Why are my seedlings so small?!

[loulac]

Originally Posted by ARgardener

I always just heard people talk about not keeping this all too wet and I've always been a bit paranoid about damping off.

From the big variety of approaches you have read here you certainly have noticed that tomatoes are tough plants that can practically withstand all kinds of treatments.
Watering tomatoes is a complex topic. In industrial greenhouses tomatoes grow on glasswool constantly soaked with a solution of fertilizers. In smaller installations gardeners don’t water each pot one by one but pour half an inch of water in the storage container, wait till the pots have sucked up the water, then water again when the mix is dry. We can often notice long roots growing through the hole at the bottom of the pot, they bathe in water most of the time and are perfectly healthy. The trick is to keep most of the roots in a gas permeable mix, the roots need oxygen. Here lies apparently a major drawboack of your mix that becomes as hard as concrete.
You are not a professional, you don’t have to make a living with your tomatoes, just enjoy growing them, a mistake from time to time is just a part of the game.

[dmforcier]

AR I think you're on the right track now.

I have never used fish emulsion, but I hear that it takes a while to become available to the plant? (advice?) I think I'd use an instantly available fert like MG for this round.

[ARgardener]

Im going to try and change the soil to promix and water in with diluted fish. I figured I may as well give it a shot cause I'm sure these little guys are doomed unless things seriously turn around.

[ARgardener]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

AR I think you're on the right track now.

I have never used fish emulsion, but I hear that it takes a while to become available to the plant? (advice?) I think I'd use an instantly available fert like MG for this round.

Hmm- I've always heard and read that fish emulsion is available very quickly. Are you thinking of fish meal perhaps?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

AR I think you're on the right track now.

I have never used fish emulsion, but I hear that it takes a while to become available to the plant? (advice?) I think I'd use an instantly available fert like MG for this round.

I have used both Fish emulsion and MG sometimes. The fish stuff is sprayed on the foliage and the leaves take it up ASAP.

The main difference between Fish and MG is the fish stuff is organic and MG is not.

I do recommend Neptunes Harvest near Boston as a source of fish products,they come in different NPK ratios and the main reason I like them is b/c they use a cold press extraction which preserves all the minerals and cofacters.

https://www.google.com/search?q=nept...&bih=790&dpr=1

Aside from that it was a friend of a friend who got this very popular variety there

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Neves_Azorean_Red

Carolyn, who sees that Worth just referred to two threads here at TV,but I don't have time to read them now.

[Worth1]

Here is what I do.
I was reluctant to do this but I decided to give it a shot to help you.

Look at this page and you can browse the whole thread.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showpost....7&postcount=62
It gives every bit of the information I do lights temperatures soil and all.
I am not an expert but I do a pretty darn good job if I say so myself.
There are all kinds of experiments in the tread I tried last year too.
I recorded everything.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...t=39075&page=5

It is one heck of a long thread.

Worth

[dmforcier]

Originally Posted by ARgardener

Hmm- I've always heard and read that fish emulsion is available very quickly. Are you thinking of fish meal perhaps?

Yeah that may be it.

[ARgardener]

How tedious.... I got all the seedlings taken out and put back in, this time with promix w/ mychro. Watered in with 1/2 tsp of fish in 2 cups water (NPK of the fish is 2-3-0.5... Not the 5-1-1 most people use from Big Box stores).
I made sure to NOT compress the soil into the cells at all (think I may have last time.... ).

Overall I thought the root systems looked pretty healthy and on some, quite significant. Hopefully these fellows can get past the stress of the transplant.

Any tips for helping them recover?
I'm not so sure they'll amount to much, but I've done what I can!

[dmforcier]

Originally Posted by ARgardener

Any tips for helping them recover?

Yes. Leave them alone and go do something else for a while.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Yes. Leave them alone and go do something else for a while.

Right.

Worth

[ARgardener]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Yes. Leave them alone and go do something else for a while.

I got em a Greyhound ticket.. I think we need to separate for a while

[loulac]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Yes. Leave them alone and go do something else for a while.

The very best piece of advice you can get


All the best

[ginger2778]

Keep them moist, but not wet.

[ARgardener]

Some smallll progress 2 days after the transplant.

[MissS]

Yep there sure is. Let's hope that they take off...