I would leave them alone for now. And we need more info to diagnose whats going on with your plant, like maybe a picture or more detailed info. And if you really want to grow some good tomatoes in containers all you need is sun, water, a good nutrient program and a good soil. And all of these things you can read about here. There ARE some gem reads here. Damon

Banana Babysitter....you sound like a very good friend, that is being taken advantage of big time! I know this isnt the advise you wanted. She dumps some huge banana 'trees' in huge pots on you, and doesn't tell you when she will take them back? She is paying you how much for taking care of them, for the water, fertilizer,new pots, soil etc... they sound like they are getting big and need bigger pots,more soil,etc. And they are going to go back into a small apartment...when? They don't fit now in the pots they are in now, and she cant handle them?...right? How is she going to handle bigger trees? They aren't going to grow in reverse and shrink. So she won't be able to take them back. It sounds like she is taking advantage of your friendship. I mean being a friend is one thing, taking advantage of a friend is another thing. Sure they can live in pots for a long time, certain 'ornamental' ones can live in pots all their lives inside, but fruit bearing ones, and these sound like fruit bearing ones, will just be unhappy and not look good and can grow so many pups in the soil,they can break clay pots easily! And split plastic pots in half. They need to be outside in the ground. Call and tell her to come get her babies, or they go to the dump or a community garden, if you have one near you. Or at least ask when is she coming to get them? As you see they grow inside, sure, but as you also see, they arent to happy, they dont look to good, and to many pups are starting in the pots? Those will crack a pot very easily, so can just the roots! They can grow a long time inside,if you had ornamental varieties, thats one thing, but these sound like fruit type, and they need room to grow and full sun and tons of water, and fertilizer. They wont go into a small apartment. You have a lot of patience.

Hi. I too planted heirloom toms this year for the first time. I went and bought a couple b/c my plants looked so bad after a few cold nights and so much rain. I decided to plunk them in the ground but they really did look about dead to me. The greened up a little but did not grow. I gave them a fish emulsion feed and they perked up as soon as we had some sun. Now they are going nuts an dbigger than my store bought tom's. They are full of blooms and fruit and I could not be happier. So, I would say give them a good dose of fish emulsion and then another next week. I think if your weather is warming up and sunning up you will do fine. Don't give up. The one thing I learned was that heirloom tom's are sturdier and harder to kill than hybrid plants. :) GoodLuck !! Nichol

Your seedlings look great! Can you tell me when is it time to back off the lights a little bit. My first year seed starting. My tomatoes have also been potted up into 6" containers, are about 4-6" tall, with the fourth pair of true leaves just popping out. I have started taking them outside for a couple hours a day, but then have been putting them back close under the shop lights I am using. I know they still need lots of hours of light per day, but am wondering if I can put them lower under the light- maybe 6-8" instead of 2-3" at this point without leading to leggy plants. I have about 3 more weeks or so before I can plant them outside with WOWs. I have two shelves with lights, one closer to the lights, but would like to move some other plants in there if the light can get farther away from the tomato seedlings, and I have other taller plants on that shelf, so I can't adjust the lights down.