first time growing

[Anthonyox10]

Hi anthony

I would really recommend the tomato variety Hundreds and Thousands, last year I got about 400 or so small cherry tomatoes from each plant and the taste was the best ive ever had from any tomato, plant 1 plant in a big hanging basket.

I planted about 6 or 7 last year and it the baskets that only received a few hours direct sun produced as much (if not better) that the ones blasted by sun 10 hours a day.

Thanks so much i will keep an eye out for them!

[hamamelis]

Just a note if you move your toms to a windowsill (as soon as there's any green growth), you want to try and prevent them from getting leggy and encourage them to grow as straight as possible, so remember to rotate them at least once daily, especially when they're tiny, or you'll get lopsided weak and wonky plants.

If they get heat but no light, they'll still try and grow, but the growth will be no good for anything.

[Anthonyox10]

Cheers bud. Ive had them in the airing cupboard for about 4 days now, and noticed today that some are tryin to poke through. Fingers crossed its nt just my eyes playing tricks haha

[sparrow100]

3-4 hours sun sounds like the balcony is north-facing? If so I have similar to you, and it's my only outside space other than the allotment, a mile away.

You can grow tomatoes on the balcony, but you won't get many and they won't have brilliant flavour. Likewise strawberries, if the birds leave you any. It might help to pick veggies that can grow in partial shade. And remember that the plants will grow more slowly with less sunlight so the cropping will take longer. Radishes are easy. I get good crops of carrots, lettuces, root parsley, wild garlic, and even chillies (£land varieties) on mine. Beetroot would be viable, but birds like eating the foliage, so my seedlings/young plants have a tendency to vanish. Jackdaws love nothing better than uprooting new seedlings too, so I have to either net my stuff or keep it indoors till it has robust roots.

[Lumpy]

Hello and welcome to the Vine - brilliant that you are going to GYO.
Keep an eye out for free mirrors - you can put them againt the wall of you balcony to help bring the light in - I use them to light up a dark corner.

[Anthonyox10]

So this is what 3 of my tomato plants look like atm. Do i need to put some compost around the stems (they look very fragile)

[Yasai]

I would bury them right up to the leaves. If that's the wrong thing to do, I'm sure someone will tell us anon...

[libbyloulou]

That is doing fine, no water for at least two days.

[Bigmallly]

It looks a bit wet Anthony so hold off the water for a few days as libby suggests. Get a feel for the weight of the pot then when it needs watering, you will be able to feel the difference. Put it on a light windowsill. If it gets too leggy, just top up with more compost. Well done.

[Anthonyox10]

In that picture it looks alot wetter than it actually is. But ill hold off for a couple of days. Thanks

[Kristen]

Whena seed germinated it chucks up the seeds leaves (which is what you have). It then concentrates on getting some roots down ... and then, finally!, the first "true leaves" appear. The True Leaves are usually nothing like the original seed leaves.

So ... don't worry if not much appears to happen for what seems like a long time

And don't worry that the leaves you have look nothing like a Tomato leaf and/or that the new leaves, when they appear, are different.

Don't overwater it at this stage - drowning it more likely to kill it than anything else.

Don't top up with compost just yet - the stem will be fragile and it would be easy to bust it. But, in principle, no problem burying any seedling up to its seed leaves (and some, but not many, plants are happy to be buried deeper - Tomato is one of them)

[Anthonyox10]

So shall i leave it on the windowsill now?

[Kristen]

Maximum light you can give it. Windowsill is fine, would be better if you could put a piece of white card behind it (i.e. room side) as it will reflect light onto the back of the seedling.

[Anthonyox10]

Maximum light you can give it. Windowsill is fine, would be better if you could put a piece of white card behind it (i.e. room side) as it will reflect light onto the back of the seedling.

Ill see if i can find some

[Bigmallly]

If you can't find any white card, you could use foil but believe it or not, white reflects better than foil.