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brh721

Seedlings in trouble!!!!! Stunted growth, tiny, yellow...

brh721
13 years ago

I have had a vegetable garden many years before, but all we really did was throw in some compost from our horses and stick the plants in the ground and we had more than enough to eat all season. This year I decided to be more adventurous and I've got a 45x25 plot all set up. This is also the first year I've started from seed (we used to purchase plants from a local greenhouse) and I've just been figuring this out as I go along. I'm sure I haven't done everything perfectly. I think my seedlings are in big trouble and I'm starting to doubt if I will even have a harvest from them. I started tomatoes (san marzano, brandywine & sweetie), eggplant, peppers and broccoli from seed in the beginning of March. Things seemed to be going really well at first. But now it's May and most of my seedlings are still very tiny, most only have 1 set of true leaves and are more yellow than green. I'm worried that I may have stunted their growth somehow. Is it too late for my little seedlings? Any help is much appreciated. I have put a lot of work and love into this and I'd hate to see them go. Also, I want to do everything organically.

This is basically how everything's been set up:

I started the seeds indoors in a glass fishtank with 2 lights to create a greenhouse. They were in egg cartons and transplanted into flats once they had their true leaves. They seemed to be doing very well in here for a while, but like I said they seemed to have stopped growing. While they were still in the flats, I put the fish tank on the porch starting in mid April. Once I realized that their containers were probably too small, I transplanted them all into about 2 gallon buckets. This was maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago and they seem to be only getting worse. I think my 3 big mistakes were the small containers, lack of fertilizer, and probably not enough water. I just fertilized them for the first time with 3-4-4 yesterday and I'm hoping that perks them up. I'm sure I've made mistakes since I'm new to this, but I'm still not sure why they are in such poor condition. At the greenhouse, they have such big plants in tiny containers, and mine didn't even seem root bound when I transplanted. Right now mine are outdoors 24/7 (although I may bring them in as we're expecting a cold front this weekend) and get direct sunlight. The soil I've been using is Miracle Grow Organic Garden Soil.

I've really been putting my heart and soul into the garden this year and I really don't want to have to break down and buy plants from the greenhouse. Any advice is sincerely appreciated!!!!!!! Thank you

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