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lilcee
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Location: Florida

Tomatoes don't look right

I live in FL and am trying to start some tomatoes for my Fall garden. I started them inside. When they started to grow, I've been taking them outside during the day and inside at night. They've been up for a couple of weeks but don't seem to be doing anything. They look yellow. The temp. outside has been hot, could that be the problem? Should I add something or should I start over? I used potting soil but the kind I got looks like mulch to me. Should I try something else? Help!

[img]https://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/lilcee1947/100_1257.jpg[/img]

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rainbowgardener
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No hot shouldn't be the problem to make them look like that. Definitely do not look right. Is your potting mix with fertilizer in it or is it a seed starting mix? They look undernourished. Water well (but don't let them be soggy, be sure the water drains out again), be sure they are getting enough sunlight, and add some fertilizer.

TZ -OH6
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I have to assume that you had the little guys in the shade outside because if they were in full sun down there it makes identifying the problem more difficult.

About the only time I have ever seen yellowing like that was when beans sprouted in my composting wood chip pile, so I suspect that your potting mix is the problem and the plants are starved for nitrogen. Some liquid fertilizer at half stregnth should help. It would be best if it was balanced or high nitrogen (NPK numbers) rather than a bloom booster

Its hard to look into the future, but since it is so early and the plants just sprouted it might be better/faster in the long run to start over using a better potting mix like ProMix BX rather than try to fight against the current potting mix. You could also try bare rooting the little guys and sticking them into the new potting mix rather than reseeding.


If you do want to try fixing the problem as it stands, when it comes time to pot them up I would switch to a better potting mix.

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lilcee
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Location: Florida

Thank you everyone for your help. I'll try a different potting soil

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lilcee
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Joined: Thu May 20, 2010 1:22 pm
Location: Florida

I don't have any tomatoes in my garden right now. They died and I had to pull them out. I'm hoping these will do better.


Marlingardener wrote:Lilcee,
Have you thought of taking cuttings of the tomatoes now in your garden? They root rather quickly, and if you have both your seedlings and cuttings, you'll have insurance!
I agree that your seedlings look like they need nitrogen. Be sure to use any fertilizer at half-strength now, and I'd water from the bottom only when seedlings are this size.
The potting soil does look a little coarse. When they get their second set of leaves you may want to transplant them (ever so gently) into a mixture that has less big stuff in it. Next time you may want to use a sterile starting mix, and then transplant into a soil mix.

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lilcee
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Joined: Thu May 20, 2010 1:22 pm
Location: Florida

Ok, I transplanted them into some better soil. Hopefully that will help. Thanks all



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