Professor Lee,
My plants are sick! They’re about two months old and the older leaves are turning yellow the tips are curling down and drying out before they fall off. The newer leaves are growing out all twisted. Overall the plants have pretty much stopped growing and are pale and weak. There are dead spots everywhere. I can’t find any bugs, the garden isn’t really hot, and the soil I bought said it had nutrients in it. Could this be a virus or something?
WTF,
Somewhere Planet Earth.
Dear WTF,
It sounds like you have a bad nutrient deficiency. The soil probably had just enough fertilizer to get things off to a good start but has now played out. Use a good general purpose water soluble fertilizer to correct the problem. Use a full strength dose with the first watering and then a quarter strength dose every other time to prevent overdoing it. Given a little time the plants should make a full recovery. Remember, the primary nutrients that plants need are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK). Nitrogen is the most important during the vegetative stage and Phosphorus is the most important during the floral stage. It is highly unlikely that you will have a Potassium deficiency. In terms of secondary nutrients, the only nutrient that could cause you a problem through a deficiency is Magnesium, so make sure the general purpose fertilizer has some in it. The chemical sign for Magnesium is Mg.
Let me know how things play out.
Professor Lee
