seedling questions

[JohnWayne]

I sprouted maybe 150 seed each of KB and Dwarf Goliath. The seed came up right away and right away a difference could be seen between the two.


The KB grew to a few inches tall right away with thin stems while the DG were a good bit shorter and thicker in the stems.


Yesterday I started transplanting the KBs to 4 inch pots and by now many of them had become limp and would not stand. Some of those had what looked like pinched places in the stems. I would also add that the color of the KBs are very pale. The stems are milky color while the stems of the DG have some green to them.

Yesterday the temp was in the 70s and I took all the plants outside hoping the sun would help but things only seemed to get worse. Now I don't know if I kept them too wet or what.
Any ideas ? Thanks

[recruiterg]

I think this could be one of two things.

1) Your plants are too leggy. When you transplanted, you probably didn't plant the seedling deep enough. Tomatoes grow roots all along their stem, so you when you transplant, you want to bury the plant deep so that just the cotyledons or the set of first leaves are above ground. Get the plants right below the grow light (like 1" below), or even better, get them in the sunlight outside after letting them sit for a day or two to recoup from the transplant shock.

2) You damaged the growing tip and killed the plants. I would say this is unlikely, but possible.

[livinonfaith]

I always end up with leggy plants, (Not enough light) but have never had pinched looking areas, so I don't think that would be the sole problem. (Although weak plants could certainly be more susceptible to illness) It honestly sounds like some form of damping off, maybe moisture issues or possibly some kind of disease or fungal problem.

Dwarf plants do tend to be stockier and darker green, at least in my experience, so that part is probably normal.

Where did you get the seeds? Is there a possibility that they weren't fermented correctly? I've heard of seeds that carry on problems from the previous year.

That or the KB may be particularly sensitive to something, either soil mix, fertilizer, or moisture level, that the dwarf tomatoes don't have a problem with.

[KarenO]

were they were healthy before they were transplanted? If the pinched areas and paleness etc was there before transplanting it sounds like damping off disease which is a fungal problem and all affected seedlings are not salvagable. If they were healthy before you transplanted them and if the problems developed since transplant and it happened rapidly overnight, I doubt it was a disease or fungal issue. Possibly mechanical damage from the actual transplanting. Stems are very delicate so seedings should never be handled by the stems while transplanting, rather handle them by the leaves. putting them in direct sun without hardening off will not help but may cause further problems such as sun scald. can you take a picture? mainly i am just guessing here without seeing them.
sorry for your mato troubles
KO

[JohnWayne]

The KBs came up fast and were leggy before the first leaves even opened. I tried this new way of doing things and I'm sure you are all partly right. My light isn't strong enough, Mechanical damage and I really hope there isn't a problem with damping off..(

Thanks all. BTW, Karen, I am so unskilled with a camera ! LOL Last time I used it, I moved the photos to the computer and have never found them.