. The soil surface is loosened. While the soil in the pots is moist, do not water the plants.

When the seedlings grow, the cotyledon leaves stop fulfilling their mission, turn yellow and dry out. Then it is enough to carefully trim them.

When growing at home on a windowsill

A common cause of yellowing seedlings on the windowsill is lack of light. For tomatoes, daylight hours should last at least 12 hours. Therefore, plantings must be provided with additional lighting. This is especially true for the northern regions, where spring sun rises late, sets early, and the light is dim.

Sometimes it is enough to move the boxes to the southeast window. But more often it is necessary to organize artificial lighting. For additional illumination, phytolamps are used.

If the seedlings on the windowsill have turned yellow due to close planting, the plants urgently dive into large containers with a different soil mixture.

When excess moisture is added to crowding, disease spreads quickly. The roots rot, which can lead to the death of all crops. Tomatoes do not require frequent watering.

Tomato seedlings on a windowsill may turn yellow because the soil is salty. This happens if you water the plantings with hard water. Soil salinity indicator - white coating on its surface. In this case you will have to remove upper layer land and replace it with a new one.

There may be just the opposite reason for the yellowing of seedlings - sunburn. If plantings suffer from excess light in the hot sun, they need to be shaded with light material.

When yellowness appears on the lower leaves

The lower leaves of tomato seedlings may turn yellow if the plants are hot. At the same time, the air is too dry. In this case, the plantings are transferred to where the temperature is not higher than +22°C. It is advisable to cover the battery damp cloth. Wet cloth is also placed around containers.

Excessive watering also causes yellowing of the lower leaves. The frequency of watering is reduced.
Sometimes the leaves at the bottom of the shoots turn yellow due to a lack of microelements.

When yellow:

  • along the edges and between the veins - little magnesium;
  • in a checkerboard pattern, from the base of the leaf - lack of manganese;
  • spots, abundantly, until the leaves fall off - there is not enough nitrogen.

Fertilizers required (watering and spraying):

  • magnesium nitrate;
  • potassium permanganate solution;
  • ammonium or sodium nitrate.

The concentration of fertilizer for seedlings is half that for adult shoots.

If it begins to turn yellow and wither

With a lack of nitrogen, if help is not provided in time, yellowness can spread to the entire plant. Ammonium sulfate and urea should be added. But an excess of nitrogen is no less harmful to tomatoes than a deficiency. When excess nitrogen accumulates in the soil, its surface becomes covered with a hard white coating. In this case, the plants will be saved abundant watering for washing out nitrogen with subsequent drying of the soil or transplanting sprouts to another soil.

If yellow and brown spots appear on the tops of the shoots, the shoots lack zinc. The leaves begin to fall. Spraying with a weak solution of zinc sulfate will help.
The top of the seedlings may also turn yellow from a lack of calcium. The roots stop developing. In this case, spray with calcium nitrate (2 g per bucket warm water). The procedure is repeated several times with an interval of 10 days.

Tomato plantings begin to turn yellow on top and when the phosphorus balance is disturbed. If only the top of the leaf turns yellow, there is not enough phosphorus. In this case, the underside of the leaves and stems acquire a purple tint. Growth is slowing down. In this case, superphosphate is added (4 g of fertilizer per 1 liter of water). Sometimes phosphorus is poorly absorbed because the soil in the containers is cold. Then you need to insulate the place where the containers are located.

If there is too much phosphorus, the entire leaf blade turns yellow. The plant is withering. But this is rare in both seedlings and adult tomatoes in the greenhouse.

When tomato leaves turn light green, but the veins do not change color, it means there is little iron. Sometimes this element is sufficient, but there is excess manganese in the soil, which prevents plants from absorbing iron. It is necessary to fertilize with a 0.5% solution of sodium chloride, and stop watering with potassium permanganate.

Often tomato seedlings turn yellow, affected by fungal diseases. For example, fusarium. The sprouts begin to dry out and wither. They are sprayed with “Fitosporin” at least twice, with a break of 2 weeks. Or “Trichopol” - according to the instructions on the package. You can spray with a salt solution (1/2 tbsp per liter of water).

Perhaps the seedlings were affected by rot. Then you need to reduce watering and adjust air humidity. In some cases, a transplant will be required.

Sometimes pests appear in the soil. They gnaw the roots, causing the plants to turn yellow and die. Such land is completely replaced. If there are a lot of diseased shoots, they will have to be transplanted into treated containers, completely replacing the soil.

Does not grow well and turns yellow after picking

If it turns yellow tomato seedlings immediately after transplantation, this is due to acclimatization. The situation is most often corrected as soon as the seedlings get stronger. Plantings should be shaded for the first time. You can spray with Epin (0.05 ml of the drug per 200 g of water).

“Epin” will also help if the tomato seedlings have turned yellow due to careless transplantation and damage to the roots.

In order for the roots to take root faster in a new place, they must be sprinkled with soil compactly, without voids.

If the yellowing is due to the fact that the soil was watered too much when picking, you can feed the seedlings complex fertilizers- “Universal”, “Mortar” and others.

Urea (20 g per bucket of warm water) will also strengthen tomato seedlings. After transferring to a new location, the sprouts can be fertilized after 2 weeks.

Yellowed leaves curl and fall off

Sometimes the leaves of seedlings not only turn yellow, but also begin to curl and then fall off. Most often this happens because the plants are watered too often. The soil looks dry, but there is enough water in the lower layers. You need to make sure that the soil below is moist and reduce watering.

When young leaves begin to curl and turn yellow at the tips, and old ones gradually lose color, this is due to a lack of potassium. It is necessary to feed the seedlings with potassium nitrate. This may be due to the fact that the soil is acidic: potassium begins to deoxidize the soil rather than nourish the plant.

Also, leaf curling occurs due to a lack of copper. They do not straighten out even after watering. Some leaves immediately wither before they turn yellow because the roots rot. Plantings are treated with copper sulfate.

When the leaves turn yellow and become hard and thick, this indicates a sulfur deficiency. Magnesium sulfate (1 g per liter of water) will help.

How to avoid problems when growing - prevention

In order to avoid having to find out the causes of yellowing leaves and eliminate them, you must strictly follow all the requirements for growing tomato seedlings.

Primary requirements:

Seeds. You need to buy them in the store planting materials, and not from hand. “Own” seeds are disinfected, germinated, and hardened. Fitosporin, aloe juice, and potassium permanganate are suitable for processing.

Containers. The size of the containers must be sufficient for free growth of roots. They must be disinfected: for example, with solutions of soda or potassium permanganate.

Earth . It is best to purchase ready-made cultivated land. Soil brought from the garden needs to be disinfected (freezing, calcination, treatment with disinfectants). Tomatoes require light, neutral, nutritious soil.

Lighting. Seedlings on the windowsill always do not receive the required amount of light. Shoots that have barely appeared (the first 3 days) need light constantly. In the future - 13–17 hours a day. It is better to use LEDs with violet radiation.

Watering. Use only warm water that has stood for at least a day. Water when the soil dries out. It is better to use a spray bottle so as not to wash it out. Be sure to loosen the soil on the surface and along the walls of the pot.

Feeding. Tomato seedlings, especially tall varieties, requires a lot of fertilizer. Even if the soil is prepared according to all the rules, it quickly becomes depleted of tomatoes.
The first time is fed when the first true leaf appears with a copper solution (1 tsp per liter of water). After 10, make a second fertilizing with urea (1 tbsp per bucket of water).

It is very useful to water and spray the seedlings with a solution of ash, a glass of which is infused in a bucket of water for 2 days, or with potassium nitrate (10 g per bucket of water).

Complex fertilizers also work well.

Disease Prevention. Many seedling diseases (fungal, viral, bacterial) also begin with yellowing of the leaves. In addition to properly prepared soil saturated with useful substances, it is necessary to periodically treat the shoots with preparations that kill microbes.

The soil is watered before planting seedlings Bordeaux mixture(0.5% solution), copper oxychloride (40 g per bucket), ash infusion. You can use “Fitotsid-R”, “Pseudobacterin-2”, “Trichodermin”.

Folk remedies are good for watering and spraying.

  1. Garlic. Add 1 g of potassium permanganate to two glasses of scrolled bulbs, arrows and leaves. Apply immediately after preparing the composition.
  2. Kefir. For a bucket of water - 1 liter.
  3. Serum. Dilute with water 1:1. Add onion skins 0.5 kg per 5 l. Leave for 5 days, strain.
  4. Zelenka. For a bucket of water - 45 drops of alcohol solution.

It is easier to prevent a problem than to fight it. If it occurs, start treatment as early as possible. Therefore, you should carefully monitor the condition of tomato seedlings and respond in time to any external changes.

If tomato seedlings turn yellow and dry out, what should I do? Sometimes the seedlings are still at home on the windowsill, but the leaves are already drying up and the plants are not fully developing. It also happens that seedlings already placed in a greenhouse turn yellow and wither. Finding out the cause of this condition is often difficult. Let's look at why tomato seedlings turn yellow.

Seedlings may turn yellow when there are not enough nutrients in the soil or the acidity of the soil does not correspond to the comfortable development of seedlings.

Tomatoes need slightly acidic soil. Also, the roots of the plant may be underdeveloped due to a lack of soil in the seedling container. Here you should know that drying out the soil even at short term

may cause leaf wilting. Seeds should be planted only in prepared soil with the necessary microelements. When seedlings are very weak, foliar feeding can help. Basically, a 1% solution of universal fertilizer is used. This product can be treated every day until the plant returns to normal. Another reason could be mole crickets; to get rid of them, you will have to use chemical methods

struggle.

Lack of light or waterlogging When tomato seedlings turn yellow, what to do? This result is caused by a lack of sunlight or waterlogging of the soil.

It is important to remember that the soil for tomatoes should not always be wet. It is necessary to water moderately, and after this the soil should dry out.

For seedlings, you need to choose the most illuminated window sill; it will be useful to take the cups with plants out onto the balcony to warm up. Is it possible to revive a plant if the leaf is already turning yellow? It is possible, but to do this you will have to plant the seedlings in fresh soil. The root system of each sprout should be cleared of old soil. It is necessary to ensure the integrity of the roots: if they are yellow or even black, then the seedlings will no longer survive. Having transplanted the plants to new places, you can pour 20 ml of a weak solution of potassium permanganate under each bush. Then the plants are placed on the window again. It is possible that the roots of the plant were damaged during transplantation and the leaf began to wither.

To correct the situation, you need to slightly shade the plant for a while.

If all the rules of watering and lighting are followed, but the seedling still does not grow, the leaves and stems dry out, perhaps the plant does not have enough nutrients that need to be replenished.

Fusarium wilt High humidity combined with disturbance leads to various tomato diseases, such as Fusarium wilt. This is a pathology of fungal etiology.

The onset of the disease is characterized by loss of leaf turgor and their wilting. Even watering does not help the situation. Affected stems and leaves stop transporting nutrients and water, the seedling does not grow, the leaf turns yellow and dies.

To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to treat the seeds with potassium permanganate before planting and disinfect the growing containers. How to feed the soil? Soil characteristics can be improved using potassium-phosphorus fertilizers. You can treat the fungus by treating plants with HOM at the rate of 40 g per 10 liters of water. But it is best to simply remove them to prevent further spread of the disease.

Other causes of wilting

If tomato seedlings turn yellow, what should you do? Very often, yellowish spots on the leaves are caused by sunburn. Of course, seedlings cannot be grown without sunlight, but their direct contact with the plant can burn the leaf. This often occurs when tomato seedlings are weaned from light, for example, during prolonged rainy weather. To prevent burns, plants should be covered with newspaper, and the yellow leaves should be treated with Epin.

If the tomato seedlings have turned yellow, then the plants may have been affected by black leg or root rot- This is also a fungus that usually destroys young plants. Characteristic sign- darkening of the lower part of the stem.

Seedlings affected by the fungus wither, do not grow, and the roots rot. Root rot- This is a disease that is better to prevent than to treat later. For prevention during the preparation period, it is necessary to add wood ash to the soil. It is also necessary to avoid high temperatures and excessive soil moisture. If it was not possible to avoid infection and several plants still became sick, it is necessary to save the remaining sprouts. First, they need to be transplanted into another soil, which contains hot sand and ash.

After transplantation, you can treat the tomatoes with Fundazol. The plants are not watered until the soil is completely dry.

Leaves of tomato seedlings dry out and turn yellow (video)

So, basically all diseases associated with yellowing of leaves in tomatoes are associated with excessive or insufficient moisture, lack of normal light, or fungal infections. To avoid problems, you need to remember one rule: more light, less moisture.

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