Hi, I'm Pharazir, a new member, and I've got a question. It may seem foolish but it seems worth asking about. After all, these are our babies ...
We've got several plants whose leaves have, in the last couple of weeks, started turning red or even magenta in color. I've read several postings that point to Phosphorous deficiency as the cause but I wanted to check in, just to be sure, as the description doesn't match mine, exactly, and I'd also like to learn how best to correct the situation.
Here's a picture of the plant. The leaves, as you can see, are a deep reddish/magenta. The leaf-stems (petioles?) show no sign of red or purple on them. The leaves, however, are heavily colored:
These plants are from found seeds of unknown origin (culled from stashes before Oregon legalized). They have grown outside, for the most part, in 1-gallon pots, though we've moved them indoors when the weather was too wet (we read that they don't like too much water and that they should be watered thoroughly whenever the soil is dry an inch below the surface). They were subjected to too much watering in August, when we were on a trip (not that kind) and didn't want them to expire from heat or thirst. We've corrected that as noted above.
Even the tiny, new leaves show this red/magenta color. We used commercial potting soil. All the ones planted in the potting soil exhibit this red color. We have one plant that was planted in different soil; its leaves do not show this color. I checked the soil's pH with a digital meter; it's around 5.3
All the plants are budding, though they are only about 39" high.
We read about Phosphorous deficiency about 2 weeks ago and started giving them Miracle-Gro bloom once a week or so. We saw a recommendation for Miracle-Gro Tomato plant food and got some of that, though we haven't tried it yet. There have been no visible results so far; the photo above was taken this afternoon.
We don't want to overdose them with nutrients but we'd like to correct this problem as soon as possible. Does this look like Phosphorous deficiency? If so, how much should we give them and what results should we look for as signs that this problem is solved?
Whatever the answer, thanks so much for taking some time and energy to read and, perhaps, respond to this posting. Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated and any suggestions will be gratefully received and carefully considered.
May the Stars Shine Upon Your Path!
We've got several plants whose leaves have, in the last couple of weeks, started turning red or even magenta in color. I've read several postings that point to Phosphorous deficiency as the cause but I wanted to check in, just to be sure, as the description doesn't match mine, exactly, and I'd also like to learn how best to correct the situation.
Here's a picture of the plant. The leaves, as you can see, are a deep reddish/magenta. The leaf-stems (petioles?) show no sign of red or purple on them. The leaves, however, are heavily colored:
These plants are from found seeds of unknown origin (culled from stashes before Oregon legalized). They have grown outside, for the most part, in 1-gallon pots, though we've moved them indoors when the weather was too wet (we read that they don't like too much water and that they should be watered thoroughly whenever the soil is dry an inch below the surface). They were subjected to too much watering in August, when we were on a trip (not that kind) and didn't want them to expire from heat or thirst. We've corrected that as noted above.
Even the tiny, new leaves show this red/magenta color. We used commercial potting soil. All the ones planted in the potting soil exhibit this red color. We have one plant that was planted in different soil; its leaves do not show this color. I checked the soil's pH with a digital meter; it's around 5.3
All the plants are budding, though they are only about 39" high.
We read about Phosphorous deficiency about 2 weeks ago and started giving them Miracle-Gro bloom once a week or so. We saw a recommendation for Miracle-Gro Tomato plant food and got some of that, though we haven't tried it yet. There have been no visible results so far; the photo above was taken this afternoon.
We don't want to overdose them with nutrients but we'd like to correct this problem as soon as possible. Does this look like Phosphorous deficiency? If so, how much should we give them and what results should we look for as signs that this problem is solved?
Whatever the answer, thanks so much for taking some time and energy to read and, perhaps, respond to this posting. Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated and any suggestions will be gratefully received and carefully considered.
May the Stars Shine Upon Your Path!
