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weesnaw399

All my plants wilting

10 years ago

Please help its March and I have some nice looking plants in an indoor greenhouse. All was well until yesterday they all suddenly wilted extremely bad. I have 6 tomatoes, smaller peppers and some herbs in a greenhouse indoors facing west in a window. I have faced a huge mushroom problem in the greenhouse but they have disappeared for the most part. whatever it is I think it is an environment change because it has affected all plants except the onions. I sprayed fungicide on one tomato plant to help with the shrooms but I sprayed it outside the greenhouse so I doubt fumes spread. I did decrease the amount of artificial light received from early in the morning and 6-10pm to just 6-8 pm. I also put the heater on it about 3 ft away in case they were cold. My mom opened the window yesterday when I was gone( fine when I left- wilting when I came back) could it be the cold air from the window caused this? Or the light decrease? Can they be saved? Thank you for all responses I have a lot of time in these and would be sad to see them die

Comments (6)

  • 10 years ago

    Well guys I took one plant out of the pot and it was moist but the roots were actually smaller than when I transplanted it

  • 10 years ago

    Should I transplant them to dryer soil? It was cooler out when the window was open like 55 degrees overcast. I used a mix between potting soil and peat moss. I usually kee the door to the greenhouse open but I'll take it off to help them dry more.

    im kind of confused though cause those peppers are still pretty small.

  • 10 years ago

    And it's between 69 and 72 inside at any time

  • 10 years ago

    Many things can cause sudden wilting of plants and the more stressed they are to begin with the less it takes to affect them badly. These plants were heavily stressed already from their appearance - far too little light results in weak spindly stems - so we can really only guess at what might have triggered this collapse.

    Your first mistake was using potting 'soil' rather than soil-less potting mix. In a container it compacts, drains poorly, and causes root rot and over all decline. Then any sudden change in the environment - less light, more heat, less heat, exposure to outside air, etc. without first gradually getting the plants used to the changes triggers even more stress. So it isn't so much the temperature inside or outside as it is the sudden difference.

    If you want to try to salvage them then you need to invest in a good quality soil-less potting mix and transplant them into it after removing as much of the existing soil as possible from the roots. The peppers should transplant easily and should recover IF they are not then over-watered. Wet the mix well first, wring it out in your fist and fill the pots, then move the plants into it - each into their own small container. Make sure the container is no more than 4". A big container with a small plant in it holds too much water and drowns the plants.

    The tomato plants, as is, are pretty much a lost cause. But you can salvage cutting from them, root those cuttings, and then still have your tomato plants. Cut off the top 4-6" of those plants, remove all but the very top couple of leaves, and stick them in a pot of damp potting mix burying most all of the bare stem. Set them out of the light for 48 hours, keep the mix damp and let them droop for 2-3 days. When they begin to perk back up move them back under the light gradually and let them grow. But do something about the amount of light they are getting so that they don't just turn all long and skinny again.

    Hope this helps.

    Dave

  • 10 years ago

    The plastic of the greenhouse will have reduced the light considerably. I was wondering if the plants had cooked if bright sun had come in through he window.

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