Tomatoes and peppers with white leaves

deriter 5/18/2021, 5:22 pm

I set my peppers and tomatoes out in the garden about 4 days ago. I used 1 gallon milk jugs to cover/protect them from the elements and critters. I see some of the plants have white leaves. I am wondering what is doing that. It is not hot here yet. I wondering if it is too cold or is it a virus. I am wondering if the plants will just die or will they come out of it.
If its too cold for them, I think I will just start waiting until after Memorial Day to plant my garden from now on what cha think. Tomatoes and peppers with white leaves 1f606

Tomatoes and peppers with white leaves 1f606

I see others around have milk jugs out and they had them out before me, but maybe they didn't have tomatoes and peppers.
Frustrated!

OhioGardener 5/18/2021, 5:45 pm

Deriter, there are a couple things that can cause this. One of the most common things is planting them out in the garden without hardening them off first - this causes tremendous stress on the plants. Another common cause of this is sun scald, which can also be caused by suddenly moving them from a "safe" indoor place to a full day of sun outside. In either of these cases, the new leaves that form on the plants should show a healthy green color and allow the plant to continue developing. It may be stunted for a while, but recover in time.

deriter 5/18/2021, 5:56 pm

Thank you Ohio very much for the information. Here in Iowa, the days have been a little cool and I was afraid maybe they were getting too cold. No frost or anything like that, but temps have dropped to lower 50's and upper 40's. We are supposed to be getting warmer weather this week. We will be getting into the 70's again oh boy.
No I did not harden them off and they are small plants. Hope they do recover and will try to do a better job of getting them ready for the outdoors next time.

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Tomatoes and peppers with white leaves

Tomatoes and peppers with white leaves

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Re: Tomatoes and peppers with white leaves


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