Expert: ben johnson - 5/25/2009

Question
I recently started gardening in raised beds and containers.  I started some beautiful tomotoes, cucs, basil, 3 types of peppers, squash all from seeds and they were nice and green.  Since I have transplanted them (last frost date in Toano, VA is approx 4/20.  I planted everything around 5/4.  Now my tomotoes look thin, my peppers have leaves that are falling off, not a vibrant green, and my basil is yellow-green with brown "burnt" marks.  My soil is a mix of peat, vermiculite, and compost.  My squash and cucs seem to be doing fine.  Any ideas?  I thought maybe over watering, so I let them dry out for a week, then watered but the peppers started losing the bottoms leaves now.  I have read that the 1st years the soil could be deficient in nutrients?  All my hard work is dying.  Thank you in advance.

Answer
Hello Kristal,  Your plants seem to be suffering from a combination of factors, cool to cold nighttime temperatures and in the case of the container plants how large is the container? And what is planted in them? If you have tomatoes or peppers in a container it should be at least  as large as a bushel basket to produce a good crop. hope this helps write back if it doesn't.