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| Hi, I am growing eggplants organically in earthbox. They are developing curly leaves and also other eggplant has brushed leaves like thing. What could be the reason? Both pictures attached. Thanks in advance. Anna. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Second picture. Can anyone suggest suitable remedy. |
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- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 11:11
| What is the medium, and what kind of organic fertilizers and amendments have you included? |
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| Have you checked for aphids, mites , ..under the leaves ? Probably still not quite warm for eggplant. I will keep eye on the new growth and just clip the lower leaf. |
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| Slimy_Okra---Organic mix consists---Top soil, Compost, Epsom salt, greensand, rock potash, worm castings, chicken doo doo, seaweed meal and organic cottonseeds meal. I feed all plants with compost tea once in 2 weeks. Compost tea ingredients are compost and molasses. This growing season I fed fish emulsion once. And I have this issue only with eggplants. My peppers, and other veggies look ok for now. seysonn, thanks, will check. |
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| You are using a very unusual mix for growing in containers but I assume you know that and have opted to use it anyway. The leaf roll in the first pic is called physiological leaf roll and is a response of the plant to extreme stress - usually inconsistent soil moisture levels. It poses no long term damage to the plant but can and should be eliminated The damage in the second picture, if there is no sign of pests, is most likely caused by micro-nutrient deficiency issues - commonly zinc and Ca. Trying to grow organically-only in containers is much more challenging than doing it in ground as there is no active soil food microweb in a container. Dave |
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- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 16:06
| I was thinking of Ca too. With the possible exception of chicken manure, none of those amendments are high in Ca (unless "rock potash" was an error and you meant rock phosphate). |
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| Sorry Slimy_Okra, yes it is 'rock phosphate'. Also forgot to mention my soil mix contains peat moss, vermiculite and perlite and in some instead of peat moss it is coco coir. Yes Dave, I am experimenting with organic soil mix that is based on plant base and natural mineral base. If I have to increase Ca or Zn what can I add to soil? Thanks again Anna |
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- Posted by mphillips1126 none (My Page) on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 18:41
| I had this happen to my eggplant but as soon as the weather got warmer and sunnier, the leaves unrolled and overall looked much healthier. I suspect it's just a little too cold. |
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| I am in NJ as well, and my eggplants (in containers) are doing well. I don't think it has to do with the temps... IMO it has to do with the moisture levels, could also be the pH of your mix. Earthtainers should have some type of mulch cover over them to prevent top watering. Not having a mulch cover could be one of your issues. Are you doing anything to prevent them from getting excess water during rain? Excess moisture levels and pH levels that are outside of a normal range can cause all sorts of nutrients problems. |
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| Yes Dave, I am experimenting with organic soil mix that is based on plant base and natural mineral base. If I have to increase Ca or Zn what can I add to soil? As we all know, when experimenting with unproven methods or methods that have proven troublesome problems will arise. They are expected, even anticipated, and when they arise 9 times out of 10 it is due to the experiment itself and no outside influence. But the main problem is that it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for others to provide helpful information when asked without making the situation worse. So while I could say add lime for calcium and a zinc chelate for zinc. But the real problem is likely the skewed pH of your mixture and in that case you can add all you want and it won't make any difference as they will be bound up and not available to the plant because of the pH.. So given the symptoms you need to first determine the pH of you mixture and adjust it as needed and adjust the perk of the mixture so that you can better stabilize the moisture levels. How you can do that I can't say without a detailed recipe of the mix you made. Best guess is it is too acidic and draining poorly so too wet but that is just a guess. Dave |
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