My seedlings are unhappy

[platys]

With t his annoying cold snap in IL, I think I've let my seedlings get too cold. While a few have tiny true leaves, most have seemed to have decided to do a bunch of nothing. Here they are, less than a month from planting out. I brought them inside last night because it was going below freezing - they've been in my unheated greenhouse with a heat map and a little foil tent with lights - it was keeping dirt temps in the 60-70s, and the air shouldn't have gone below 50.


Tomato Seedlings by knittergail, on Flickr

Should I pot up and fertilize? Or just fertilize?

[tam91]

I don't know, but this cold snap sure IS annoying.

When did you plant them?

[platys]

I planted them on March 27th

Here is how they looked on the 13th:


tomato seedlings by knittergail, on Flickr

[tam91]

Wow. I planted mine on March 2 and 9 - and they are huge, almost too big. But I did grow them in the house, under lights, so they would have been warmer. Still, I would have thought yours would be bigger by now.

Wow, I figure plant out is in around 3 weeks or so for me, and I'm a little north of you.

Some more expert folks than I will come along soon I'm sure. But I've been told not to fertilize until after they've been potted up a bit. So I personally doubt that is the answer.

Would potting up help them? I'm not sure. I waited until mine had true leaves first. But they might take off more with more room to grow.

I wish I knew more, but like I said, someone will be along.

[platys]

I planted really late. I think even under the lights, they didn't stay as warm as I hoped.

At least it's been a learning experience, but I'll be sad if some of them don't come out of it

[tam91]

Well they probably will, eventually. Might be kinda late though.

What varieties did you plant?

[platys]

I'm growing:

Pink Egg
Rutgers
Dagma's Perfection
Hawaiian Pineapple
Brandywine Pink
Brandywine OTV
Japanese Black Triefle
Amish Paste
Pork Chop
Berkeley Tie-Dye
Roma
Heirloom Beefsteak

[tam91]

Oh, you have quite a nice assortment.

I'm only growing a few of the same ones as you are, but if you really get stuck and want some bigger ones, and don't have a local source for heirlooms, I will be giving away and/or selling cheap a bunch of extra plants. Mine have the opposite issue than yours though, they are huge.

Maybe someone will have a good suggestion also though. But mine were far bigger than that at the same age.

[Stepheninky]

They possibly could be stunted, but with that said I have had seedlings bounce back and still do really well. So there is still some hope for yours. You might want to have a back up plan but if it warms up and they develop true leaves at that point you might want to hit them with a 1/4 - 1/2 strength liquid fert and see if they will take off. There does not seem to be any visual damage to them in the pics so its one of those things were you have to just kinda see how they do. I have one tray that is growing slow, though most of mine are the opposite same as Tams, kinda too big for the time of year and some even have buds forming. My plant out date for here will be May 1st

[platys]

I lifted the cells out of the tray, and I already have roots growing out of the cells. Apparently at least they have roots. I did hit them with a tiny bit of fertilizer, and I'll leave them indoors at the south facing window for a few more days until the weather behaves. I'm thinking of potting them up though.

[dice]

They just need warmth and light. I have flats of seedlings,
a little bigger than that (true leaves), that have been doing
the same thing (not growing) sitting outside in a cold frame
with daytime temperatures at 45-50F.

I know that they have phosphorus in the growing media, having
already been potted up into 3" pots with 1/4 earthworm castings
and a pinch of guano each in the seed-starting mix, yet they are
showing the symptoms of phosphorus deficiency (purple on
the bottoms of the leaves; pH is fine at 6.6-6.7). That means
"too cold to transport phosphorus from the roots to the rest
of the plant".

A week indoors under lights and they start growing again.

I have not tried foliar feeding, because I think they are still
too small for that. I do not want the fertilizer itself to become
a stress for such small seedlings.

So, I may be transplanting a lot of 3-4" seedlings instead of 8-12"
seedlings this year, but that is ok. If we get good weather in May
and June, they will catch up fast.

[platys]

After a day of being inside, even with just light through the window, I counted at least three new true leaves. A few of them had already had one, but had stalled out. I'll leave them inside today. Tomorrow, its supposed to get into the 60s - I'll put them back under the lights then, and maybe bring them back inside at night.

My first year growing tomatoes, I transplanted these tiny things from Meijers, and they grew like crazy - I don't think having the bigger ones made that huge of a difference.

[tam91]

I'm glad they're perking up.

[platys]

Tam91 - we'll see. I may still need to take you up on your offer, if you have extra plants.

[tam91]

I do have some. You have different varieties than I do, but mine are mostly heirlooms. I probably have extra Brandywine and Berkeley Tie Dye.