First Tomatoes from Seed

[ryanM]

Hello All, new to the site and just getting started with veg growing. I decided to go with gardeners delight Tomato to start with and would like a little advice moving forward.

I did some research on here before stating off and i think it has gone well so far. I sowed a total of 6 seeds between 3 seedling pots, so 2 in each and i have got 1 seedling now per pot.

I sowed them on the 6th Feb in a heated propagator where i kept the soils at about 22c with the vent closed and on 24 hours per day, we have a very cold house here.The first germinated five days later with the other two on the sixth day. I removed the lid and put them under the grow light but kept the heat on for about another two days.

They are about 5cm or just shy of 2 inches tall and the pics below are from today after a total of 14 days under a grow light indoors.

I bottom water when the top of the soil looks dry and i leave the grow light on for about 15 hours per day.

My question is how long more will i leave them before transplanting to larger pots and is there any need for a fertilizer at this stage, they seem to be doing just fine without.



Thank you all , and best regards. Great forum by the way such a wealth of information.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Hi Ryan

And welcome to the slippery slope addiction of GYO!

Firstly, they are lovely stocky little "Babies" you have there and I believe having the aid of "Grow Lights" has definatly helped to keep them that way.

Here's what I'd do!

Because they are at "True Leaf" stage, I would pot them on now into their own 3"-7cm pot, but bury them right up to their true leaves and carry on watering from the bottom, no need to feed at this point, as the extra compost you are going to be putting in the larger pot will have sufficient nutrients to keep them going for at least a couple of weeks.

Back under the lights to keep them "Stocky" then pot on again in another 2 to 3 weeks time.

The problem you are then going to have is to try keep them steadily ticking over till it is warm enough to either plant under cover or indeed outside!

You may need to pot on again before then, and there is no real need to begin feeding until they begin to set flower and fruit and then I would only offer half the strength stated till they get romping away.

But all the very best of luck with it!

[geepee]

Hi Ryan
Welcome aboard the Vine.
Healthy looking plants those.
Pretty sure 'Deanos ' said it all in the last post, so not much to add except...Good photos,we like photos on here...!
Keep them coming and enjoy the company.
Gp

[Small pumpkin]

Welcome to the vine Ryan
Gardeners delight is an excellent choice for your first tomato. It was my first from seed too and I Still grow it every year.
You look like the perfect candidate to join in with growing some early tomatoes
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...oms_95631.html

[ryanM]

Thank you guys for responding and also Deano for the info.

I will pot them on over the coming days as im stuck for head height under the grow light and need to make a few modifications, nothing too drastic though....

Coming to think of it, as they will be indoors for a long while yet I will probably be better off picking up some greenhouse shelving as we have plenty of room in the spare room for these and no doubt I will need it.

Thank you for the link Small Pumpkin will head over for a read through that thread....

[Bren In Pots]

It looks like you've had your questions answered Ryan so all I'll say is welcome to the vine.

[ryanM]

Thank you Bren. So much information and good discussion on here cannot wait to start planting more once i can get the garden done.

[It never rains..it pours]

Welcome , hope my first attempt this year turns out as well

[ryanM]

Welcome , hope my first attempt this year turns out as well

I hope so it is definitely a learning experience for me and i am very much enjoying all the research and taking advice on board form people.

In saying that, i have transplanted the seedlings to bigger pots and i am not sure if i have got a stop in growth or not. I planted them deeper on advice almost to the cotyledon. They are now about 2" tall and i have them 1.5" away form the grow light with the heated prop on. In this cold weather and a cold house the soil temp is about 18c.

As this is my first time how do they look considering i sowed the seed almost 4 weeks ago.



All 3 plants are roughly the same size. Thank you all in advance.

[nickdub]

So far so good - next step will be what growing conditions you can give them once the weather warms up, probably in about 6 weeks time.

[It never rains..it pours]

Well they look good to me RyanM, I will be happy if mine look like that
My first attempt planted just over 2 weeks ago. The middle row is Gardeners Delight and they look the most robust.

[nickdub]

Well they look good to me RyanM, I will be happy if mine look like that
My first attempt planted just over 2 weeks ago. The middle row is Gardeners Delight and they look the most robust.

Your seedlings look to be in good fettle, they will need transplanting to give them more root space pretty soon though.

[ryanM]

So far so good - next step will be what growing conditions you can give them once the weather warms up, probably in about 6 weeks time.

Thank you Nick, i plan on keeping them under a grow lightsuntil the weather warms up as you say. Last year we had some tomato growing that looked to get blossom end rot. These were there when we moved in though and i did not plant them. Got nothing from them.

I was thinking of putting the 3 tomato plants in pots, large enough, and then placing them into one of these argos greenhouses.

Buy Walk-In Greenhouse - Large at Argos.ie- Your Online Shop for .

Apologies if linking to such products is not allowed.

But then my gut is telling me to modify the raised bed that is already there and plant these guys and get that experience of having to look after them. I have done them form seed if i get tomato from them
i will be more than happy and it will drive me to do more research and planting.

[ryanM]

Well they look good to me RyanM, I will be happy if mine look like that
My first attempt planted just over 2 weeks ago. The middle row is Gardeners Delight and they look the most robust.

Looking good, you have a lot of seedlings there. best of luck with them all keep us posted.

[nickdub]

Thank you Nick,..... Last year we had some tomato growing that looked to get blossom end rot.





.

You're very welcome.

Mini-greenhouses are OK - generally keeping the foliage dry at the end of the season prevents mildew. As you probably know blossom end rot is caused by the roots of the plant drying out on hot days when the fruit is small - easiest fix is to give the roots plenty of growing space and arrange for some sort of auto-watering, like capillary matting.