Are my tomato seedlings leggy? (and other tomato seedling advice)

[MarkPelican]

My tomatoes have been in the greenhouse for about a week in 9cm pots. Culled all the unwanted plants. They'll be planted into their growing positions in another week or fortnight depending on how they grow. Some have already got flowers, so I'll have to watch them.

Went to the allotment this morning, hard frost last night (or the night before). Potatoes have been hit badly so I'm glad I haven't put any tomatoes there yet.

[Russel Sprout]

Many thanks for all the replies and kind words. It's also nice to hear what you are all up to. In the absence of an allotment or gardening neighbours to chat to over the fence, this has to be the next best thing

Sorry to hear about your spuds Mark

I have another three tomato plants which are bigger because my mum gave them to me and she started hers earlier. A couple of them have started to develop light faded areas on some leaves. So has a young french bean plant as well. Any ideas what might be causing it??

Thanks again

Max

[MarkPelican]

Many thanks for all the replies and kind words. It's also nice to hear what you are all up to. In the absence of an allotment or gardening neighbours to chat to over the fence, this has to be the next best thing

Sorry to hear about your spuds Mark

I have another three tomato plants which are bigger because my mum gave them to me and she started hers earlier. A couple of them have started to develop light faded areas on some leaves. So has a young french bean plant as well. Any ideas what might be causing it??

Thanks again

Max

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]73425[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73426[/ATTACH]

Could be a number of reasons:

1. Lack of nutrients: - Are they potbound?
2. Sunburn: Are they in direct sunlight on the other side of glass?
3. Plant colour: Do you know what type of tomato they are? Different tomatoes plants can be lighter/darker. I've found in the past that tomato plants with yellow/white fruit tend to be lighter yellow than those with black/red fruit (not absolute, just an observation);

They look like they could do with potting into bigger pots/their final position.

[damian1225]

Mine are out full time now, got them tied to a cane to protect from the wind a bit but I find them to be pretty hardy once the risk of frost has passed.. and a bit of wind soon makes the plant thicken up on its own accord.. yours looked fine not too leggy, but as said before even if they are you can always plant them a bit deeper anyway

[Russel Sprout]

Hi all

I am making use of the rainy day today by potting up my toms for the second time (into 4-5" pots). I now know it is good practise to bury the stems because it encourages more rooting from the buried stems. But I wanted to check whether it is ok to bury the stems to a point ABOVE the first seed leaves? That's me first question...

But also for future reference, it would be handy to know how much stem can be buried. I'll need to know that when it comes time to plant them in their final beds... Is up to the first true leaves OK (or around there) ok?

Many thanks

Max

[veggiechicken]

I plant mine up to the first true leaves. If you bury them deeper you may get side shoots coming from the leaf joint below ground. It doesn't matter, nip them off or grow them on if you want a bushier plant.
Tomatoes are really tolerant of all sorts of treatment. I belong to the "Bung'emin" School of Gardening.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Yeah! when time comes! I "Bung em in Too"

Sometimes take the true leaves off and bury deeper, they are much forgiving plants once natured through infancy, and give a much more better crop buried a little deeper!

[Russel Sprout]

Thank for the advice. All done and all looking good. But I have another question if I may? And it might be a stupid so apologies in advance if it is...!

Are my young tomato plants ok to be outside in the sun all day on a hot day (like today in Norfolk )? And how about if we get a real scorcher? I know tomatoes are renowned for liking the sun, but because they are young 'uns and have been indoors for much of their younger days, or outdoors in more cloudy conditions, will full on sun potentially do them any harm? Should I be looking for dappled shade at midday?

There was mention of sunburn above, but is that only a problem when glass is involved?

[BUFFS]

i had my toms in the greenhouse border by 10th of april as we were going to be away for a couple of weeks and even with the frosts they are now about 18-20ins tall with the first trusses flowering. they were sown and grown on out there in the cold greenhouse so they must like it..

[MarkPelican]

My tomatoes went into their final positions today. I'm growing in pots in the greenhouse this year as I'm using the polytunnel for other things. Buried them as deep as I could so I can get as many trusses as possible before they reach the top.

[MarkPelican]

Are my young tomato plants ok to be outside in the sun all day on a hot day (like today in Norfolk )? And how about if we get a real scorcher? I know tomatoes are renowned for liking the sun, but because they are young 'uns and have been indoors for much of their younger days, or outdoors in more cloudy conditions, will full on sun potentially do them any harm? Should I be looking for dappled shade at midday?

There was mention of sunburn above, but is that only a problem when glass is involved?

I think they'll be fine outside all the time now (that's done it). Looking at the weather forecasts we seem to be clear of the frosts.

I have found that sunburn only seems to happen behind glass when the sunlight is concentrated on the leaves (hence make sure you don't wet the leaves when watering).