Topic: Help -tomato seedlings

[rdak]

The seed leaves on my tomato seedlings are starting to go yellow and dry. The first true leaves are fine though. They are on a south facing windowcill - are they getting burnt or is it normal for the seed leaves to do this?
thanks

[ina]

They always seem to do this, mine did. No worries mate, they look great. When you transplant them, clip the seed leaves off and bury the seedlings up to their first true leaves in the soil. It will grow more roots on the stem.

[rdak]

thanks Ina. Do you think they will need transplanting again then. I have already thinned them out from a seed tray and put them in these inserts nearly up to their seed leaves. I was hoping to put them outside directly from these inserts.

[ina]

I'm afraid they will have outgrown the cells long before you can plant them out. Are you planning to plant them in a greenhouse or outside?

[rdak]

they're going outside, Ina. I know they should go outside after the last frost, but being a newbie gardener, am not really sure when the last frost is, but I was thinking early May would be OK. Didn't think those little seedlings would outgrow those cells in 4 weeks, but I bow to your experience! Will post some update photos as and when.

[aquilegia]

In the two-three weeks since I pricked my toms out, they have grown from being about 1in high to some being around 8in, most about 4-6in. They really shoot up!

I plan to put mine out mid-May (in Greater London). I usually try a few earlier, just in case (so I don't loose the lot), then put more out later in May and early June.

I am rather an over-protective mother!

[gillianbc]

I had quite a few outdoor toms last year that I hadn't intentionally planted.  They grew in a raised bed that I top up with compost that includes kitchen waste. There must have been some seeds in there that germinated at just the right time.  

[Les_Woof]

My tom plants look nothing like that!!!! :( :(

They look very spindley. Will they strengthen up or could there be somethig wrong with them.  They are about 3-4" tall with 2 green leaves at the top on a white very thin stem....is this the norm?

Les

[rdak]

Les,
Have a look at the thread called 'Leggy Seedlings' on the 7th page of the Edible Plants forum.

[philcooper]

Les,

It sounds as if yours are a little bit short of light, that would cause them to grow long, thin and pale.

If you have them by a window, try a mirror, piece of card covered in alluminium foil or just white card to reflect as much light onto them

Better still, try a flourescent strip light a foot above them switched on during daylight hours

Phil

[Les_Woof]

Hi Ross & Phil

That pic on the leggy seedlings thread is exactly what they are like....

Thanks

i think some action is required to help my little seedlings along.

This site just gets better each day.

Thanks again

Les

[The gardener]

So that you might compare these are my plants as at today 8th April.

Seed sown; 3rd March

Potted up; 11th March

 

and a few more;

[tim]

- makes you spit, doesn't it!! = Tim


PS - apart from the G's helpful site, for frost dates try gardenaction /veg diary/ set your frost dates. Quite neat?

PPS - I've always been told thar white card is better than a mirror?

[The gardener]

Yes Tim it is a fairly accurate site that, I have compared it with my chart and we are both in the same ball park, which is nice to know.

The address is;  

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/main/weather.asp

[ina]

Les, did you look further on that thread about the leggy tomato seedlings? I think on page 2 of that thread I posted a picture and text from a book on what to do with leggy seedlings i.e. bury them up to their necks. I repeated that post more recently too but don't remember exactly where.

This year I got some so called 'day light' 60W light bulbs (they are blue-ish), put them in spare reading lamps to shine on the seedlings. It made a big difference, the seedlings are a lot less leggy than previous years and the stems seem much thicker and sturdier too.

PS: The picture and some text from an old garden book are on page 2 of page 7 of this board under 'leggy seedling".

[john_miller]

Until now I wasn't able to see this picture of Ross's tomatoes (or the gardeners). The two sets of plants are both at the same stage of maturity, roughly, but, as everyone can see, their colour is vastly different. Ross, you have severe nutrient deficency. While tomato cotyledons will eventually turn yellow they should not be yellowing at this early stage and certainly not be that bright. This suggests to me that they are severely deficent in Nitrogen- the plants are pulling N from the cotyledons to sustain top growth, but, with cotyledons that bright there is not much N left to transfer. The true leaves are very pale too, suggesting to me that indeed all the N has been pulled from the cotyledons.
The stem and the underside of the leaves of your plants are appearing on my computer as bronze. This is not the colour they should be either. I would suspect phosphorous deficency in plants this young. If you do not reverse phosphorous deficency at this stage it can become irreversible as plants do not take up P easily as they mature.

[rdak]

John- I think the photo is a little misleading. I have compared the colour of the stems in the photo with the real thing and they are not that bronze colour- they are a lot darker. And to me, the true leaves don't seem pale. Hopefully it is just the photo then, but if it were nitrogen problems, would the solution be to use a very weak nitrogen based feed?

[john_miller]

In the nearest plant, Ross, the veins are clearly visible as dark lines against the rest of the tissue. While I realise there might be burn out from the flash this tells me that either there is a loss in N from the tissue or a lack of P- this is manifested as purpling in plant tissue (tomato hypercotyls are commonly purple but this will not extend into the veins). I wouldn't use a weak solution of N but a full strength one.

[rdak]

ok, 2 days ago I gave some of them a feed of Tomorite and no difference in appearance so far...if the feed is going to make a difference, any idea how long it will take?

[john_miller]

I can easily stand correction on this but if I remember correctly Tomorite is a high Potassium fertiliser intended for tomatoes once flowering has started. It is not sufficently high in N or P. Tomato plants have a high demand for both at the point in growth your plants are at. How quickly your plants will show a response to any fertiliser will depend largely upon how warm they are.