It certainly looks like it, sorry. Had they not been outside and exposed then I would question the presence of pests on the underside of the leaves.

Dave

What should I do? Throw them out? I don't understand how they came down with it.

Early Blight is an air born fungus and thrives in the cool weather of spring. The only way to prevent it is to spray plants with fungicide before they are exposed to the outdoors and then regular spray them throughout the season.

You will definitely want to strip off any foliage showing symptoms, then spray the rest of the plant and hope to get ahead of its spread. Type 'early blight' in the search bar here for many discussions about it to read.

Dave

Are those just old leaves ?

Have you had near frost night temperatures ?

I see the leaf munched by something ! Maybe it is just dying of natural causes. But at any event I will prune those leaves and drench the plant with fungicide and hope for the best.

Sey

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4522405/sick-tomato-seedlings-help

The above link is to another thread by the OP in case anyone forgot or wasn't aware. These plants have had issues for quite a while now. I'm not great at ID-ing diseases but it makes me wonder if these leaves are dying off for natural reasons like Sey has said and not because of a blight.

Rodney

It's hard to tell anything from a photo of just one leaf, but that could be advanced nutrient deficiency of some kind. IIRC, you have had issues with deficiency from the beginning, starting with the peat pots and persisting even though you're fertilizing gently. Is this copper-bronzy discoloration mostly on the older leaves of the plant? It so, I would suspect that this is just the progression of the damage they suffered from their nutrient problems earlier. Some nutrient deficiencies are easily fixed (N, Mg, etc.) while others permanently damage the foliage and the foliage doesn't recover and will sometimes go brown and die but newer foliage grows out OK. If it's a nutrient deficiency, then get them in the ground ASAP and see whether they recover.

If all of the foliage is suffering, including new growth, I would personally prepare to replace the plants.

Good point GB. The OP hadn't indicated these plants have had chronic nutrient deficiency issues in this post. Thanks for the link to the previous post Rodney. Not only would that make them more susceptible to disease but could explain the damage in the current photo too - at least in part.

Getting them in the ground might resolve the issue if there are sufficient, readily available nutrients in that soil. But why would have nutrient deficiency issues have been allowed to continue to this point if a good feeding would have resolved the issue weeks ago?

Nothing is ever gained by leaving damaged foliage on a plant regardless of the cause.

Dave

I didn't mean for it to continue like it has, I have done everything I can think of and everything everyone has suggested on here. There is nothing else I can do for them but get them in the ground now. Yes, the leaves are older leaves, the first set grown by the plant. Just a couple leaves per plant. I clipped the leaves and sprayed with a fungicide. I have tried everything, I think I'm just not meant to grow tomatoes from seed myself lol. I don't know if I'll be doing this again next year. They are going in the ground this week, so we'll see what happens.

And digdirt, I have fed them multiple times over the last few weeks. Epsom Salts and Miracle Grow fertilizer have done nothing to help their nutritional issues, and we keep having random frosts so I haven't been able to get them in the ground. It hasn't been for lack of effort. I have literally tried everything!

If it's just the older leaves showing the brown discoloration, then I suspect that the damage from earlier nutrient deficiencies is simply "maturing". As mentioned before, some kinds of nutrient deficiency do not correct in already affected foliage if the deficiency was in a nutrient that is not particularly mobile within the plant. Also, sometimes leaves weakened by previous issues will show more damage as the plant deals with stresses like being hardened off.

If the newer growth looks fine, then I think you're OK and not necessarily dealing with disease or ongoing deficiency. You did the right thing pruning off the affected foliage and spraying with fungicide just in case, though.

I will bet the plants will be OK once you get them in the ground. And if you end up having to replace them with store-bought plants, you'll be in good company.

Almost everybody messes up at least something in their first year growing tomatoes from seed. Don't worry--you're not uniquely cursed or anything. A local gardening guru here who has a popular radio show enthusiastically encourages people to start plants from seed BUT also tells them to budget and schedule for buying replacement plants their first year, as it's so common for people to have to write off those first-year seedlings as a valuable but unsuccessful learning experience.

The good news is you've already learned the hardest lessons about avoiding certain mediums and avoiding overwatering. These are probably the top causes we see on this forum of failure-to-thrive and general ickiness WRT seedlings started from seed by people new to it. So you'll probably have good success next year. Don't give up. The ability to grow from seed really opens up the number of varieties you can grow, and I personally find that there's more satisfaction in n plants nurturing plants I started from seed.

I have to keep reminding myself that "feeding the plants" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. For me it is self-explanatory - what to use, how much, and how often - but that is with years of experience that others don't have and I fail to remember that. Apologies.

So for future reference, feeding does not include epsom salts. It is a specialty treatment only and most tomatoes - be they seedlings or transplants or full grown plants - never require any of it. It has a role sometimes but it is a a very limited and specific role, not the magic fix many claim it is.

Feeding does include your choice of a well balanced plant fertilizer and Miracle Grow qualifies as that but so do many other products. But it a full watering with a 1/2 strength dose of water soluable fertilizer as needed whenever the plant (not the grower) needs watering until normal new growth presents itself. Then you can back off from it. Meanwhile you will have removed all damaged foliage from the plant.

Feeding is not a tablespoon here and there as some try to count as feeding or a 'splash' of 1/4 strength once in awhile, or a sprinkle of some dry organic powder the containerized plant can't use.

But I make the mistake of just saying feed them rather than going though all those details every time. And that isn't fair to the reader. But when you can be sure to link previous posts to new questions so the whole picture is available to all, thanks.

Dave

ghsides- I'm curious, you said you fertilized multiple times with Miracle Gro. Exactly which Miracle Gro product did you use and what directions/ratio did you use to mix it?

Rodney

This early in the game, regular old Miracle Gro should be fine for seedlings, IMO.