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submitted 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) by wilted_whisperer@mander.xyz to c/gardening@lemmy.world

History:

  • May 4th: The marglobe tomato seedlings in the photo were sown indoors in 12-cell grids, two or three seeds per cell.
  • May 18th: They all had their first set of true leaves, and they received their first "indoor" dose of fertilizer using Miracle Gro water soluble all purpose plant food at a concentration of one-half teaspoon per gallon of water, which should produce a ratio of 3-1-2.
  • May 19th: Their seed leaves had turned yellow, but their true leaves still looked normal.
  • May 23rd: Most of the seedlings were looking pretty sad (wilted, drooped over), and the soil was looking pretty dry, so I gave them another round of watering, this time with plain water (no fertilizer), and within hours they were back to looking happy again.
  • May 26th (today): Back to looking not normal but in a different way. Many seedlings' true leaves are folded upward, and the two seedlings in the front-right cell are wilted and drooped over again. I gave them another shot of plain water (no fertilizer) this morning since the soil was looking dry again.

All waterings, including today's, have been bottom waterings, where I lift the cells out and pour water into the bottom trays, then dump any excess after about 10 minutes.

Questions: Did I give them their first feeding too soon (at two weeks old)? Are seed leaves' yellowing and true leaves' folding upward a sign of nutrient burn? Should I flush the soil w/ plain water to flush out the fertilizer from the 18th?

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[-] The_v@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago

That is a combination of drought stress and not enough light. Need to water them more and give them a stronger light source.

this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
21 points (100.0% liked)

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