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ballplayer10123

Please help me get my tomato seeds off to a good start

ballplayer10123
13 years ago

Hi all. I am having serious trouble getting ANY of my tomato seedlings off to a good start. I have killed probably 100 tomato seedlings over the past 2 months.

I am attempting to grow them indoors. I have two separate grow areas. One area is 4x4 and has 2 400 W MH lights, circulation fans, and 265 cfm exhaust fan for air exchange. The other area is about 2x5 and has a 4 ft 4 bulb HO T5 fixture, circulation fans, and 265 cfm exhaust.

I am attempting to grow small Sungold tomatoes because my parents love them. I would like nothing more than to bring some Sungolds fresh from the indoor setup over to them.

I have tried literally everything I can think of to be successful at growing tomatoes indoors. (I actually was successful in growing a monster cherry tomato indoors this past winter, but I believe it was more luck than anything). I am ot the point of wondering if I am getting some toxic gases, herbicide leaching sabotaging my indoor gardens via my sump pump. Is that possible?

I have tried starting my tomato seedlings in every medium you could possibly think of. Sunshine Mix, prepared Rockwool, Fox Farm Light Warrior (plain seed starting mix), and Rapid Rooter plugs. I have accurate pH and EC meters at my disposal. I have tried starting the seeds at varying distances from my light bulbs. I have started seeds anywhere from 1.5 to 5 feet below my 400 W lights, and at every increment of 6" in between. Under the T5 lights I have started the seeds as far away as 15" and as close as 3 or 4".

I currently have about 15 tomato seedlings growing, NONE of which I would consider vibrant and healthy. The crazy thing is the ones I have in Rapid Rooters have INCREDIBLE healthy, hairy root growth.

The thing that really ticks me off is that symptoms are the SAME every single time I fail. Quite depressing. The seedlings emerge, cotyledon leaves appear to have decent health. However, the first true leaves become slow to emerge. They are typically smaller than they should be. The true leaves are light green, not yellow, but not even close to vibrant green like they should be. The cotyledons develop purple undersides, which spreads to the true leaves. The true leaves are small, an odd yellow green color, with red veins and lack any sort of vigor. They occasionally get random yellow streaks on the top of the leaves. I could share some pictures if that would help.

I see pictures of Phosphorus deficiency, and the problems look similar to mine. However, I cannot see how P could be my problem. My grow mediums are watered with lukewarm water. My grow areas are plenty warm enough to avoid P deficiency (typically 76-81 during day and 69-71 at night).

I have tried using General Hydroponics 3 part to cure the problems. I have tried Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Grow, and Bloom formulas to correct the problem. I have tried Earth Juice Microblast to try to figure out if is a micronutrient deficiency. I have tried using only plain water all the way through the seedling stage. I am using a mixture of calcium rich tapwater and RO water to achieve a starting EC of 0.1-0.2. I have tried high pH (6.8-6.9), low pH (5.8-6.0) and everything in between. I have tried waterng my mediums until 10-15 % runoff every irrigation. I have tried only watering the minimum with a friggin shot glass. I've tried fertilizing with each irrigation (0.5-1.1 EC). I've tried using only water for the first 1-2 weeks. I've done the water-feed-water-feed alternating schedule with EC strength of 0.5-1.1 and everywhere in between. Nothing seems to work.

Ladies and Guys I am at my wits end. I cannot believe a living things as resilient as plants can be so difficult to get correct. If someone would be willing to hold my hand through this process, and I provide pictures I would really be grateful.

I have tried anything and everything, that's what makes me think I may be having problems due to my sump pump being within a semi close proximity to my garden areas (within 15-20 ft).

All help will be very appreciated.

Comments (3)

  • oakleaf33
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That sounds like a lot of work ballplayer for some tomatoe plants... But if they are for your parents totally understandable. I'm willin to bet the farm your problem is not your nutrient configurations its your lighting.. Try getting them to about a foot or two before you put those heavy handed lights on them

  • ballplayer10123
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I guess it is quite a bit of work. However, it would not seem nearly as labor intensive, if I was successful. I LOVE gardening. I also have an outside garden using raised beds. However, I prefer the clean environment growing inside provides. I cant stand having to fight off blights, pests, PM, and the other outdoor garden maladies. Most of these problems came to the fore after consecutive days of heavy rain, or high humidity. I prefer having the ability to control the indoor environment.

    It felt fantastic having garden fresh cherry tomatoes for salads from January through March this past winter. I had great success with Sungold cherry tomatoes last summer. I absolutely loved the taste of Sungolds, and so did my parents, I would love to be able to surprise them with a decent amount of them this fall. However, I was not able to acquire Sungold seeds in time for the raised beds this summer.

    I have tried starting my seeds under HID light, HO T5, and standard fluorescent lights. That's why I am starting to question the cleanliness of the air quality in my growing areas. My starts stunt almost immediately upon emergence. They stunt whether close to light or far from light, fertilizer or no fertilizer. The problem looks the same every time. I have seen other threads and pictures on the internet with people having the same looking problem as mine. The consensus seems to be a P deficiency. It cannot be P though, I have used Bloom fertilizers upon emergence to try to give them adequate P. I have provided a humidity dome and heat mat to avoid cooling that could possibly have been occurring. I have made sure the water has been at least somewhat warm when irrigating. I am likely going to start some seeds near a sunny window in my home to see if it just the localized air quality of my growing environment.

  • grizzman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Pictures may be useful here.
    Where are you located that starting plants outside is not an option right now?
    Also, what is your air and soil temperature?
    what is the EC and pH of plain water and of the nutrient solution?
    Your description certainly sounds like phosphorus, but just because its there doesn't mean its available. Something may be locking it out.
    I always start my tomato seedlings in potting soil six packs or just root cuttings from another plant. In the case of the six packs, once two or three sets of true leaves develop, I simply submerge them in water and wash off as much soil as possible and then into hydroton in net pots into the system.
    also, try putting them in a nice sunny window.
    If you're really worried about air impurities, place an air cleaner so it will discharge clean air flowing across the plants.

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