Burned Seedlings

[ORgardener07]

So this is my first year starting tomatoes from seed. they accidentally got misted with miracle grow when they should have gotten water (wrong seed tray). Now some of the cotyledon are withering is there any thing that can be done to save them (they are just now producing first leaves.) or would it be best to simply start over or is it too late in the year to do so. any input would be greatly appreciated

[nctomatoman]

Hmmm. I once overfertilized early on and burned young seedlings - just kept giving them nothing but water and they did eventually grow out of it and do fine, but there are variables such as how strong, how much damage, etc - I think the key would be to wait to see if true leaves develop and how they look. That is the critical part. good luck! With gardening every year it seems to be 'something" unexpected!

[Mojo]

That was me this year: I hit them with a weak dose of fish emulsion and rooting hormone solution when I potted up, but I forgot that the rooting hormone solution also had fertilizer in it, and most of mine got burnt. TLC indoors and nothing but jugs of cheap bottled water for two weeks, followed by occasional watering using water from my aquarium and they're all outside now, mostly recovered.

[ORgardener07]

thanks so much ya'll for the responses. I'm glad to hear they might recover. I didn't get a great germination of the cherokee purple this year so hopefully they'll do ok. Ill keep ya'll updated.

[mensplace]

After some weeks of growing and then potting, I finally tried a light dose of MiracleGro for Tomatoes using the smallest of the two little spoons on the measurer they include per gallon. This worked fine. Then, I thought I read that I was supposed to use a tablespoon per gallon. After daily watering five plants of the hundreds grown died. The little plant withered...as in turned black at the soil line, shrank at the base of the stem, then fell over.
IS THIS:
A...Too strong a concentration of fertilizer to water
B...Watering every day with the fertilizer
C...Probably put too much water in the cup
D...Other

After reaching for the magnifier I saw that you're not supposed to use the fertilizer and water solution ever time you water. WELL...that's good to know! Too, I managed to read that you're not supposed to use the same measure for houseplants..so I take it they also mean newly potted plants. I do wish they would give far more detailed directions ..AND in black and white of respectable sized type.

[recruiterg]

I, personally, don't think you need to fertilize until you put the plants in the ground. I tried to do a weak fertilization last year and stunted my seedlings. They eventually came back, but I don't think you gain much by taking the risk.

[dustdevil]

Mensplace...Use one of the little spoon per gallon. I've used it once a week with no fatalities when the tomato seedlings are more than two weeks old. Apply to the soil, not the seedling and it's leaves.

[mensplace]

Originally Posted by dustdevil

Mensplace...Use one of the little spoon per gallon. I've used it once a week with no fatalities when the tomato seedlings are more than two weeks old. Apply to the soil, not the seedling and it's leaves.

i think the great mistake was in using the fertilizer/water mix evry time I watered ...combined with using the larger spoon once. The hundreds that did live turned a beautiful green, but the five that were simply too small withered virtually overnight. I was concerned that it might have been some kind of disease too, so quickly tossed them. I never saw a plant turn black at the ground level and then fall over.

[jackdaniel]

I think the plants only need nitrogen once they are a few weeks old, and only for a few weeks, after a bout a month they should get little nitrogen and more phosphorus, correct? Best to under-fertilize than over do it! Can always give them more, but can never take it away.