I’m 30 miles north of you in Clarksville MD. It’s 84 degrees right now but cooler starting tomorrow.
I’m showing 87 now and feeling sundburned after being out too long in the garden. On warm days like this I shuffle my plants out for the day which keeps them hardened up and ready to go plus I think (hope) the wind, since it is erratic instead of stead, helps build their stems more than just a fan. Saves me a little electricity and I think mother nature is better than any artificial environment I can create inside.
The offer for replacement Opalka seedlings if you need them stands until the weekend after next at which point I’ll be bringing my extras to the local PTA plant sale. But I expect yours will be fine.
Since I was worried about them being too hot already, I haven’t put them outside. Plus, it looks like the back door cold front is going to push in tomorrow before the main system arrives, and drop temps in the 40s. However, this morning I did turn the fan on in the grow room. Temp dropped from around 97 to about 72. I swear they’ve actually perked up a bit.
I will let you know if I need the plants, zendog. Should have a pretty good idea by that time whether mine are going to make it.
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Yes, they do. Just give them time and keep them on cooler temps. 65F is fine for tomatoes. Actually, I aim 65 when grow them, but is not always possible with lights and sunny window they need. Fan helps a lot.
I agree. They look much better, almost like what I expect them to look like anyway. They are floppy, limp, rag doll plants, so they’ll never look like the stout hybrid seedlings you see at the big box stores.
They seem a bit worse again.
It is puzzling for sure. For curly top you need the beet leafhopper, and the insect likes to stay in the sun. My only other thought is herbicide damage, was any bagged compost used? Grass clippings? Or any kind of compost? If so and you have bean or pea seeds, you can test soil. Put some of the soil in a small pot and put 3 seeds in. Also use completely different soil as a control. It will take 3 weeks to tell. Bean or peas are super sensitive to the herbicide. Seed is being sold at all garden centers if you think this is a possibility. You want to know if compost is good or bad. Many plants can be harmed by it. I buy three different composts and never have any problems, it is a shot in the dark.
I haven’t used anything but a bag of miracle grow seed starting mix. Which I know isn’t the best stuff, but I found it works fine for seedlings.
Plus I used it last year and didn’t have these issues.
Yeah that should be clean. Doesn’t have compost.
It depends on when I look at them. I bottom watered them last night and right now they don’t look TOO bad…
I’m cautiously optimistic that, while they may not be the prettiest plants in the world, they will probably do just fine once I transplant them out. However, that’s my concern… Although there are no freezes in the forecast, there are also no days over 65°. So hey stay inside for the foreseeable future.
I planted my tomatoes out when temps were around 55, and they did just fine, as soon as soil is not colder than 55.
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I agree if the soil is above 55, it’s safe. If you do it earlier though you could lose a month. I once started seeds a month apart and the the 2nd round just blew away the first in production and growth. That taught me a lesson. Very little and possible setback from early planting is just not worth it. Their is a point where planting late delays production too. It’s all about the temps. 55 soil temp is a good temp to start, but you could wait a couple weeks too, no longer though. It just depends where you are. Here soil temps are not even close yet.
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We now have a freeze watch tonight, and chilly forecast. 50s and 60s for highs. After today we do appear to stay above the upper 30s for lows, but still not time for tomatoes.
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I’d agree with @marknmt the purple leaves look like a P deficiency; which could be due to a lack of it in the soil, or transport issues.
If you think there’s enough P in the soil, try a foliar spray with some P water soluble fertilizer. If that’s it, they should green up fairly quickly after that. (BTW, I would not count on MiracleGro soil really having all the fert they claim)
I would pot a few of them up to bigger pots and give them as much light as I could.
They are growing fast and do not have what they need.
I totally agree with that statement. We grew SM for two years, and they were always the first to get hit with disease. When they did produce they had very good tasting fruit, but because their poor DR, I took them out of our rotation. Their habit is very dense and bushy, so that may have been an important factor.
Regarding the wispy habit, I have grown a few Russian varieties, like Siberian Pink and Korol Sibiri, and they had a very wispy, frail looking growth to them, but produced fine. Pertaining to what @Drew51 mentioned, they are both oxheart varieties.
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Yes many heirlooms are like this. I want to try this strain as it seems to perform well.
Out of all my seedlings this year one called “Early Detroit”: produced the biggest and most robust plant, interesting to see how it performs.
Looks like it is contagious 
. I noticed the same symptoms on mine yesterday. Gave them a good watering, mist of miracle gro for tomatoes(2/3 strength) and also root feed of the same(1/2 gallon for 20 plants in 1/2 gallon pots.) It seems they doing better today. I suspect slow release fertilizer is not working well in smaller pots.