"For my container soil i used about 1 part per-lite, 1 part peat moss, 1 part of compost and top soil mix. i put some atomize, blood meal and bone meal and organic fertilizer(5-5-5) and some lie to help with the pH. "

Trying to grow using only organic products in a container can be difficult. Not impossible but to do it you have to have a really good understanding of how each of your components work - what they do and don't do. Without that knowledge you should only used a commercial mix that has been tested.

First, compost is never recommended in containers for several reasons. Compost is soil amendment not a fertilizer and as such it compacts, drains poorly causing watering and rooting issues. There is no soil food web, no micro-herd of bacteria, in a container so nothing to pre-digest the compost OR the organic fertilizer so the plants can use it.

Second, your mix ratio is an unknown if not measured specifically and "some lie" (I assume you mean lime) can be dangerous.

Third, your plants are starving - showing clear signs of nitrogen deficiency as well as micro-nutrients. If you feel you MUST use only organics for some reason then get a well balanced liquid or water soluble organic fertilizer that also provides the needed micro-nutrients - there are many - and use that, diluted to 1/2 strength to feed the plants every 7-10 days. Better yet, skip the so called "organic" stuff if using containers. Great for in ground plants, not so good for containers.

Fourth, you don't mention if your plants were hardened off before going outside. They can't do it "cold turkey" and with days of rain and such cold temps they should have been brought back indoors and then gradually re-adjusted to the outdoors. Can they recover from that? Probably IF your mix is well balanced, IF you feed them properly, and IF you avoid over-watering.

Hope this helps.

Dave

" some lie to help with the pH"

...hopefully not lye, which possibly could be used but can be more extreme!

"i put some atomize"

.... azomite, right? btw that is a super agranam :-)

As observed by Dave, they did end up getting it cold turkey. Since you started them from seed I guess you have emotional investment in these seedlings vs getting a faster harvest. Is there something special about the varieties or is it the satisfaction you get from having germinating them? Because for a few bucks you can get new transplants of whatever variety selection is available. If yours do bounce back, you'll be a few weeks behind which means less rewards counting ripe tomatoes.

I'd caution you not to get caught up in the hype of a lot of these marketing geniuses in suits that are not tomato farmers, so I completely agree with the recommendation that you don't make this complicated on your first try. The cost of your ingredients btw, is probably higher than Tomato-tone (ok with Organic Farmers Association).

Cheers

PC

Imo, your container mix is too water retentive, hence the yellowing. The plants also show some sun damage, probably from not hardening off properly. Check out the Containers forum, and you'll get the info on a mix called the 5-1-1 mix.

Hi guys,

Thank you all for the responses, I might have complicated it for my first try But yes, I o get more of a satisfaction seeing my own seedlings making it :). I used Garden Lime because when i was doing my research it mentioned that peat moss is very acidic and lime can help to balance it, i did a pH testing with those gadgets that look like a probe and test for light and moisture as well. Probe indicated that the soil pH was around 5 so i kinda scared and added some lime. For the azomite, i think it is like rock dust providing some trace minerals.

Besides the slow release organic fertilizer like bone meal, blood meal, potash, I also used Garden Tone, If its the same as Tomato tone. I know it probably also a slow release, so at this point i will fertilize with water soluble fertilizer every 7 days with diluted solution, Thanks Dave for the recommendation :) and will if the plants can wake up.

edweather, I think my lack of experience and inpatient caused the cold turkey syndrome, i might have not hardened the plants enough, i took them to shade for about 5 days increasing the duration they are outside each day. But as soon as i took them outside it was raining crazy and i did not take them in, all the problems started right after the rain.

Thank you guys for all your input and i will look at that 5:1:1 mixture.

> Imo, your container mix is too water retentive, hence the yellowing.

in this situation, the yellow has nothing to do with the water. it is either from the cold (tender parts of the leaves/newest growth) or lack of nutrients.
i am not a fan in this 5-1-1 mix... it's over rated and tomatoes don't need that kind of drainage, as that mixture basically will hold little water for a large tomato plant and you'd be flushing your nutrients out of the pot.

5-1-1 or not, that's anyone's choice. Imo, using one part peat, and one part compost, even with the perlite, is a bad recipe in a container. That mix is way too water retentive. 36 degrees for a night or two as long as there was no frost, shouldn't do any harm. Too much water can cause yellowing. I see a stressed plant due to environment issues not lack of nutrients. There are plenty of nutrients in the compost for a small plant if the growing conditions were better. I use the 5-1-1 mix as a starting point and adjust it to hold as much water as I need. Yes it drains well, and daily watering can be a bit labor intensive, but the plants have always grown like crazy for me. I see a little bit of sunburn but it looks like the plants are past that, and hopefully will recover if the soil can get some drying, and warmer weather.

Regarding temperatures, tomatoes won't grow in temps below 50F. But as long as it doesn't freeze, they won't die. Cold storage, so to speak. If your seedlings have outgrown their germination temperatures, and you don't want to repot in larger containers, planting out in low temps is OK, as long as it doesn't freeze. Note however that you can get freezes at air temperatures above 32F if the leaves are moist, and if there is wind. For me, 36F is the practical minimum without protection.

" Imo, using one part peat, and one part compost, even with the perlite,
is a bad recipe in a container. That mix is way too water retentive."

I think all mixes have their pluses and minuses and people tend to be consciously or not overly influenced by their specific mix and climate conditions, when the reality is many different mixes work in many different setups which we all should recognize instead of being judge and jury for the continent.

I use a variation of 1:1:1 and have a lot of success with it here in my plastic growing bags. Another interesting point is simply what your compost is. While no doubt there is a definition somewhere in Cali what is or isn't compost, I call broken down bark compost and find it vastly superior for my purposes than the fresh crunchy stuff many are buying for their mixes and putting pennies or dimes next to to say "this is your particle size!". If your compost is sterile and light I don't see any problem with it, but YMMV.

Promix, a more costly container standard, is 12 : 2 : 1 but the numbers here are peat : perlite : vermiculite.

My penny's worth

PC

I hope its the environment that keeps my tomato frozen in time, i also decided to experiment with the 5:1:1 mix and compare the results if i will have any. So i had some materials already and just bought some pine bark mulch. i wonder if the final mix should look like that, i posted it in the container forum. wonder what you guys think?

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4632609/511-ingredients?n=1

Your new mix is definitely an improvement imo. Keep us posted.

Thanks, will try to start some new seeds in the new soil and will see how it goes. should i water the 5:1:1 mix prior to seed starting with water or add some water soluble fertilizer?