Monday, June 23, 2014

Intentional over-irrigation

I have been suspecting that salt remains a problem for the tomatoes this year. Looked up pictures and symptoms. It's confirmed. Leaf burn, curl and stunted growth. 

Guess I've made a few mistakes this year. Tilling probably brought sodium back to the surface where I had hoped it had leached deeper than it had. Then I did not flood irrigate as much earlier this year as I did last year for the tomato patch. Now the signs are really there with the plants still small and the current heat level, causing the salt to concentrate in the leaves. 

Not too late to recover. Going to try drastically increasing irrigation for a few consecutive nights and see what happens. If I start seeing a positive response, I'll keep doing it until the plants are large enough to handle it better.

Now, that probably means I may have to increase frequency of acid application. Not sure. Increasing irrigation and decreasing salt concentration may cause a more beneficial pH balance. I'll try just water at first. 

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