Difficult to see, but they are greener than last week.

Also, eggshells are on top of soil (in case of critters).

Just stick your finger into the mix and see if it is moist an inch or so down. The roots are way below that.

I don't see any wiltiness in your picture. A bit leggy, but no big deal. Get them planted out.

What critters are you worried about in pots that eggshells are supposed to repel?

Lower leaves wilting and dying is usually a fungal infection. But that's really for mature tomatoes.

Thank you so much, Dave, for that very detailed explanation! :)

I was originally overwatering them, but now, may be underwatering them...so I want to do a quick check (using your method) to see what their soil saturation levels look like.

The room temp stays in the high 60s, with little air circulation (from outside) since it has been cold this past week or so.

At least their color is improving, so that gives me hope. I'm still waiting on the second set of seeds to germinate, and hope they will fare better than this bunch.

I will continue to dig around on here and find out more useful info...

Thanks again for the explanation! :)

Thank you, daninthedirt!

Going to check on the containers shortly, and see if they need a bit of watering.

It appears that only one of the varieties of tomato plants' leaves are falling off. Like, it only takes my finger touching the leaf for it to fall off. Super strange. So I googled that and then I came across some posts that said that may be a sign of 'cutworms', and one of the remedies was to sprinkle eggshells to detract/deter them.

I have no idea if that is what is going on with these plants/or not, and/or if that will even work...but I figure, eggshells won't really do any harm, so might as well give it a try.

Anyway, thanks again for all the feedback! It is super appreciated (and will be passed on!!) :)

Re watering of seedlings, I can share something that came up today. Friend had seedlings that were droopy, but the surface of the soil was moist. Maybe damping off, but ...? I stuck my finger in the mix, and below the surface it was dry! Huh? He had just put relatively dry potting mix in a pot, planted seeds in it, and poured water on top until it came out the bottom. Surely it was all wet, no? Of course, what happened is that the potting mix was so dry, it refused to "wet" (except for the surface where water was standing.) Water just ran around the mix and out the bottom. Well, we drilled some holes in the mix, and carefully poured water in them to try to wet the mix.

My advice when planting seeds in containers is to first stir the mix thoroughly with water, to get it uniformly moist. Do it in a pail. Then take that moist mix, put it in the pots, and plant in it. The top will eventually dry out, but the mix below will stay pretty moist, and water added to it will get uniformly absorbed by it.

Maybe someone has better advice, but this always works for me.

Thanks again daninthedirt!

Sounds like your friend learned a nice little lesson...lol.

This very well may be what is going on with these seedlings. I started them off in jiffy peat pellets then transplanted them into larger containers using potting soil, and watered them as of last week.

After posting about my concern for their 'legginess' and pale color/poor root development, I took the advice from members of the forum and lowered the light/stopped watering (and have since seen improvement w/ these plants).

So now, a week later and I am starting to wonder about the water regimen since I never inquired about that to begin with.

For my new seeds (currently germinating) I did exactly as you recommended (mixing the seed starting mix w/water in a bucket) and put them in cells.

This has been an interesting journey starting from seed/indoor gardening...lol.

Eventually, I will get it right! Right?!?! lol.

Your advice is much appreciated! Happy growing!

As said above, it depends on the size of pot. My seedlings in 4" pots needed watering at about 5 days interval.

Other than the pot size, temperatures and the media can be factors.

How do you know when ?

By lifting up, I can tell that if a plant needs watering, from its weight. If it I neglect, the lower leaves start drooping.

Sey

Thanks so much for your input, Seysonn!

I checked the plants earlier and the soil feels ok, however, it's interesting that you mentioned the 'leaf dropping' so tomorrow I will recheck a few of them to make sure this isn't the issue.

Thanks so much for everyone's knowledge and feedback!

So very appreciated!!! Happy growing! :)

A bamboo skewer is helpful, and most places have them for a dollar for a 100 count. Use it the same way you check a cake with toothpick.

The human tendency is always geared toward OVER-watering. In our mind water is a good thing for plants. But in the mind of the plant it is not a good thing.

Sso if there is any doubt about the need for water, any question, even a sliver of "maybe wait" then listen to it and do NOT water.

Dave

Hello again all!

Thanks everyone so much for the feedback, I appreciate all of the input!

Well, I watered them. Just a little. IDK how 'deep' the water got, but i'm not that worried about overwatering (since it was just a slight amount).

So, it will be another week before I check on them again for watering.

I do have a tendency to overwater, but I think i'll be ok with the amount that the plants received (fingers crossed).

Hoping that I didn't just make an enormous mistake! (If so I will just go ahead and facepalm). :)

Thanks again! I will keep an eye on how they are doing/update within the next week!

Well, I'm a new grower here but I was told it's not a good idea to water a little each time. If you only moisturize the top layer of soil, the roots won't go deeper. Let the soil dry out and then water thoroughly. I use the same method as Sey, I feel the weight of the pots. I wait until the pots become significantly light but before the plants show signs of dehydration, I give them a good watering.

Another good advice from experienced gardeners is to water from bottom up. Instead of pouring water from the top, you put your pots on the pan and fill the water into the pan. After about 10-20 minutes, water will be sucked up from the bottom to the top. When you see the top soil get moisturized, dump extra water from the pan. In this way, you can be sure the plants are watered thoroughly.

You make an excellent point Julia. Shallow watering only creates shallow roots. Watering is normally done either from the bottom until the top is lightly moist and then stopped or from the top until it runs out the bottom of the pot and then stopped. A trickle now and then not only results in dry pockets in the soil but inconsistent soil moisture levels.

"Well, I watered them. Just a little. IDK how 'deep' the water got, but
i'm not that worried about overwatering (since it was just a slight
amount). So, it will be another week before I check on them again for watering."

Why? What makes a week the ideal time? As explained above that could easily be too long for many of them. And did they actually need watering?

Dave

Thank you Julia and Dave for your helpful comments!

I'm beginning to 'see the light' with indoor plant care/tomato seedlings now that i'm gathering all of this info.

Unfortunately, I only meant to water a few plants, then impulsively decided to give all of them 'just a little' but now after reading what you both are saying about that being a poor idea (root development/inconsistent moisture levels) I now realize why I should have left them alone.

3rd times a charm? LOL.

As far as 'in a week', I just meant that I plan on leaving them alone again for some time. The multi-plants per container's I will check on sooner, as well as the smaller container(s) and plant(s).

I apologize if my posts are frustrating for the seasoned gardener to read, but if it is any consolation, I am equally as frustrated! LOL!

Thanks again everyone for the helpful insight and valuable info!

Happy growing!

Update: already established plants are doing fine (under grow lights).

New seeds started= bust! Grew in peat containers which grew horrible mold and ruined the new seedlings (damping off).

3rd try with different growing medium. I am going to use the burpee seed starter 36 cell and water with chammomile tea to prevent molding from occuring (which apparently works, IDK, yet).

I WILL grow my plants from seed, dangit!!!

Fingers crossed!!!! :)

I have hundreds of seedlings in pot sizes from modules to 5 litres and watering was generally the biggest anxiety. Years ago, I bought a moisture metre - basically a little wand to poke into the soil - the relief was enormous for a measly $15 (although obviously, I used £££). I rarely need one now, after years of practice yet I still renew mine every couple of years or so...just in case. The finger test was hopeless because I honestly couldn't really tell where the moisture began and ended...and I did a fair bit of root mangling in my clumsy prodding.