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Tomato Seeds

Matt50680

Matt50680

I planted 40 tomato seeds (10 of each kind I have) on Tuesday of last week, 5 days later I have all kinds of seedlings, but they are extremely leggy. They are growing in a sunny window, but it has been cloudy here since they were sowwed. I have them on a germination mat as well.

My only concern is they seem a bit leggy, the one is nearly 2 inches tall. Is this normal? I have never grown tomatoes from seeds before so I dont know. Any suggestions/comments would be great.
 
I'm not sure of your climate but I think you started way to early Matt. I usually don't start my toms until late March and then make sure they get lots of natural and/or supplemental light so they don't stretch.
 
Yeah maybe I did start them a little early, I was just going off the peppers growing slow. LOL Is there a way I can stunt the growth? Keep them in small pots after transplanting? I wouldnt transplant them for a few weeks though, dont want to kill them.
 
I know this sounds terrible but if you have more seeds I would just say chuck them. My dad had me start his seeds February 1st last year for a May 10th or 15th plant out. I was also using window light and they became really leggy. I threw them out around the beginning of April. This year they will be started much later. Good luck to you.
 
I never start my tomatoes before 6 weeks before plant out. Tomatoes grow very quickly once they get started. The best way to control growth is give them a lot of light, keep the temps cool, and low nutrients. When you repot tomatoes, bury the stem up to the first leaves. They easily grow roots along the stem. They shoudl slow down for a bit while they do this. If they get too big, you can cut them off at the root line and replant them up to the first leaves. This will buy you a couple weeks while they remake roots.

Of course, if your plant out date is too far out, it may be best to restart 6 weeks before you plan to plant out.

Good luck!
jacob
 
LOL Yeah I think i might chuck them but I will let them grow another week just to see if they get real leggy or not. The sun came out today, so they are basking, other than tomorrow, it is supposed to be partly sunny to sunny through the weekend. The only ones I dont have enough seeds to replant are the Razzelberries, but they were bonus seeds, free with order. The other 3 types I have 20 more seeds of each. Maybe pluck them and find 40 different kinds of peppers to plant? :-D
 
Im not a newbie on tomatoes, been growing them for years, this is just the first year I have grown them from seed. My garden isnt huge, but ok sized, I have 3 4x12 foot boxes plus a 5x5 box. I also use a couple old motorcycle tires filled with dirt for squash, pumpkins and last year a couple pepper plants (I go through 2-3 tires a year on the back of my R1 LOL).
I planted extra because I was going to give some plants away to co-workers and neighbors.
 
I moved them into the grow box LOL 16 on 8 off will make them super retarded.
Jan24Tomatoes.jpg

The Monster of the group
Jan24Tomato.jpg

Jan24Tomato2.jpg
 
Looks like great fodder for the compost bin! Seriously, as leggy as they are, unless you have some deep pots you can transplant them into, you will likely be disappointed later. I had some seedlings I didn't get transplanted in time last year after they germinated but what I did was to go both vertical and horizontal when I transplanted.

Mike
 
Moisture, heat, maybe ferts (possibly in the mix) and lack of sunlight. It's what plants do to survive. That's why you read so many posts that say as soon as the seeds germinate, get them under lights! I'm learning this year that keeping the temps lower also helps slow vertical growth.

Mike
 
Well I trashed them all. I thought about it for awhile and figured, since its only end of Jan and I wont be able to put them into the ground until late Aprl, I wont have anywhere to keep 40 pots in the house so I planted more peppers :D :D :D
 
Busch Light Tomatoes

Well, I want some damn tomatoes to eat, so i am going to sow a couple more seeds, but only 3. Since I had 100% germination, round 2 is on. I cut the top off a Busch Light 16 oun ce can, filled it with mix and wetted it. Dropped 3 seeds in the center and lightly covered them.

I have a huge ceramic pot, maybe 10 gallon, that I am going to transplant into and try growing them indoors, should be ready around end of march/early april, if they grow and I can keep the cat from crapping in the pot. LOL Pics to follow once the Busch Light Tomatoes pop up...
 
Ciao Matt-

It's natural to start getting the itch to grow all sorts of things about this time of year. For future, if you want to start really early tomatoes, try growing varieties with Dwarf or Micro or Tiny in the name. Most dwarfs are cherries, although you will find a few larger-fruited varieties like New Big Dwarf and Dwarf Recessive. Victory Seeds has a fairly large selection of these. You will also find that these types don't get leggy as easy because of their dwarfie genetics, so if all you have is a window ledge and not fluorescent shop lights like the majority of us here, you should be just fine with them.
 
I tested a couple seeds back in December and didn't want to toss them. Now I'm trying to manage the growth. I've been crushing the stem and trimming the roots. When I get enough suckers I'll plant them and maybe toss the parent. That's one way to deal with starting early but I agree with everyone, it's better and easier to wait.
 
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