My seedlings are droopy *PICS*

[bate181]

I started these seeds on may 17th. I transplanted them from small cells to red cups on the may 23rd. They have had adequate amounts of water. The last few days they have been receiving a few hours of shade outside and probably just under an hour of sunlight per outdoor session. they spend ~15 hours a day under growlights. do you think that bringing them in and out of different light sources is stressing them causing droop? any input will help

also, does the second pic of the plant in the background look like it got burned from sunlight? that small hole in the leaf

[Ozark]

They look good to me for plants only 3 weeks old. I don't see any drooping.

I'm amazed that you did the first transplant only six days after sowing seeds. Were they all even sprouted at that time? Doing that transplant must have been some real microsurgery.

Question: Since the whole idea of starting seeds indoors is to extend the season when temps are still too cold to plant out, and since we're now into June - why don't you just transplant them into the garden? I don't see any reason they need to be inside under lights now.

[Raymondo]

Hard to see any drooping, but then I haven't been looking at them every day. If it were me, I'd be getting them hardened off over the next week and then into the garden.
It doesn't look like sunburn to me.

[feldon30]

Look perfect to me. In So Cal I might have started seeds earlier (or later), but that's just my opinion, I don't know your zone.

[Ozark]

"In So Cal I might have started seeds earlier (or later), but that's just my opinion, I don't know your zone."
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That's it. Where we used to live in SoCal I would have started tomato seeds in January and planted out in March.

BUT, some people live in the mountains there at an elevation of 6000+ feet in about Zone 4. If that's the case, then the timing of these seedlings is about right. Now that we're into June, though, I think they could go outside no matter what area they're being grown in.

[bate181]

Originally Posted by Ozark

They look good to me for plants only 3 weeks old. I don't see any drooping.

I'm amazed that you did the first transplant only six days after sowing seeds. Were they all even sprouted at that time? Doing that transplant must have been some real microsurgery.

Question: Since the whole idea of starting seeds indoors is to extend the season when temps are still too cold to plant out, and since we're now into June - why don't you just transplant them into the garden? I don't see any reason they need to be inside under lights now.

yes they were sprouted. they started in egg cartons and ive discovered, obviously enough, that egg cartons leave very little room for root growth and i believe it stresses the seedlings, so i transplanted early.

to your question, im guessing that is a possibility. this is my first time starting any plant from seed. i was just going to grow them like i started them in January. they seem a bit too small though to be transplanting to the garden imo. if anyone has input on this matter it would help.

Originally Posted by feldon30

Look perfect to me. In So Cal I might have started seeds earlier (or later), but that's just my opinion, I don't know your zone.

im in zone 9. i started these seeds hoping for a fall crop


interestingly a lot of the leaf droop has gone away over night. compare pic 3 in my first post to pic 2 in this post

[Ozark]

They look real good to me.

You may be right about them being too small to withstand the rigors of being planted out in the ground. In 2007 I planted out tiny seedlings like that, and I lost a couple to cutworms and bird pecks. After the surviving ones got a little bigger, I had no further problems.

At this point, I think I'd set the cups outdoors in a place that gets part sun and has some shelter. You might want to put a barrier of some kind around where they're sitting so animals and birds don't bother them. Take good care of them in the cups until they're about 8' tall, then transplant them as deep as possible into the ground.

[bate181]

so ive been leaving them out more recently. im actually going to be leaving them outside permanently from now on. ive noticed tiny black flys on the stems of some of the seedlings when i leave them outside, i always kill these things, but can these flys damage the plant?

[Ozark]

"but can these flys damage the plant?"
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I don't know of any flies or gnats that would damage the plants - but if the "tiny black flies" are in fact flea beetles, they sure will.

[bate181]

based off google images of flea beetle, theyre not that