my tomatoes are always lame!

dust bunny

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
27
Location
Shelton Wa zone 8
somebody please tell me what to do with tomatoes/peppers, sure they grow :/ but it would really help if they PRODUCED!!! i have always gotten starts, i know, i know lazy/lame but heck! what do i do?! this year we gota green house :thumbsup and i planted SEEDS! yes SEEDS! and they are growing! i got them in a 10 gallon fish tank wrapped with the stuff that looks like bubble wrap only shiny, in the house under a light bulb for warmth and several "plant" iridescent bulbs for imitation sunlight or something to that effect? oh and my roommate gave them fertilizer and now they look, well burnt and he says "ive only given them food twice, i don't think that's so much" but i think maybe not so much fertilizer? but really i don't know, do you? I'm so confused :th somebody just tell me what to do PLEASE?!!
 

boggybranch

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Dec 22, 2009
Messages
1,344
Reaction score
0
Points
118
Location
Ashford, AL Zone 8b
:frow db, :welcome

I don't ever fertilize my seedlings....so I would thing that "twice" just might be overkill. Think I'd just start over and don't give your roommate a key to the growing room.:lol:
 

patandchickens

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
2,537
Reaction score
3
Points
153
Location
Ontario, Canada
Yup, I don't fertilize seedlings for real, although as they get larger I do give them a few doses of extremely extremely dilute fertilizer in their water (b/c I grow them in starting medium that has next to no nutrients in it).

You can try coddling them back to health, tomatoes are fairly resilient, but it would probably be smart to start another batch right away too, just in case.

And yeah, tell your roommate not to mess wit' your seedlings :p

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 

vfem

Garden Addicted
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Messages
7,516
Reaction score
43
Points
242
Location
Fuquay, NC
patandchickens said:
Yup, I don't fertilize seedlings for real, although as they get larger I do give them a few doses of extremely extremely dilute fertilizer in their water (b/c I grow them in starting medium that has next to no nutrients in it).

You can try coddling them back to health, tomatoes are fairly resilient, but it would probably be smart to start another batch right away too, just in case.

And yeah, tell your roommate not to mess wit' your seedlings :p

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
Agreed! Slap your roommate into submission and save those seedlings! LOL

P.s. - :welcome
 

HEChicken

Attractive To Bees
Joined
Mar 24, 2010
Messages
89
Reaction score
34
Points
67
Location
Zone 6a
I've never fertilized either but as a PP said, tomatoes are pretty resilient. Last year I bought seedlings and planted them. Three days later we had a killer hailstorm (hail stones the size of golf balls) and it wiped out all the seedlings - or so I thought. Amazingly, the stems that were left sprouted new leaves and by the end of the season, were loaded down with fruit.
 

dust bunny

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
27
Location
Shelton Wa zone 8
ya i think my tomato babies are dieing :hit is it too late to start over? can they go in our green house? its like 80+ in the day time and 30+ at night in our green house, we live in zone 8, i really want some tomatoes this year :fl
 

dust bunny

Chillin' In The Garden
Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
27
Location
Shelton Wa zone 8
dust bunny said:
ya i think my tomato babies are dieing :hit is it too late to start over? can they go in our green house? its like 80+ in the day time and 30+ at night in our green house, we live in zone 8, i really want some tomatoes this year :fl
anybody?
 

vfem

Garden Addicted
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Messages
7,516
Reaction score
43
Points
242
Location
Fuquay, NC
I would put them out there, though if they haven't come back inside, they may not come back at all at this point. Sorry :(
 
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
7
Location
Oklahoma
I've been learning slowly year by year about starting from seed. I've also been told to never fertalize until they have sprouted, and if you do , do it spareingly. I was also told to not fertalize when you are hardening them off because of the salts in the fertalizers.

My seedlings are doing great this year..
 

warmfuzzies

Attractive To Bees
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
147
Reaction score
0
Points
74
80+ in the daytime is pretty warm for seedlings. I would at least vent it so they have a cool breeze. Can't you plant them outside now in zone 8 though? My friend in TX is in zone 8 and she just planted out all of her tomatoes and peppers.

I would try to save your little seedlings, and also start some seeds directly outside. I think they would be fine out there. You have a long enough growing season to direct seed them.
 
Top