Seedlings are not growing

Allura · April 12, 2017

Hi folks, I need some advice. I started my tomato and pepper seeds on March 21 in a different brand of peat pellets (McKenzie brand) than I usually use which is Jiffy brand. It seems it took longer than usual for the seeds to germinate and EVERY SINGLE ONE came up a helmet head! I don't know how many "surgeries" I've performed to remove the seed coatings! These were fresh seeds bought this year from Johnny's, Heritage and Territorial. Anyway, after two weeks of nothing but cotyledons, a lot of the tomato seedlings are barely showing any first leaves and some are starting to show signs of yellowing. Oddly, the pepper seedlings seem to be thriving. All the seedlings are well rooted but they're not growing. I can see inbetween the cotyledons that there is a microscopic hint of a leaf but otherwise no sign of vigor or growth. The most affected are three hybrids, Esterina, Sakura and Damsel. The others I have are Big Zac, Kukla's Portugese, Marge's Polish Pride, Mexico, Rebel Yell and Terhune and only some of those have a tiny leaf beginning. They just seem so puny to me.

Just for the record, I have been growing from seed for almost 20 years and never had a problem with starting seeds and growing beautiful tomato and pepper plants. I believe the culprit is the new peat pellets because they seem to be much more fibrous (almost like coconut husk) than the smooth finely ground Jiffy pellets that I've used in the past.

Here's my questions, 1) would it be beneficial to transplant them now into good potting mix even though they don't have their first leaves or 2)should I feed them lightly for a booster or 3) have I developed amnesia over the course of winter and forgotten how long it takes for seedlings to grow!

April 12, 2017	#1
Allura Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Chicago, IL ., Z5b Posts: 19	Seedlings are not growing Hi folks, I need some advice. I started my tomato and pepper seeds on March 21 in a different brand of peat pellets (McKenzie brand) than I usually use which is Jiffy brand. It seems it took longer than usual for the seeds to germinate and EVERY SINGLE ONE came up a helmet head! I don't know how many "surgeries" I've performed to remove the seed coatings! These were fresh seeds bought this year from Johnny's, Heritage and Territorial. Anyway, after two weeks of nothing but cotyledons, a lot of the tomato seedlings are barely showing any first leaves and some are starting to show signs of yellowing. Oddly, the pepper seedlings seem to be thriving. All the seedlings are well rooted but they're not growing. I can see inbetween the cotyledons that there is a microscopic hint of a leaf but otherwise no sign of vigor or growth. The most affected are three hybrids, Esterina, Sakura and Damsel. The others I have are Big Zac, Kukla's Portugese, Marge's Polish Pride, Mexico, Rebel Yell and Terhune and only some of those have a tiny leaf beginning. They just seem so puny to me. Just for the record, I have been growing from seed for almost 20 years and never had a problem with starting seeds and growing beautiful tomato and pepper plants. I believe the culprit is the new peat pellets because they seem to be much more fibrous (almost like coconut husk) than the smooth finely ground Jiffy pellets that I've used in the past. Here's my questions, 1) would it be beneficial to transplant them now into good potting mix even though they don't have their first leaves or 2)should I feed them lightly for a booster or 3) have I developed amnesia over the course of winter and forgotten how long it takes for seedlings to grow!