It's hard for me to tell, but is there standing water in the foil pan? If so, drain it immediately. The wilting looks like it could be the result of overwatering to me. Let the potting mix dry out some before thinking about watering again.

Rodney

I’m no expert, but, I have been starting seedlings in the pat and again this year and could just share my observations….

I would agree, if you bottom water, you would never leave them sitting in the water longer than 30 minutes. And you should let them dry out a little bit before watering again. This takes some experience, since you have to time it just right.

If you just transplanted these to large cups, just five days ago, they don’t necessarily look like they were large enough for a transplant. Could you share why and how you transplanted them? And after you transplant, I usually let them sit out of the lights for a day before putting them back.

They also look leggy, which would indicate to me that they were not getting enough sun. It’s pretty common for people not to understand that the lightbulb shouldn’t be more than 2-3 inches away from the top of the plant.

I’d also question your soil. I normally add a lot of vermiculite or perlite to make a fast draining medium that keeps the roots from staying too wet.

Under the lights for 14 hrs a day, a fan, and a small amount of fish emulsion should be good, but at the size they are now, I wouldn't even have fertilized them once yet. I just did mine today and they've been growing about 6 weeks since I sowed seed.

Thanks for the help. No standing water in the pan, I drain off after about a 30 minute sitting. I did think that I overwatered them and have not watered the plants at all in 3 days. I initially put them into larger cups because they were extremely leggy and I may have made a move too soon. I had a couple of seeds sprouting in the first cups and I gently separated the strongest seedling and placed into new cup with pre-moistened soil. Probably keeping them out of the lights following would have been a good idea. I do keep my lights about 2-3 inches away, which is where they are now. Maybe my lights are not strong enough, the plants like to grow right past them. They are just cheap fluorescents nothing fancy. As far as soil, it is just a basic seeding mix, probably could better mix too. Hopefully they are not a lost cause. Once again thanks for the help!!!

Repotting could certainly induce some shock. Not unusual to see such drooping at first when you first set plants out in the garden. But yes, such drooping is often a signature of overwatering. Can we assume your cups have drainage holes in the bottom? If it's just overwatering, and not something like damping off, they should recover.

I'm sorry but your plants are showing the classic symptoms of root rot due to too much water. Or it may be that your medium is not draining, retaining too much water. If you haven't watered them in 3 days then stick your finger down into the soil. If it is still cool and damp feeling then you have your answer. Cut back by at least half on your watering and give them a chance to recover. Most of them should except for the very small ones.

Dave

Just checked the soil, a bit damp but not overly cool. Guess that's one plus. I've overwatered and shocked theses tomatoes pretty good. I think the seedlings need me to leave them alone. Hoping for a nice recovery. Thanks for all the responses.

They aren't planted in a germination mix, are they? Awful stuff for a growing, developing root system.

Thanks everyone for the info. I have not been kind to these plants. Quick question, may be a stupid one. However, as I said, I am going to leave them alone and hope for the best for awhile. After that, if they recover, here in Mid TN our last frost date is about April 15. I usually wait until later to plant tomatoes out. Would these plants benefit if I moved them again into a better soil and treat them better? Or should I just leave them where they are and follow normal methods of hardening off and getting them used to the outside? I am thinking just leave them alone, but figured I'd ask. Thank You.

I don't think they would benefit from being rushed outside. Get them healthy first. I would trim off the wilted growth it is unlikely to recover. They should grow new leaves if they recover.

I am no expert on watering, these guys know best. It is easy to get wrong without many years of experience, but I will say I have found bottom watering messy and easy to mess up. I would suggest just top watering, it is much easier to provide a small amount of water to keep the mix just moist enough and not wet, which is what those seedlings need, and not all mixes absorb water the same.

I have experienced a similar issue last year from letting the pots completely dry out. You do hear a lot of warning about overwatering but if the pots completely dry out it can also cause root damage.

Good luck! You could always start some backups. My LFD is similar and I havent even started mine yet. But tomatoes are pretty resilient.

I agree with everything Peter said. I tried bottom watering and just couldn't get that right. I never could tell if they got the right amount of water. When I water from the top, I put in a little and move on to the next and when I do them all, go back to the beginning and check if any water is coming out of the bottom. If not, I add a little more, usually that is enough. As soon as you see water coming out of the bottom, they've had enough. And you know they are wet from top to bottom.

I would not say you've been unkind to your plants. You had a lot of correct information and tried to put that into practice, so you did your research. Not everyone understands the benefit of a fan, which you did. [Which by the way should help in drying out the plants.] There's just a few small details that can trip you up some times. Once you get the whole process right and see the results of healthy seedlings, it is exciting and you're pretty much all set going forward.

I had two 6 packs of peppers, which take a good amount of time to germinate - they germinated great, and grew to healthy, stocky seedlings. One morning I went down to the basement to find something had chopped off the tops of them. First one 6 pack and then the other. So no pepper seedlings. [g] Turns out someone on another forum asked, if it could be a mouse. I didn't know mice eat greens. Sure enough we set traps and one mouse seems to have been responsible. We didn't even know we had a mouse. So I had to start all my peppers over again and they've yet to germinate. So, it's always something. lol

I would not transplant them. Every transplant adds stress and your plants don't need any more stress. "Basic seeding mix" is fine. I'd also wait until they perk up before trying to harden them off. More stress.