I appreciate all the concern! In fact I did test my well water. It came out fine. I live essentially at the top of the watershed for a large portion of the western US. While not immune to problems I would bet my well water is many times cleaner/healthier than what the majority of the US gets in their municipal tap. Keep in mind aruzinsky that a modern water wall is a closed unit and very far underground, pulling water filtered through many layers of rock and sand. It is not a well like Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water! Suzi I also use the potassium chloride instead of salt now. Seems healthier all around. I will add that my poor neglected house plants all look fine and they have been watered solely with the softened water. But perhaps they are more resilient than a little seedling. I agree it is important to figure out what's killing them but mostly for my sanity! I don't have time to waste with entire flats dying for no known reason. The 6 bulb t-5 lamps do generate a fair amount of heat, I am wondering if that could have anything to do with it. I thought tomatoes could take a decent amount of heat though.

hello , im new here but not new to gardening , im having some troubles this year with my tomato starts , verities , giant belgium , ukrainian purple and plum lemon ( wonderlight ) i started them about a month ago , germination rate was good aroud 90% on all 3 types ,, there being grown under brand new t5 tubes 54 watt 6400 k ,, they had a deep purple color like ive never seen before on the under sides of the leaves wich i dont really understand why , room temp is 74 to 76 ,, i check soil temps few times and they were around the 70 ,,, seems like the seedling got locked up and couldnt take in phosphorus instantly ,,, the plum lemon type started to show leaf curl about 3 days after first true leaves poped out , and now all 3 sets of leaves have intense leaf curling , rolled right up ,,, in the last week all my other types belgium and purple have begun to curl to , and what look like maybe some desiase starting pictures included the best i can get with my phone sorry about my bad spelling and grammer :) belgium giant ,, some purple under leaves and this weird drying spots , eventually the leaves die and come off right at the main stem , almost like damping off seems to me another angle belgium giant top view another angle showing belgium giant this is the plum lemon type another belgium the plum lemons i put them on a old heat mat , trying to warm the soil alittle more and keep them away from the lights some ,, been there for 4 days now , purple is less on the under sides , but the curl is still bad , all plants have lost some green to them too in the last 5 days i guess any advice will greatly appretiated thanks

Likely if you eat tomatoes from the store they are production tomatoes. 1. They won't have the taste like a good gardener hybrid or heirloom tomato (in other word they tastes like cardboard). 2. They are hybrid, when you replant a seed from a hybrid plant, it won't be exactly like the original plant, it will have different characteristic and may not taste as good or have desired traits. I would rather order some seeds online and grow some dwarf tomato instead. If you intend to grow indoor you will need some good lighting and space. Something like this is minimum I would recommend for full size tomato indoor: https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/8256/FC105-S50OD.htm. So as you can see, tomato need lots of light which isn't not going to work in a single room dorm. Not only that, they need lots of soil, at least a 5 gallon container. So it's better off growing something like lettuce or basil indoor, or look for a dwarf or microdwarf tomato variety. Some variety to consider are: Red Robin, Tiny Tim, Silvery Fire Tree. For indoor potting soil, make sure you ask question and find the right potting soil that does not smell and perhaps pasteurized for indoor use, otherwise it will be an unpleasant experience. I don't buy potting soil, but I know "FoxFarm's Potting Soil" have good reputation so you may want to check them out, but I don't know how it'll smell. In my bedrooom I have an "AeroGarden Extra LED" that let me grow vegetable hydroponically, and it's LED light is bright enough to provide light for some extra plants in smaller container next to it. It is full spectrum and would be adequate for small dwarf tomatoes. It have a timer and shuts off after 12-16 hours. It is also very easy to make your own affordable indoor hydroponic setup. However, considering you live in a dorm, I don't know if you may have issues with campus authority who will be concerned with cannabis growing which is quite popular with hydroponic growing (not that I'm trying to give an idea).

Lee, If I were you I would start over with a fresh bag of seed starting mix... a different brand. Last year I had the same problem with my melon seedlings and I decided it was the seed starting mix. The mix worked for the tomatoes I started four weeks prior to the melons but some bacteria or something must have gotten in or an existing bacteria had grown to an amount that retarded germination and growth in my melon seeds. It was weeks later until I realized the problem so I planted the melon seeds directly into my garden and they germinated and grew just fine.... But as far as watering and light, the other posters have given you great advice.