Question
Hi Mike, I have a question pertaining to Tomato plants I recently started. I have them under fluorescent lights and had them planted in Plastic Beer cups till they are ready to be transplanted into larger containers.
I have been fertilizing them(I don't think I over fertilized) but the leaves dried up and I am wondering a couple of things.
The plants are healthy green, are indoors and it is warm with no fan circulating the air tho. I watered them before taking off for a few days over Easter(5 days gone) and I find the leaves drying up. Have I just let them get too dried out or could I have over fertilized them.
I would really appreciate your help.
Can they be saved still if they still have a couple of leaves on them or should they be scrapped?
Maryann

Answer
Maryann, although the plants may still be salvagable, they most likely will be set back 1-3 weeks due to the stress that resulted in the dried leaves. You can still care for them and hope they come back, but I would start new ones. Actually, here in the midwest and northeast portions of the country, this weekend is the ideal time to start tomato seedlings.

Dried leaves are usually caused by a lack of humidity or too much salt in the soil resulting from overfertilization. This stresses the root system and stunts their growth for 10-14 days.

I personally do not fertilize young seedlings with synthetic fertilizers. Instead, I feed them with fish emulsion diluted at 1/2 the recommended strength. This organic supplement is much less harsh than the commercial fertilizers you buy at the store. I do not start a stringent fertilization program until two weeks after the plants are transplanted outdoors. At that point, the plants are mature enough to withstand the chemicals in most fertilizers.

I hope this answered your question. Good luck, and please write again if I can ever be of assistance.

Regards,

Mike