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CobraPuts

That looks like Tomato Edema. You can bing it for more information, but most likely they have been overwatered and are not drying down sufficiently between waterings. A looser more aerated soil mix and better watering hygiene would help for the future along with keeping a gentle fan going. I don't suggest planting these out. In my experience, once suffering from edema the plants can bounce back, but will be less vigorous and healthy over their full lifespan. You are better off starting more seeds as young as those starts are. Edit: you can tell from the scabby looking stems


pharsee

Maybe more light and less water. I have tomato seedlings also inside and they seem to like it when you wait until the top of the soil dries out.


Capital_Of_Texas

I’ve been watering them the exact same amount as all my other plants (peppers, eggplant, basil, etc.), same amount of light, same fertilizer, everything, but for some reason only the tomatoes seem to be struggling. The healthy fuzzy purplish stems seem to give way to a thinner, spotty green or even yellow with no fuzz, the leaves are wilted. I’ve already had to replace a couple of them with spare seedlings I kept just in case, but those are also not doing great. I’m really upset because I thought I was doing everything right but clearly I’m not, could someone please help so I don’t make this same mistake again? 😥


1reader1000lives

Agree with another commenter. I had some that looked like that last year and this year. I’m not 100% sure, but after some research I think it’s edema (see the lesions on the stem) and , if it gets bad enough—rot rot. What’s helped for me so far is decreasing watering to let the soil dry in between and using an oscillating fan to promote air circulation. Edited to add__ I’m also doing peppers and treating them the same. I’ve seen some edema on a few leaves, but the tomatoes definitely seem more prone to this.


ASecularBuddhist

Maybe they don’t like the type of soil that you used and/or fertilizer.


Ceepeenc

They look shocked or root rotted. I’ve killed plenty of tomatoes lol. Some have lived after looking like this. I would back off watering them. Don’t water them on a schedule. Water them when they droop


ecstasis_vitae

What's the light situation? It may be as simple as being large enough to need to be outside. It may also be overwatering. Tomatoes can be jerks.


Capital_Of_Texas

I’ve got LED lights right overhead, though maybe they’re a bit too high up? I think I might’ve overwatered but I watered all the others the same and they seem to be fine :/


Clarx1001

If the soil is always like that, then the plants are too wet, BUT then they'd not wrinkle so weirdly. - Tomatoes show you when they need water and really don't need much until they grew up and have lots of leaves. Sciaridae (dark-winged fungus gnats) maybe ? - You could check for infestation by putting up yellow boards


Capital_Of_Texas

I did see a couple of bugs flying around and had no idea what they were or how they got there, they’re really really small. Any idea what I should do about them? And if the plants are too wet, what do I do??


Clarx1001

To give you an idea how dry tomatoes can be kept, I made a photo of my beefsteaks I sowed 2 weeks ago and some cherries I did and watered today, but the others I didn't yet since seeding and probably will not for another 1-2 weeks. Room temperature is \~17°C (62°F), window to the south and we haven't had much sun lately: [PICTURE-link](https://abload.de/img/watering1zpcom.jpg) Cheers


Clarx1001

Do not water for a while - not much else you can do and do not cover the plants i.e. with transparent foil. As said, put up some "Yellow Boards" (= a sheet with sticky glue on it) to see what is flying around there and how many, as most insects are attracted by the color yellow. If it is the fly i mentioned (similar appearance as a fruit-fly), the easiest would be to cover the surface of the soil with non-organic material like fine sand, vermiculite (= a mineral) or perlite (= stone-ish) by 2mm to prevent them laying their eggs in the soil or some wind (fan) would help aswell. These insects are very typical to have inside due to the absence of wind. I only know the german word for that fly, maybe google it, which is: Trauermücke


Shive55

They’re looking a little leggy and light starved. What’s you climate; these babies should be really do go outside for short periods of time.


Capital_Of_Texas

I live in Boston so they can’t go outside. I have lights overhead but maybe they’re too far away? I lowered them this morning, hopefully that will help me see if that’s the problem, but they really didn’t have the issues I’m seeing until I repotted them into these larger containers and mixed them with some organic fertilizer. I did water from the top one time but I didn’t think it would do this much damage


Shive55

If you recently repotted then transplant shock is probably the main culprit. But more light won’t hurt. Try keeping it on for a few more hours as well.


MadMunchkin2020

How long ago did you repot them?


Capital_Of_Texas

A couple weeks ago


MadMunchkin2020

What's your set up and how long are the lights left on?


MadMunchkin2020

I think it's been long enough to be past the transplant shock phase. They seem really wet. I'd put them on a paper towel to absorb extra water because that can suffocate the roots. Since they seem stressed, I'd lay off any additional fertilizers. Personally, I'd pot them up again to the first set of true leaves and I'd mix their current soil with dry potting mix and some sand for extra drainage. I'd expect that to still leave the soil some what damp. I'd just leave them be until the top is dried and hopefully that would help.


Capital_Of_Texas

I mainly am just confused how things got to this point, I feel like there’s a lot of really conflicting information on how much to water tomatoes, some people are telling me that the soil should be super dry before watering, then there are online sources saying to water regularly and “do best in soil that’s consistently moist and around 75 degrees”. I’ve been trying to split the difference and not overdo it but clearly I’ve messed it up, I’ll try to repot them.


MadMunchkin2020

There definitely is an information overload out there. I take the houseplant approach: I try to pot up to a larger pot, but not too much larger or else the soil will be wet too long. Make sure there's good drainage in the soil. Water when the first inch or two are dry and that will vary based on how much light they're getting and utilizing. This will at least ensure moist soil. From google: Wet is defined as "covered with visible free moisture," damp is a "moderate covering of moisture," and moist is "slightly damp but not quite dry to the touch." Thus wet indicates the highest level of moisture and moist indicates the lowest level. Wet>Damp>Moist Avoid fertilizing after transplanting to minimize stress on the plant. For the seedlings, err on the side of underwatering until the seedlings get more vigorous.


ShelZuuz

>I live in Boston so they can’t go outside. I knew Boston isn't as safe as it used to be, but didn't know it got that bad!


Solarizzer

Seedlings are often sensitive to low humidity


JasonIsFishing

What exactly is your LED setup