A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Why Are My Tomato & Pepper Leaves Turning White???

My tomato and pepper plants have only been in the ground a couple weeks. Everything looked good, in spite of the fact we had little sun and fairly cool. Now we've had a couple hot, sunny days and all of a sudden I noticed some of the leaves are turning white - like in the area where the veins aren't.

Anyone know what's happening? Is there something I can/should do???

Here's a pic of a pepper plant
PICT OF PEPPER PLANT

Miranda,
Something along these lines???
Magnesium Deficiency in Tomatoes

Just added a picture so you can see what I'm talking about.

Kinda looks like it's in the same ball park..
Wait a bit to see if anyone concurr's or not...

In the meantime, what kind of soil is it in???
Bagged or is that regular garden soil???

Sun?

What kind of fertilizers are you using? If any??

If it's a magnesium deficiency, would it just suddenly turn white? I didn't notice it yesterday or even this morning.

It's in my regular garden soil and I compost. Yesterday, I scattered some cut grass around the garden but I know it didn't have any chemicals or anythings on it.

They are in the sun until about 6-7:00.

It could be sunscald.

Was the grass fresh or was it let to
dry up first?????

The grass was dry but did have some mold on it - that's never been a problem before. Could it be harmful to plants?

Now that I read about sun scald, I'm sure that's what it is. That makes sense - it had been so cloudy since they were planted and then 2 full days of sun. That would explain why they turned white so suddenly, too.

Hey Dave,
I'm usually good at growing weeds, too. Except for catnip! Anyone else have problems getting catnip started from seed?

oops ...should have checked first - I did a search and found out catnip seeds don't sprout easily.

Tomatoe leaves will bleach out white if the sun turns too hot on the first few days of being there.. Especially if they have not been hardened off before planting.......They love water.

dodge

I agree.

Is there a way to prevent sunscald? I think I have it as well. What can I do to prevent it? Water more? less? Is time of day an issue? I am in Texas so it gets really hot, really fast.

mit

I know your climate is nasty hot......
When I start mine out, I put them on the east porch which gets morning sun.. ANd afternoon shade.. I limit the time in the sun for a while , water them well if it is hot.
All I can recommend with your 90 degrees temp, is try to shade them a little..take an put up 4 posts , with that criss cross trillis fencing on the top .. Just something to promote a little shade......Afternoon sun is a killer.

or any method you can dream up.

Dodge