Tomato plant seedlings

I decided to try to grow my own tomatoes from seed, so my hubby got me a couple of those grow kits that have the two small pots, the pkg. of seeds and I used two pots. One has two seeds and regular potting soil, the other has seed starting mix and also has two seeds in it. The ones in the seed starting mix came up first and the other one in the potting mix followed. The tomato is called boy-oh-boy and it is a hybrid variety.

Tomatoes can be very productive!
Do you have a place outdoors (when it warms up)?

I usually start seed from the tomatoes I buy in the grocery store. I started several types of heirloom tomatoes.

I have a place outdoors where it gets sun quite a bit then shade the rest of the day. They are no ways near big enough to put outside. Here they are, the one by itself had two but just one came up. The yellow is just the light, they are a healthy green. When should I move them to a bigger pot and can I put all three in the same pot?

They need more light. They are very stretched out. At the same stage as these (seed leaf or cotyledons) mine were only an inch or so high. Tallest might have been 1.5".

No, do not put them all in the same pot. You would not get them untangled when it is time to plant them in the garden.

I would wait until they are larger, perhaps 4-6 true leaves.

Before putting them in full sun (the proper situation for tomatoes) later on, you'll need to harden them off... in other words, accustom them to intense sunlight. This is easily done here by setting the flat in shade outdoors for 5 days or so ( no need to haul them back and forth from sun to shade). Easiest to start this after your average last frost date.

Should I try to give them more light by putting them closer. I can try to put them on books closer to the tube light? The window garden with the 3 different herbs did not make it, they died, so I will put more books where they were and put the tomato plants closer to the light tube on the wall. Do you think that will help?

Yes, that should help. The lights should be as close to the plants as possible (fluorescents won't burn foliage) and then raised as the plants get taller, to give them room.

Your tomato seedlings are very leggy, it's the term when they don't get enough lighting so they grow stretchy and bend over, they may become unhealthy and will not grow to their full potential, so they will grow slowly.

I recommend you bury the seedlings deep and just leave a third of the seedling with the leaves exposed. Wherever the tomato vine touches the soil it will grow roots, so to get healthy sturdy plants they have to be bury deep. I would keep growing the seedlings in shaded area, once they get bigger like 6 inch I put them in a place with some sunlight, but not too much. If the leaves get yellow move it back to a more shaded area. Do not water the seedlings too much, they can get root rot if the soil is too wet.

Also the soil temperature is crucial for the seedling growth. If it's too cold they will not grow well. At least 75*F is good.

Keep re-potting them into bigger pots, once they are healthy like 14-18inch then I would plant them in the soil and very deep. Bury 2/3rd the plant under the soil, cut off all the leave branches that are below and right above the soil level. (The first time you have to do this it's a bit sad since it seems like you're taking off lots of leaves, but it's the right thing to do. When you transplant the tomato they will go through a transplant shock period and having too much leaves just make them more stressed. Once they are through with the transplant shock they will grow fast. A few days after transplanting them into the soil you can try to keep them a bit shaded to minimize the shock.) They prefer slightly acidic soil, so you can mix in some peat moss to the soil (from a sustainably harvested brand if you're concerned). Make sure your tomato are fed with a bit of calcium, such as "garden gypsum/agricultural gypsum", this will prevent bottom end rot when they bare fruits.

Don't let tomato leaves touches the soil since they can get wet and pick up disease that way. Put leaves or woodchips mulching around the base of the plant to keep the moisture in the soil and preventing the leaves from touching the soil. If your plants do get disease, try using a very diluted spray of hydrogen peroxide and sulfur fungicide, but I personally use less than a table spoon per gallon of water because they can be very strong and burn the leaves of the plant. It depends on your climate, here in Florida it's very humid and wet so the tomatoes are a lot more susceptible to diseases.

This message was edited Apr 13, 2015 10:36 AM

Unless they're acyually at the point of becoming rootbound, what's the logic behind the continued repotting, maxjohnson?

Don't take what I said as definitive, but it's what I tried and work for me. I only do it about twice until they get to 16inch tall. To prevent root bound and to move the seedling into a taller pot in order to bury it deeper so it can grow more roots. I want the seedling to have good root mass before transplanting it into the actual soil, that way it will have very little transplant shock and ready to take off.

OK. To me, it's always made sense, as well as lessening unnecessary effort, to start with a large enough pot to begin with. :-)

So you say to transplant the seedling into a larger pot now? Or am I misunderstanding you?

You can transplant pretty soon. I would wait for some growth response from the brighter light, look for some true leaves.
The idea is that you will cover the long stem leaving just the leaves and maybe an inch or so of stem above the soil. They will keep on growing.

You might not need to actually use a larger pot. If the current roots are not to the bottom of this pot then simply repot deeper into the pots they are in.

I added some more potting soil to the pots, do you think that will help? I did not want to mess with them too much, it might cause them to die. A couple of them have the true leaves coming on, I will wait until I have at least one set of true leaves then I will repot.

Adding soil could help. The brighter light is going to be the most helpful, no matter which way you arrange it.

Hi Diana,

Do you ferment the store bought tomatoes' seeds or just sow them directly?

I just cut open the tomato and popped the seeds into the soil. REALLY fresh. Goo that holds the seeds was still wet. I understand they have something that is supposed to stop the seeds from sprouting. Well, it did not stop these seeds from sprouting!

There are a couple of seedlings that are getting their true leaves, I still have them under the lights, I bought a couple of bigger pots and will transplant as soon as all 3 have their true leaves. I turn them every day because they seem to lean so I keep a eye on them and turn them so they stay semi straight. Here is a picture to show you what I am talking about.

I planted a tomato seedling outside and something ate it, there is nothing left, just a empty pot.

:-(

Here are a couple of pics for ya guys, first is the first rosebud of the season, as you can see it is bigger than it was last year, and the second is blooms from the mystery bush, the blooms smell sweet.

What a vibrant rose!

It would be nice to see the mystery plant with flowers open. It has something of the look of privet or a related plant.

I transplanted my remaining two tomato seedlings into two larger pots, I am going to try to grow them in the house, because if I put them outside the birds will get them again. So here are the two pots, the one that looks yellow is the light not the plant.

You should bury it deeper so it can develop more roots, wherever the tomato touches the soil it make roots.

I think the mystery WHITE plant is white Lilac, they are so much in demand and are such a change from the lavender colours we are so used to. it is a bit more tender than to purple colours ones but smell lovely.

As regards the tomato plants, you should be getting them used to the outdoor environment by now, they are desperate for GOOD light and open fresh air too, Tall and lamkey plants are a sure sign they are trying to reach light)the fresh air helps to harden the stems and leaf formation. to keep them indoors is like when someone has been ill for a while and inside for a few weeks, they look pale and thin usually and then blossom into good healthy looking people when they get outside.

It is very annoying when you put something outside for the first time and then its eaten by something, You don't say where you put it BUT, IF you parked the pot on the ground, then I suspect slugs got the little plants, being so small, tender greens are a magnet for slugs / snails etc.
I would have rested it on a table etc and brought it back inside when sun had set for that part of the garden,
I'm looking at the plants under the lights, I would say it's too late in the season for lights and maybe you have a windowsill you could place the plants close to, DONT set them close to the glass as the glass will act as a magnifying glass and burn the plants, IF you have to use the sill and it gets lots of sun, stick a sheet or 2 of paper up the filter the light, stick your finger into the soil to check if water is required, make sure the pots have drainage holes in the bottom, Tomato's dont like sitting in wet soil.
Start to feed a weak tomato feed when the first flowers appear, read the dosage and never over feed, lots of people kill their Tomato's by overfeeding.

Hope everyone's advice helps get you back on track again.
Good luck. Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.

decided to try tomatos next season, got grandpa otts in the pots now, I have better luck with them.

Morning glories are coming up already! It don't take long for them, they are so easy to germinate. I did not even soak them or scrape them, I just put them in the soil and kept them moist.