Tomato advice needed!

[AmyRose]

Morning all,

I put a few tomato seeds on the other night approx 10 plants (3 different varieties) it's the first time I've attempted tomatoes from seed, but i saw a few people on here had put theirs in and thought what the hell, no harm in trying!

That was 3 nights ago, Had a peep in the airing cupboard this morning and every single one of them has germinated! (put 2 seeds in each pot an they're all up!) I'd read on here that you have to put them on a light windowsil soon as they poke their heads up but as I didn't expect it to be that fast this morning was the first time I'd looked and some of them are abit beyond poking their heads up an are maybe 3-4cm

I've moved them to the windowsil now; but they all look abit yellow and flimsy which worried me? is this normal and wil they be alright or have I left them in the airing cupboard too long?

Thanks!
Amy

[Two_Sheds]

yes, they were in the dark too long, but may recover. Don't worry too much

[AmyRose]

Thanks TS, should have kept a closer eye but I didn't realise how fast they would go! Ill give them some love on the windowsil and If they don't recover I still have plenty of seed left to try again.

Much appreciated!

[Shadylane]

Mine are all bit leggy cos we've had no sun. When you pot them on pot them really deep, up to their first seed leaves and they'll send out roots from the stem.

[Davyburns]

have I left them in the airing cupboard too long?

Amy

Dont know how you can do that. after 3 days I cant help checking mine at least once a day

[brad1001]

i did the same thing with some chillie seed.i didnt check on them for 2 days and when i did they were a dull yellow colour.a couple of days on the window sill and there fine now.

[Kristen]

I'm a miserable old git! but I think its too early.

Lack of light is likely to make them leggy, and thus tall, drawn and possibly weak too. I think it will be mid April before a Cold greenhouse is warm enough not to fall below 10C at night ... and by then Tomato plants from seed sown now will be a good 4' tall.

If you have a heated greenhouse then that's fine, although I still think the light levels are too low and the "drawn" plants will have a larger gap between their leaves (than ones sown later) so will get to the greenhouse roof having made fewer trusses that those sown later (although you can layer them to get around that of course)

Sorry to be such a miserable old git!

[AmyRose]

I'm a miserable old git! but I think its too early.

Lack of light is likely to make them leggy, and thus tall, drawn and possibly weak too. I think it will be mid April before a Cold greenhouse is warm enough not to fall below 10C at night ... and by then Tomato plants from seed sown now will be a good 4' tall.

If you have a heated greenhouse then that's fine, although I still think the light levels are too low and the "drawn" plants will have a larger gap between their leaves (than ones sown later) so will get to the greenhouse roof having made fewer trusses that those sown later (although you can layer them to get around that of course)

Sorry to be such a miserable old git!

Hehe Im sure you're not miserable kristen, all advice is gratefully accepted brand new to all this myself so I'm absorbing everything I read on here like a sponge

[Kristen]

Im sure you're not miserable kristen,

So you are OK with the "Old" bit then?

"like a sponge "

You could try growing a Loofah then, eh?

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ofah_5465.html

Fun if you have a greenhouse (although they take a bit of space), and fun to give to people as presents too ...

[doccat5]

I was about to ask what zone you were in, until I glanced back up, that doesn't apply to you..LOL However, yes, tomato seedlings need about 14-16 hours of light a day. Without it they will be leggy and it weakens the plant. You can try an transplant to a deeper container..and all the way to the true leaves. But you need to get more light to them. Just a window exposure is not enough. Since your in England, I'm not sure on how to translate the light bulb needs, but I use regular florescent bulbs (one cool, one hot) over my seedlings. The bulbs are hung on chains so I can adjust the lights up and down as needed. We use a timer to adjust the amount of light per day. I don't have the luxury of a greenhouse, but I do have a spare bedroom, which has become the "seed" room for us. Hope that helps. You do not have to use the expensive grow lights, the tomatoes don't care.....LOL

[Kristen]

You do not have to use the expensive grow lights, the tomatoes don't care

Indeed, but when I looked at it I'm not sure the cost was that much different.

My Metal Halide 400W lamp covers about 2 sq.m. - say 6' x 3' and cost me £100 (including timer etc)

Just for comparison there is a product called the T5 LightWave which has 8 tubes (with a switch to only run 4 tubes) that is 4' x 2' (i..e the tubes need to be 6" spacing). It gives out a similar amount of light (around 30-40,000 lumens) to the Metal Halide 400W lamp, but has to be very close to the plants (a couple of inches at most) which is fine for seedlings, more difficult if you have bushy plants to look after. The tubes are 54 watts - so 8 of them will be about 400W too. That product costs around £200 unless you have the fittings lying around they aren't that cheap - tubes, fitting and ballast are about £10-£15 each - so building one yourself is still going to be £100-ish

In case of interest I posted some info about my grow lamp in another thread the other day
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post794234