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rypal

started tomatoes from seed, too small?

rypal
14 years ago

My tomato plants are about three inches tall. I'm hoping for a big harvest of tomatoes, considering how much money i already invested(trellis constructed of emt piping and concrete mesh, plus all the soil mix). Not sure if I should go out to my local nursery and buy bigger plants at this point. I probably started the seeds a month too late for optimum production. What do u you all think?

Comments (4)

  • sinfonian
    14 years ago

    If it is not time to plant out, then they probably would benefit from potting up. I potted up to 2 qt pots I scrounged from the free bin at my local nursery when they were between 3-5 inches tall. I then planted out when the danger of frost was over. My plants were over a foot tall by then. Oh, when I potted up the plants were definitely root bound and not happy.

    Hope that helps.

  • sfallen2002
    14 years ago

    If you are concerned your plants are runts, then give them some TLC and help them by providing a nice microclimate they can thrive in. This usually means keeping them warm, out of the wind. Whatever gets you there is good - I start all my plants indoors, and try not to be too envious of the greenhouse down the road who start their toms in Feb. and by now have small tom. trees covered in blossoms!

    On the plus side, you can always use the green tomotoes at the end of the season for relish.

  • becky07
    14 years ago

    My tomatoes are still small, too. But one of the reasons is when I repotted, I put as much of the plant underground as I could, to get more and stronger roots. I will do that again when I put them outside.

    Here's an interesting tomato story. An acquaintance of boss said for twenty years he lived next door to an older woman who waited EVERY YEAR until the 4th of July to go to the nurseries for tomato plants. She always got them cheap and they were probably in pretty sad shape. She brought them home and planted them all at that time.

    The neighbors all had six to eight weeks of growing time ahead of her, but every year, her tomatoes out produced them all. She kept everyone else in tomatoes.

    I've taken some comfort in that story this year as I said, mine are still small as well.

    I am growing several different kinds, hoping for sauce tomatoes, drying tomatoes, and just good eating tomatoes. Lets keep in touch over the season and see how things go.

  • anniesgranny
    14 years ago

    I've transplanted small and large plants at the same time, same variety, same bed, and the small plants soon overtook the larger ones and produced ripe tomatoes sooner. If you are concerned, you might plant half of your small ones and buy a few larger ones. That way, you'll at least have ripe tomatoes from some of them.

    Granny

    Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

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