Can my seedling be saved?

[beatyfamily1]

I have some lettuce seedlings. They were doing great under a dome indoors. The reason I started using a dome in the first place was because I tried growing another batch of lettuces about two months ago and every one of them fell over, shriveled up and died. The stems got long and fell over. At the time, I don't think I had enough light indoors so I got a fluorescent bulb to light the plants. There could be several things I'm doing wrong, but trying to figure it out. So my husband's friend does indoor gardening and she said she uses a dome. I tried the dome. The seedlings were doing great until I put them outside and took the dome off. In a matter of a couple hours they started falling over and the leaves were shriveled. I read that the dome is suppose to be removed once the leaves have started sprouting. I didn't know that and now my seedlings look sick. If I put the dome back on the seedlings start to straighten up and start to look healthy again. It's like they are dependent on the dome. What is going on? Can they be saved?

[bri80]

The dome holds humidity in the air around the plants. Since they're used to this, when you remove the dome and humidity drops, they wilt. The solution is to slowly acclimate them to your normal conditions. If your dome has openings that be closed and opened for controlling humidity, start by opening them just a little. The next day halfway. The next day all the way. Then remove the dome entirely. If it doesn't, try removing it for an hour, then two hours the next day, then 3 hours, etc until the plants don't wilt in the open air. You can spritz them with water while they're acclimating to help them if they start to wilt before it's time to put the dome back on. Good luck.