Leaves have turned yellow.

[raja]

I am a new gardener. I have limited experience. I have a kitchen garden measuring 4 X 9 feet and I have got a guy to fill it with manure, compost and soil. I have planted green beans, egg plant, tomato, okra using seeds.

Of the 25 odd plants only 5 have green leaves. The rest have yellowish tinge to the leaf color. Some of the leaves have turned brown.I had watered 20 minutes when the seeds were germinating. Afterwards, I have been watering it for 10 minutes every alternate day. I have restricted the sprinkler to 3 minutes every alternate day and am watering the plants using hose every week. I still see a few seeds are germinating. I do not know what plant.

Week before last, I used pesticides the neem variety. I also added Miracle Gro the same day and watered the plants.

There seems to be little improvement in the plants. Can someone help me understand whether it is too much water or too little water or is it a disease.

I live in Katy Texas 30 miles west of Houston.

[Newt]

Hi Raja,

My first two thoughts would be fertilizer burn. You added manure but don't say if it's fresh or well aged. If it's fresh manure then it will burn your plants. My second thought is overwatering. You do tell how often you water, but watering should be done when it's needed, not necessarily on a schedule of so many days or minutes. Sounds like too often and too much.

You say you used Neem and I'm wondering why. Did you see any insect pest damage? Also, the addition of Miracle Grow after adding all that good organic manure and compost wasn't really needed and may have done further damage. Generally plants don't need fertilizing until they have a couple of sets of leaves.

I'd say to slow down on the watering and only water when the top of the soil is dry. Use a hand held hose or watering can and dampen the soil where the seeds are. No need to saturate if it's just seeds. Here's some handy sites that should be helpful.
http://www.explore.cornell.edu/scene...0a%20Vegetable
http://www.farm-garden.com/growing-vegetables/
http://www.efn.org/~bsharvy/edibleFiles/basics.html

Newt

[raja]

Thanks Mr. Newt.
I have been advised to use epsom salt mixed with water on tomato and pepper plants. When should i do it? How does it help? Do I spray it on the leaves or do I spray it on the soil?
FYI I live in Katy about 20 miles West of Houston.
Let me tell you the progress on my garden.
Green Beans. Total plants 23. We harvested 25 ripe beans. Those leaves that have yellow leaves still continue to have similar leaves. Some have new green leaves. I find more fruits growing. How much will be a good harvest? What do I need to do to continue with the plant? What is the plant life? What fertilizer and pesticides to use? How much and when to water?

Green Peas. Total Plants 20. The lower leaves have dried. I have inserted Stakes and have got thread trevis. Each plant has about 4 pods. A few plants still have flowers. What fertilizer and pesticides to use? How much and when to water?

Tomatoes. Total Plants 5. 2 from germinating seeds in the garden soil. 3 were bought as plants. None of them have flowers. They are about 1 foot tall. Have about leaf spaced about an inch. What fertilizer and pesticides to use? How much and when to water?

Okra. Total Plants 10. All germinated in the garden soil. All have an average height of 1.5 ft. None have any flowers. What fertilizer and pesticides to use? How much and when to water?

Pepper. Total Plants 10. 7 were plants bought. 3 germinated in the Garden and they have shown very slow progress. What fertilizer and pesticides to use? How much and when to water?

Banana. 1 plant. 2 feet tall plant bought yesterday. Dug hole 1.3 ft dia of 2 ft. Removed clay. Added potting soil. Placed the plant. The sides were packed with Scott soil with garden soil 1:1 ratio. Topped the same mix for 1 in. and added 2 inches of mulch. What else do I need to do? What fertilizer and pesticides to use? How much and when to water? 3 leaves have opened. Should I cut the leaves? How do I check if the plant is still in a shock or aclimatized to the new environment?

Coriandor or Cilantro. in a box of 2X2 plastic container. Have shown no sign of germination. Seeds were sowed 7 days ago. How long does it take to germinate. Do I need to add any fertilizer. Have used only potting mix.

Thanks in Advance for all your advices.

[Newt]

Hi Raja,

I'm so very sorry I couldn't get back to you until now but I've been in the hospital for 3 weeks and I can only sit up for a short while. I've got so many e-mails I didn't know where to start.

The sites I gave you from Cornell and Perdue should give you most of the information you need about growing each veggie. This site explains when to harvest.
http://www.savvygardener.com/Feature...egetables.html

As to watering, common sense is often best. If you don't get get an inch of rain a week or the temps are in the high 80's or above you will need to water more often.

As to what pesticides to use, I'm not a fan of pesticides. Know thine enemy and use the appropriate method to deal with them, A few bugs won't hurt anything and should usually be ignored unless you start to have problems. Then I prefer to use organic and natural methods. Sometimes it's best to just prevent certain pests with row covers. Cabbage worms can be a problem on cole crops (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower). The butterflies are small and white. It will just take time to learn which pest is which and which is a good bug and which is a bad bug. If you just start spraying with toxic pesticides you risk killing the good bugs and adding to the chemicals you are injesting.

Epsom salt contains magnesium that many plants need. It's usually applied to the ground and watered in. I wouldn't use it unless it's necessary as too much can be toxic. If you suspect a magnesium deficiency you should have a soil test done by your local extension service.
http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/abou...epsom_salt.htm
http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/abou..._bureau_01.htm

Leaves can go yellow because of the natural aging and shedding, not enough water, chemical imbalance. These sites talk about chlorosis (yellowing).
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/focus/chlorosis.html
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactS...ochlorosis.htm

Here's some more helpful sites.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/e...na/banana.html
http://nctomatoman.topcities.com/Off...g/OTV4SEED.htm
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...ver/index.html
http://ftsg.ifas.ufl.edu/dbclist.htm
http://ftsg.ifas.ufl.edu/IBCLIST.HTM
http://gardencorner.0catch.com/main.html
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/vegetable/index.htm

Here's a site from Texas about diseases of veggies.
http://plantpathology.tamu.edu/Texla....htm#Vegetable

This site lists good bugs with pics. You should get to know them.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/index.html

Btw, I'm not Mr. Newt but Mrs. Newt :)

Hope this is all helpful. I just don't have the strength to type more tonight.
Newt

[parupudi]

Hi Raja,

I live in Katy, TX too and i am also new to gardening even though i have tried my hands sometimes before.

We moved into our new house in Katy last year but because the soil that came with the house wasn't good, the vegetables that i planted didn't come out well. So this year i am starting slow and steady.

I just got a Hot Red Pepper plant and i still left it in container(I changed into a new container) as it is still raining out here. I also want to start on Tomoatoes but want to wait on them for couple of weeks before planting them in soil until i can make sure that the climate is going to be really good.

Since you have tried your hands on so many veggies, may be you can give me few tips on these 2 vegetables and also any other easy growing as i cannot spare lot of time since i work. Also, i do not want to spray lot of insecticide and pesticides on my veggies as we need to eat them later on.

I did replace my garden soil last month suitable for vegetables.

I also put some Basil(TULASI) seeds in a container for more than 10 days now and i don't see any signs of germination at all. Any ideas?

Thanks
Pavani