Comments on: Starting Tomato Seedlings

By: Malisa Rothbart

Malisa Rothbart — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:09:04 +0000

Excellent info over again.! I am looking forward for more updates;)

By: admin

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:45:30 +0000

Yes, having a large enough container is very important. I also find that determinate tomatoes make better container plants – or small cherry tomatoes, because they are not subject to blossom end rot, which tends to plague container grown full size tomatoes.

I have never had the problem with birds eating my tomatoes – but that’s probably because there is so many other things for birds to eat on my property. I personally can’t imagine harvesting before they turn red (or yellow or orange depending on the variety) – vine ripened tomatoes are to me the whole point of home-grown tomatoes.

By: Josh in Nashville

Josh in Nashville — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:22:20 +0000

Last year we planted a few different kinds of tomatoes in urns on a back porch due of the poor soil quality in our neighborhood. When doing this you need to be sure the pots are big enough for respective plants potentiall root growth and you will probably need to water them almost double as much as the dirt tends to dry out. Also right before they turn red either cover them or harvest them as birds will destroy your plants as they cant stay away from the bright colors.

By: admin

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:56:18 +0000

Hi Jacob,

My experience sure does differ from yours!

I have raised seedlings under lights in the garage for years – and they do great. The only gradual hardening I do is to bring the plants out a few hours during the day at first, then longer and longer, until they are out all day and just back in at night.

I always bring the tomato seedlings straight from under the lights to full sun however – and I have never had any problems with that, in fact they really start thriving when they get exposed to the full sunlight — as long as the transition is gradual.

Boel

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:20:08 +0000

Hi Joe,
I recently started a terrarium in my closet, in hopes that i could start all of my wonderful vegetables early, and then transplant them to the garden… I was very happy to see that my 24 hour light system worked great, and my veggies were sprouting and growing nicely.. But then came the shocker.. As soon as I took the plants out of the fluorescent light, and put them in normal sunlight, they all died overnight… After a little research, I decided that the best thing to start indoors are tomato plants.. plant them in your artificial light, and let them get a really good height and look to them.. It is important that you don’t try to transplant weakly, less sturdy plants.. Once your plants have gotten to 3 or 4 inches, place them in another container, (its okay to bury the first few leaves in soil) and move them to a dark location, one that gets a very small amount of sunlight, but not a pitch black area either.. you want a warm environment for your plants over the next few days, water them, and keep the soil moist, so that they can root and keep growing… after about two or three days, move your plants to a window sill, or another area that gets light.. Be sure not to put them somewhere that gets too much light, or move them if the sun gets too intense.. You want to gradually introduce them to sunlight.. Then, when you are ready to put them out into the garden, and all chances of frost have past, move your potted tomato plants outside under a shelter for a week, so that they really get used to our wonderful sun. After completing all of these steps, plant your tomato plants into your garden, water them, care for them, and watch them in turn care for you.

By: Colin Lane

Colin Lane — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:09:00 +0000

Hi Boel great to see your vegie gardening i just home grown veggies & fruit as the products one gets from the super market are just chemical (one might just as well eat plastic ) I guess I am lucky as where i live in the northern suburbs of Adelaide of South Australia we don’t have frosts, with mild winters and very hot dry summers temperatures of 100ºF are usual plus i live in a aged pensioners home unit with a small back yard in which I planted drought proof native plants but i grow my vegies in pots so i can keep the water up. We often go 4-6 months with out rain & have water restrictions so I use my shower water on my plants. It works well keeps pests off too. Regards Colin.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:21:02 +0000

Hi Joe & Richard,

Do you have photos of your failing plants by any chance? It sounds to me like they suffer damping off, and there can be many causes of that. Did you sterilize the planting block with bleach before reusing it after last season?

What environment are the seedlings in? Temperature etc?

It’s strange that the tomato plants perk up when put back in the dome. Other than being covered, how is the environment different than where you have them when you uncover the dome? Are they warmer? More light?

I do find a heat mat is of great help while germinating, but I generally take them off the heat mat once they have germinated. Peppers would benefit from staying on a heat mat even after germination, but that may not always be possible. I don’t have two heat-mats, so my peppers are relegated to being under lights but without heat once the dome cover is off.

A lamp (does not have to be a heat lamp) helps a great deal – the tomatoes will do much better under light 16 hours a day, than they do in a window. I use a florescent grow light, with fixture it cost me just around $17 at BiMart.

When I transplant I use MiracleGro Organic Potting Mix, with EB Stone organic fertilizer 5-5-5. As for the red cups, I got those from Costco, and yes I do cut holes for drainage.

Sorry I can’t be of more help. Let me know if you can provide a few more details, and maybe I can be of more help? I know how frustrating it is when seed starting goes wrong. The fall onions I started last summer all failed to thrive, and I usually have great success with onions. I ended up having to buy onion starts instead, much to my chagrin. Fortunately, my spring planting went well!

What part of the country are you in, by the way?

Boel
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By: Richard Hill

Richard Hill — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:12:34 +0000

HOw do I find or read the answer to the above problem and inquiry? Thank you for your assistance.

Respectfully,
Richard Hill

By: joe

joe — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:41:42 +0000

Hi, i have a very large garden(about 1200 sq. ft.) and was very succussful last season. I use the Parks BioDome and this season things are not going well at all. Im losing so many seedlings.
the tomatoes start off nicely but they start to die off. I do remove the dome when the seedling emerge but thats when they start to die. if i put the dome back the seem to perk back up. Some of my other veg just never recover. Is the dome keeping in too much moisture? Do i need more heat? I dont have a heat lamp but the window sill they are in gets planty of sun. When transplanting them what do you recomend? Are peat pots a good container? I see that you are using plastic cups. Do you put any holes in the cups for drainage? Im so frustrated. I have a green thumb but right now i feel like i have 2 left feet. Please drop me a line. Thanks, Joe