Heya,

So - this is kinda a RE- for my previous topic which has almost 50 posts.

Briefly: New gardener here. Live in a zone 6b (across of Detroit Michigan). Have a POORLY timed drip from May 8 - May 22. Anyway I need to apologize, I've worked for 14 hour shifts both saturday + sunday so my pictures aren't the best - had to use flash in order to take pictures at night (hence the bright light/yellow-ish pictures)

Have 3 big situations I need advice on:

1- My Tomatoes - are they a lost cause or will they produce?

Long story short - I'm an idiot... no light/sun - became spindly and unhealthy looking. April 6 attempted a re-rooting of the cuttings. Some perked up... others are giving me the finger. They got their first sun a week later (gave them time to "heal").

Anyway - Im not sure how old now these tomatoes are considered - What do you guys think? Will they be able to do well/produce fruit? I went to lowes/home depot to compare plants - but they are MUCH older so it's hard to say. I have fed them ONCE (will be due for another feeding end of this week) fish emulsion fertilizer. At what point should I even transplant the to bigger "cups"? I'm just worried about injuring them again... my new "seedlings" (back-up plan) aren't doing so well.

As you can tell the first and the last row are doing the best... middle rows/varieties not so much. You can see some have real dark green leaves - others are getting there. They are leafy but short.

2- Peppers/Eggplants

Long story short - started them to early because I'm an idiot (last week of January + first week of February). Left them in pods so didn't grow much. Then transplanted them at the end of March/beginning of April into bigger cups. Bought grow lights 2 weeks later (again because I'm an idiot). They are kind of skinny and when I plant them outside I plan on burying them deep and using a cage to support them. BUT at Lowes/Home depot, my peppers - their stems looks identical to the ones in the store. Couldn't find any eggplants to compare. So.... I guess I'm not sure where to head from here. I did plant seedlings early March as a back-up but 3 sprouted and died... so am stuck with what I have. Like the tomatoes they only received 1 set of nutrients and are due this week. The leaves of the peppers look very green - eggplants are more yellow-ish.. Any thoughts on them?

For the first 2 pictures I had to blow up the flash - so it's very yellow - sorry

#3 - My BIGGEST Problem - ill-timed trip May 8-22.

So.... to plant outside or not prior to leaving. So here's my problem. I have NO one at home (my mother is finally coming home to visit - but my trip is actually a surprise for her)... Now if I leave these plants at home with the grow lights... they probably will die of dehydration unless someone here has a suggestion. If I plant them outside into the ground, there's a risk they die. I know you're supposed to plant after Mother's Day on May 14 (so May 8 isn't badly away). I'm looking at the extended forecast (which probably isn't reliable) - Highs in the 70s and lows of 45-50. What are you thoughts - other than next year I should NOT plant my trip around this time. Yes I know I can buy cuttings from a nursery if all else fails... but let's forget that for now

Any thoughts are appreciated!! As always thanks for all your help!