tomato seedlings planted out.. kinda

[KirstieSparkle]

This afternoon I planted out some of my tomato seedlings. Planted 14 seeds, killed the first one and one didnt sprout so left with 12
I put 5 in their own pots and two in a bigger pot, left with some seedlings in the start off pot and wondering if I need so many? There is just me and I have another variety if tomatoes to plant yet so should I just scrap the remaining ones? Ive run out of small pots, and will I have to put these all in their own tubs when they go outside or will they be ok in one big container?

Maybe I grew too much?
And I put rooting powder on each set of roots, thats right yeah?

[WendyC]

Your tomatoes still need to be inside until late May. If you have excess seedlings why not offer them on Freecycle or to friends and family. You could make pots out of yoghurt pots or vending machine cups if you have run out of pots, they just need holes in the bottom.
Hormone rooting powder is to use on cuttings to stimulate the cut ends to produce roots. No idea what effect it would have on the roots you already have. Hopefully nothing detrimental. Were there instructions on the tub?

[Scarlet]

Ive run out of small pots, and will I have to put these all in their own tubs when they go outside or will they be ok in one big container?]

^^^wot Wendy said!^^^ also it's best to have one tomato plant per pot, you will find it very difficult o separate them later. You need to train them up a cane if they're cordons and you just won't see the "armpits" shooting if you have them crammed together.

***you could have planted them deeper, they look like they are a bit floppy. plant up to the first set of leaves.

[Two_Sheds]

When you said "planted out" I took it to mean outside. What you've done is "potted them on", and imo your pots are too big.
Ideally you'll pot them on a few times, into a pot that is just larger than the one before. When do they need potting on? When the roots show out the bottom of the pot.


No, hormone rooting powder is not needed. It's not even that beneficial for its intended purpose (getting cuttings to root).


Final size pot? I use Morrisons flower pots (10 litres), one plant per each pot.

[batman]

All my tomatoes are potted into takeaway coffee cups. I don't drink any, but a quick announcement at work, and several people now bring their paper cups to my desk every day

I can write the variety on it with felt tip pen, take them to the lottie when planting out and just shred them and compost the cardboard when done (obvs this last step doesn't work with styrofoam!). And they're free!

[Bill HH]

As for how many plants you need, last year I had eight plants and that supplied all our needs (4 people) plus several gallons of pulped toms for sauces and soup. But before you go giving them away wait to see if any pop heir socks or look sick. You will need to learn how to pinch out theside shoots if they are the cordon type as opposed to the bush type. Cordons grow up a cane or wires and can get very high (7ft).

[Nannysally99]

As for how many plants you need, last year I had eight plants and that supplied all our needs (4 people) plus several gallons of pulped toms for sauces and soup. But before you go giving them away wait to see if any pop heir socks or look sick. You will need to learn how to pinch out theside shoots if they are the cordon type as opposed to the bush type. Cordons grow up a cane or wires and can get very high (7ft).

Good advice Bill. I never even gave it a thought last year whether I had bush or cordon toms. They all got their side shoots nipped off after 3 or 4 trusses. I have only just planted my seeds indoors and have African Queen, Ailsa Craig and Red Cherry, fingers crossed. So much to learn .......

[Kristen]

... hormone rooting powder is not needed. It's not even that beneficial for its intended purpose (getting cuttings to root).

Hehehe ... good job you don't feel strongly about that, eh TS?

I've been using Clonex instead of rooting powder, and like it (it sticks well to the cutting, and I use it up quickly, so more likely to still be "viable" rather than the tub of powder I have had for donkey's years ...)

Not done any side-by-side comparison, and maybe most things I root would do so anyway ...

[Kristen]

... Ailsa Craig ... So much to learn .......

I grew Ailsa Craig (and Moneymaker) for a few years when I first started, I now think that their flavour is disappointing (and seemingly many gardeners I know share that view) but both seed packets still sell well in Garden Centre.

Be interested to know what you think of them (when you get some fruit, later in the season).

Mind you, its a topic of hot debate and varying opinions of course. Last year I grew 10 different varieties, chosen from the ones most popular and "sworn by" by my gardening mates, and of those I only thought one was better than my regular choices, so I've gone back to those this year

Worth finding varieties you like the taste of though, as a home-gardeners can be less bothered by Yield (and perhaps even Disease) than a commercial grower who is probably choosing varieties that crop well, and don't bruise easily on supermarket shelves (e.g. ones with Thick Skins Yuck!)

[Mikey]

I concur with TS about potting on, the advantage of doing smaller increments is that you can pot a little deeper each time. Mine started as multiples in a single cell, then got transferred to a individual 1 inch cell, some have been potted on into a 2" pot as you can see from the image, one is getting a bit leggy and will need transferring to the greenhouse to get a little more light, it will then be buried deeper into a 4 inch pot.

[Kristen]

I wonder about planting deeper ... (I know that the stem will root etc.)

I tried some side-by-side last year, using same diameter pots, but half of them were deeper (e.g. Rose pots) and I didn't see any difference in the plants. They were harder to plant though (soil in my greenhouse borders is not all that deep).

I think potting-on deep means that there is very little compost under the rootball, in the new pot, so the plant has to make roots either upwards (which isn't its preferred route due to gravity geotropism) or roots from its stem (which takes time, relative to just making new roots from the "bottom" of the rootball).

In discussion with folk, over the years, potting on "sideways" is one route that is of interest - planting at an angle with maximum stem under the compost and then the stem grows on having turned a corner to grow upright. This uses minimal depth in the new pot, but achieves maximum stem under ground.

But I'm not convinced that there is any major benefit, during plant raising.

To have stem roots later in the season I think that planting them with a collar of some sort around the stem, which is then filled with compost, might be the answer - rather like Ring Culture in the old days. Back then we used to feed into the ring culture pot once a week - which I always thought was cruel as the roots only ever got moisture that one time each week when feeding, so although they were probably adapted to feeding (and the lower roots to water absorption) I suspect they were bone dry at easy feed-watering.

(Planting out where deep soil is available then makes deep planting possible, but here I would be into thick clay if I tried to do that)

Be interested in other people's views though.

[BUFFS]

Good advice Bill. I never even gave it a thought last year whether I had bush or cordon toms. They all got their side shoots nipped off after 3 or 4 trusses. I have only just planted my seeds indoors and have African Queen, Ailsa Craig and Red Cherry, fingers crossed. So much to learn .......

I always try a type I have not had before, we have young yellow banana legs, olympe, black Russian, tigerella, and some Chinese blue ones I bought on the internet, it will be interesting to see how blue they become, with the peppers and chillies that's both greenhouses sorted for this year, trying to allocate space for the melons now, I may have to move my armchair.....the sacrifices we gardeners have to make eh ?......

[Chippy Minton]

..... and wondering if I need so many? Maybe I grew too much?

I wonder how many forumers out there understand this, welcome to my World, it goes like this....

• Better sow an extra few in case they don't germinate
• Oh they all germinated
• Better compost the spares
• Although it seems a shame
• Maybe I could give them away
• But then I could just put an extra one here and that corner's looking bare, and.......

[Bill HH]

I wonder how many forumers out there understand this, welcome to my World, it goes like this....

• Better sow an extra few in case they don't germinate
• Oh they all germinated
• Better compost the spares
• Although it seems a shame
• Maybe I could give them away
• But then I could just put an extra one here and that corner's looking bare, and.......

Yep been there and done that, the result is they are all over crowded and none of them do as well as they would have done.

[Kristen]

I need 6 plants of each of 3 varieties. Today I potted the seedlings up. I did 8 of each, to have two spares, and my in-laws normally take about 4 plants (not fussy about variety so long as a couple of them are Gardeners Delight). I only sow 10 seeds of each variety, to aim to get 8 plants, and plant out 6 of those ... a packet of seed lasts me for years!

Bust one of the plants handling them clumsily, after I had thrown all the additional seedlings into the compost bin ... not a good start! Didn't check the label, but I'll put money on it have been a Gardeners Delight.