Need diagnosis and prescription for ailing seedlings indoors

[spankykitty]

This seedlings are about 3-4 weeks old. They are kept under 13-18 hours of light a day at a distance of 1 inch. The lights I use are 1 grow light and 1 flourescent light bulb. What can I do to help them? They are a bit yellow and do not look very healthy. They are planted in sand, peatmoss, vermiculite mixture. Thanks kindly in advance for your help
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[dcarch]

Based on your description of soil mix, there is no nutrient at all for the seedlings.

dcarch

[tylenol]

Hiyas,
How often do you water ? Have you repotted them yet ?

Rob

[sliphorn]

Yeah, I'm thinkin' no nutrients and/or too much water.

[spankykitty]

so should I feed them some miracle grow?

[bcday]

Whatever fertilizer you pick, use it at 1/4 of the strength that the label says to use for indoor potted plants. I think Miracle-Gro says 1 tsp. per gallon of water for house plants, so if the label on yours says the same, make it 1/4 tsp. per gallon.

I do agree that it looks like they are getting too much to drink and not enough to eat. Just don't try to make up for lost time by suddenly giving them an overdose of ferts. That would only make the problem worse by burning the roots. 1/4 strength is plenty.

Probably the starter mix you chose is kind of dense and slow to dry out, despite having the sand in there. If you make up your own mixes, try adding some perlite to the next batch to help the drainage. It's a little pricier than sand but you don't need much and it makes a big difference IMO.

[dcarch]

Please don't do anything yet with fertilizer until you get a few more advices from others here. I am not the expert in this, but I think you should use a more balanced (N, P, K) fertilizer, not MG, which is more N.

dcarch

[tylenol]

Wendy,

Forgot to mention I'm Rob, and being "neighbors", as I live in Chatsworth, I'd be more than happy to help if you might need some of the extra tomato "thingy's" that I might have lying around re: pots,cups,seeds,plants,ferts,trays,soils, etc.

Like slip and bc, I too would guess a bit too much water and perhaps a small need for some fert. I would, if you haven't done so already, suggest you pot them up to a larger container or cup using a potting soil mix (key word MIX, not potting soil ). Plant them deep, just below the 1st true leaves, water and let them adjust for a couple of days, before giving them some fert. I had a similar problem this time last year, with a few, and they ended up A-OK.

I felt I started seeds too early last year (January) and will be starting a bunch in a couple of weeks. Don't hesitate to PM or email me, if you need anything !

Rob

[Fusion_power]

There appear to be four problems with these plants. The first is the temperature they are growing at. The second is lack of potassium in their growing mix. The third is lack of micronutrients most likely magnesium. The fourth is light intensity.

Here are things you can do to help.

1. Use a tomato specific fertilizer that has high potassium and that has micronutrients. Mix at a rate of 1/2 teaspoon to a gallon of water and give the plants a drink. Then do not water them again until they have dried out almost to the point of wilting. This is very important, the plants roots need extra oxygen to absorb nutrients in cool temps. If you keep the moisture high, they will still look yellow and stunted. When they dry out, air penetrates into the root system which permits better nutrient absorbtion.

2. Raise the temp to about 75 for 2 or 3 days. This in combination with the fertilizer will boost the plants back into healthy growth.

3. Keep the lights on 16 hrs per day and off for 8 hrs.

The symptoms displayed will almost always disappear with a rise in temperature and with direct sunlight. If you are up to investing in a HID light system, you can dramatically improve growth of the seedlings.

Fusion

[michael johnson]

if it were me, I would first let them dry out a bit until they are nearly dry so that the surface of the compost is drying out,
Then- a light watering of pure seaweed liquid with no added fertilizer, with a tea spoon full of Epsom salts in the water, results should be apparent within 24 hrs and -improving as they go on, leaving the lights as they are.

Also- it is my observation over a period of years- that too much vermiculite mixed in with the compost makes all the leaves go pale and wishy washy.

seeds germinated in just pure vermiculite and nothing else produce tomato seedlings three or four shades lighter than normal compost usually, especialy if there is no feed whatsoever or minerals in the water when they germinate.

Personaly I very rarely use the stuff any more for edible crops.

[spankykitty]

Hello, My tomatoes are looking so much better! Thank you. I replanted, dried out and watered and fed them. Thanks for all your advice!