Question
This year I started some of my own plants in order to get some varieties available only by seed. I have some really nice looking plants, aout 12-15inches high and am close to transplanting them into the garden. However, I notice they are very light green as opposed to the dark green I see in nursery plants. I used moisture controlled potting soil nas was able to give them significant sunlight and other than the very light green color they seem healthy. Do you have any idea what may have caused this and do you think they will recover once planted?

Thanks for your help

Carl Meyers
Wexford, PA

Answer
Hi Carl!

Without knowing what kind of fertilization routine you followed, my first reaction to reading your question was that your plants are suffering from a bit of nitrogen deficiency. Since the plants are otherwise healthy, they shouldn't have any trouble bouncing back once they start getting some nitrogen. I suggest giving them a good watering and foliar feed with fish emulsion, and do it once every week to ten days. The fish emulsion will give your plants a good dose of nitrogen, but not so much that they'll put on a ton of green growth at the expense of growing strong root systems and setting fruits. You should start to see the foliage looking better within a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the question!