best spot for tomato seedling germination?

[Leeds_lad]

hey, starting to plant up my tomatos, but keep reading about different positions to store them for quick germination. some sites say a dark warm place is the best place for them, while others say a sunny windowsil. Which one is true? =)

[binley100]

Welllllllll.........my early toms (Jan) get started in the airing cupboard but brought out as soon as they start to pop up. Now they go on the kitchen windowsill under a cover......

[Chef_uk]

My Gardeners Delight were sown on Sunday so can't really tell yet lol. But they are on the warmest south facing windowsill we have which is directly upstairs on the landing. The pots are in tubs, which are covered with 2 layers of clingfilm.

[Leeds_lad]

Guess i will do 2 lots, in each location and experiment which does it best =D

[chucks]

Mine are doing well on the window sill.

[bramble]

Hi Leeds lad. Sow one seed per module in seed sowing compost and put them somewhere warm where the temperature is about 15 deg. Some people have heated propagators and use this method. Others start them off in their airing cupboard as this seems to be the warmest place in their houses.
When the seeds germinate take them out and put them on the brightest sunniest window ledge in the house making sure to take them away from the glass at night time as it will be too cold for them.
I hope this may be of some help to you.n the h

[Kristen]

hey, starting to plant up my tomatos, but keep reading about different positions to store them for quick germination. some sites say a dark warm place is the best place for them, while others say a sunny windowsil. Which one is true? =)

I'm not sure it matters? Given a reasonable temperature (say 18 - 20C) they will germinate in 4 or 5 days ... and after germination they will be happy to grow on at a lower temperature (but keep it above 10C)

[Florence Fennel]

Start mine on the windowsill, a few in an empty mushroom carton.

[Two_Sheds]

As the others have said, light isn't as important as warmth for germination.

After germination though, light becomes more important - lots of light (and a temp of at least 10c)

[Potstubsdustbins]

I planted my seed last Saturday on the window sill and despite giving them a really good talking to they still haven't shown.

Colin

[buzzingtalk]

Right I'm abit stuck as to where to put them...My bedroom window is the only one with space, and probably has the most amount of sun (no idea what way it faces but probably gets 2-3 hours sun each day at the moment). However the windows are only single glazed, so not particularly warm. We have a heater in our room but its on the other side of the bedroom (I live in the loft so its a big, and strange shaped room). The side of the room with the heater will be warmer but not light at all really...can I start them there fi a few days then budge over to the window??

[Two_Sheds]

2-3 hours sun each day ...can I start them

That's just not enough light BT - hold off until you can get them in a full day's light, or buy plants in

[buzzingtalk]

How much light do you need? And does that mean direct light? I have lots of plants growing in bedroom already that seem to do fine, so maybe I got my times wrong. Its a 'bright' windowsill, will check on Saturday during day off for actual direct sunlight...

[Two_Sheds]

Direct light, yes - not necessarily sunlight. Mine are getting 10 hours a day, although at the moment not many lux as it's so cloudy and dull. They still lean slightly towards the light!

A month ago they were only getting 8 hrs max per day, and were getting very leggy

Many houseplants grow OK inside a room, because they are jungle plants and have evolved to grow in the shade, but fruiting plants like tomatoes need as much light as you can give them

[Kristen]

Light levels have been so poor this Spring that I'm supplementing them on all my seedlings overnight with strong growing lamps - and they are getting 9 hours a night. I've not done this before, so I will be interested to see how much difference it makes, but for the plants I grew under the growing lamps during the Winter the impact was like Night and Day (sorry!)