A question...

[BonnieandClyde]

Some of the seedlings we are going to plant in our herb garden are becoming dry and dead at the tips of their leaves.

What might cause that?

The potting soil is kept moist but not too wet.

Could it be too much sun?  Or perhaps not enough?

Any information would be appreciated.

[grollies]

Generally, herbs don't like the sun. They are probably sunburned.

Edited March 22, 2019 by grollies

[BonnieandClyde]

29 minutes ago, grollies said:

Generally, herbs don't like the sun. They are probably sunburned.

Thanks for that reply.

We will try a net to partially block the sun and see what happens.

[roger buttmore]

As a general rule to watering any plants which are in direct sunlight .. Avoid getting the leaves wet. otherwise they will scorch in the sun, much like using a magnifying glass as a kid to start a fire or pop some ants. Water the soil only.

 

Where I stay we have a gardner who sprays the leaves thinking he's giving the plants a drink. Clearly not qualified for the job. I'm often out there snipping off the scorched stems and leaves.

[BonnieandClyde]

1 hour ago, roger buttmore said:

As a general rule to watering any plants which are in direct sunlight .. Avoid getting the leaves wet. otherwise they will scorch in the sun, much like using a magnifying glass as a kid to start a fire or pop some ants. Water the soil only.

 

Where I stay we have a gardner who sprays the leaves thinking he's giving the plants a drink. Clearly not qualified for the job. I'm often out there snipping off the scorched stems and leaves.

That sounds like good common sense.

Also something that would apply to Thailand even more than the Northeastern US where we're from.

[cooked]

That sounds like good common sense.
Also something that would apply to Thailand even more than the Northeastern US where we're from.

This is one of the most persistent myths around watering plants going. I first heard it 45 years ago, when I started a job looking after flowers for the city of Bern, Switzerland. It gets very hot there.
So, fertiliser- Wuxal, which is absorbed principally through the leaves, was applied once a week and took me two days, soak those leaves start at 7am, finish at 4 pm. We never saw any signs of "burning due to a magnifying glass effect". Any physicist will tell you that this isn't possible.
Some plants, like tomatoes, will quickly get fungus diseases if their leaves are left wet, and this starts with, I suppose, raindrop sized spots appearing on the leaves.
I have often enough experienced rainfall while being in full sunlight. I never saw any "burning" nor will you see it on plants in arid countries where rainstorms will be followed by intense sunlight.

I imagine that the OP has a problem with soil nutrients, thinking about iron and/or magnesium deficiency. Depending on which herbs are being sown, maybe one of the soil born fungal diseases is doing its job. OR (?) attempting to sow herbs that aren't happy here.
I can't make Rosemary seedling flourish (I make cuttings) and I treat them to an iron nutrient fertiliser, otherwise they start to get ill as described by the OP.


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