Tomatillo diagnosis

10 years ago

I started three tomatillo seeds 2/16. The one I'm asking about was under lights until about 2 weeks ago, when I potted it up because it had outgrown its original 4' pot, and the grow lights--it's been placed next to a south-facing window. This one is about 2' tall, while the others are about 1'. There are 5 leaves that are affected with something; cannot find any insects, and have never seen this type of leaf damage. The leaves are so torn up & fragile, I'm probably going to compost it & start another plant (I'm sure I probably started this one too early anyway). No big deal, just wondering if anyone has ever seen anything like this & how I could avoid it. Thanks!

Comments (8)

shermthewerm
Original Author
10 years ago
Close up of the underside one affected leaf
shermthewerm
Original Author
10 years ago
And another of the top of a leaf
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shermthewerm
Original Author
10 years ago
Nobody? :(
Second question then. Should I remove the affected leaves?
Slimy_Okra
10 years ago
Looks like extreme sunscald and windburn from being exposed to wind and sun too suddenly and too late in development. The extremely big and fragile leaves suggest that the plant was extremely tender. Next year, keep a fan running and expose them to incremental amounts of direct sun as soon as the plants have a few true leaves on them - when they are a few inches tall. Definitely don't wait for them to get up to 2 ft before hardening off.
You can save these plants but expect more leaf damage. The new leaves should be better.

This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Wed, Apr 2, 14 at 22:04
shermthewerm
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the input. This plant has not been outside yet (temps are still pretty low here in Portland, OR). It's only been next to a south-facing window. Could this cause sunburn? Like I said, I'll probably start another plant, just in case. I started 3 tomatillos at the same time on 2/16, this one plant grew exceptionally fast--it's 3 times larger than the other 2.
Anyway, I'm still curious to see if I can keep it alive. Should I remove the leaves? IF it stops raining, I think I'll start hardening it off, then I can put it under a hoop house while I wait for the Mother's Day/Memorial Day planting.
Slimy_Okra
10 years ago
You don't really need to remove the leaves except for cosmetic purposes. It's possible that being moved from artificial lights to a south-facing window exposed it to much more UV than it was used to. Was the window open at any time?
shermthewerm
Original Author
10 years ago
No, can't open the windows yet! It may be officially spring, but it definitely doesn't feel like it! I potted up 5 tomatoes on the same day, and they are doing fine--exposed to the same conditions, same potting mix, etc.
I know there's still plenty of time to restart, so no worries. I just like to learn from my mistakes, and identify what's going on...never seen anything like this.
seysonn
10 years ago
BINGO " .... South Facing Window .... " == Sun burn.

Tou might as well remove those leaves since the are not going to make a positive contribution.