my tomatoe plants

balloo_2

Hi i grew tomatoe plants in a seed tray and when they were about 2inches high i decided to replant them into pots on thier own i was very careful with them digging each one up out of the seed tray with a little fork (as in knife and fork) and replanted them and watered them in. The next day my plants had started to shrivel up and look as if they were dieing back, it looks like i have lost 15 of my first ever attempt to grow tomatoes. can anyone explain why this is b4 i try and replant the few i have left. i used miracle grow multipurpose compost for the replant.

Frugaldom

Hi Balloo, don't give up on them yet as seedlings do tend to look wilted within hours of being transplanted. I think it's just because they have been disturbed. I'll let you know how mine are tomorrow, as I've just repotted some today.

Zazen999

When did you replant them?
How many leaves did they have when you replanted them?
Is the soil damp?
Where are they kept [it's been a bit cold this weekend].

Unfortunately, they might have been replanted too early, or you might have damaged the stem when replanting, or they could have damping off [which is a virus you get when the compost is too damp], or it could just be too cold - or even in too sunny a spot before they have had time to get their roots stuck into the new compost.

I would hold off replanting the rest for a week or two, and see what happens with these. You can leave toms for ages before they need to be replanted. I once got gifted 165 of them in one seeds tray at 4 inches high - and all but a few survived.

annie123

Easy to kill off seedlings if you have not done it before.

• They should have 2 sets of true leaves
• soak before lifting so that the roots slip out
• make a deep hole in new pot and gently lower plant into it, planting a little deeper and push soil back around it with great care.

plenty of time to start again.

try sowing in yogurt pots with a few holes in the bottom, only 2 seeds to a pot wont need re potting, will be able to go straight outside next month

good luck

sunset_gold

Give them time, it's almost better to give them less attention than more. I currently have 70 plants on a pasting table in the dining room, I sowed my seeds too early back in January (and too many!). You still have time to sow some, they will come up very quickly with the daylight hours longer now. My healthiest is 3 feet high, but my runt as we call it, that nearly died a couple of times is fine now and 11" high. Don't be put off, picking a tomato and eating it is a wonderful experience. SG

teedy23

I,m just seeing mine poking their wee heads out of the soil, so happy, so sad! I thought I,d missed the pots when planting lol.

balloo_2

Is damping off caused by the stem getting wet and the plant flopping over if it is that didnt happen they just shriveled up as if they died back. My plants are in the dinning room and its a constant heat there. I thought there was 2 rows of leaves on the plant not so sure now though not sure what is meant by true leaves. I used a fork to loosen the soil before and slipped the plant inbetween the forks to pick them up and lower them into the hole, (for those who i am not making sense to my fork is the table kind as in knife and fork.)

Thanks for all your help though i think i will have to put it down to inexperience

olly300

Damping Off is caused by a fungus and/or poor hygiene. The stems of the plant sort of collapse and the leaves shrivel up.

Here's a useful link for you:

Damping Off
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles1000/damping_off.asp

I had some seedlings dampen off however they were not my tomato seedlings. To stop the rest of the seedlings I am/was growing damping off I watered them with Cheshunt Compound before transplanting them.

Oh and if you think the tomatoes have definitely got damping off remove and destroy them.

Frugaldom

How long is it since you repotted them? I've had a close look at mine today and I probably repotted them too soon, but there were too many in the tub. (I had just scraped the seeds out of a tomato, washed & dried them and then dumped them all together in a margarine tub not expecting many to grow.) They all looked wilted within hours of repotting them, but they decided to recover fully and are all standing back up and looking much happier.

olly300

Just remembered that Miracle Grow Compost has lots of moisture retention properties. I've used it for the planters in my garden last year but didn't use it for planting my spring bulbs in pots for this reason instead I used cheap multipurpose compost or top soil.

I would just leave your tomatoes alone as everyone else has suggested and see what happens. If they don't seem to perk up just so some more.

SKIPPY54

balloo wrote: »

Hi i grew tomatoe plants in a seed tray and when they were about 2inches high i decided to replant them into pots on thier own i was very careful with them digging each one up out of the seed tray with a little fork (as in knife and fork) and replanted them and watered them in. The next day my plants had started to shrivel up and look as if they were dieing back, it looks like i have lost 15 of my first ever attempt to grow tomatoes. can anyone explain why this is b4 i try and replant the few i have left. i used miracle grow multipurpose compost for the replant.

you must wait for the first pair of true leaves and when transplanting handle them with them not with the stem as it squashes them and stops them growing