16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
My dad had a habit of over fertilizing his tomatos albeit in the ground. He usually overdid the nitrogen with bloodmeal. They were so dark green colored they almost looked blue. However, once they got their feet braced, they exploded with blossoms and tomatos. Moral of the story is when you repot don`t worry about the manure you used, just wouldn`t add more.
Hi Jay,
To answer your questions:
When can I expect true leaves to appear? Your first ones should be appearing any time now, probably in the next three or four days. (You might be able to see them starting if you look in the angle where the two cotyledon leaves meet.)
Do these look "too leggy"? ... It's not too late for me to re-seed. and When should I pot up? They do look like they could be a bit leggy, but I wouldn't be too concerned about that at this time, since you will pot up when they have their second set of true leaves. Just plant them deep when you pot up.
And to what size pots? I use 3" "Cowpots î" and they carry through just fine to 6 - 8 weeks when I put them in the garden (actually, they last until 10 or more weeks if I'm late getting them out because of cold weather like last year or other issues.)
When do I start using fertilizer? What kind? Don't. They should be fine with just what is in a quality soilless seed starting medium and then a good soilless growing medium. (Don't get one that says soil, it is not for use in pots and says so on the bag. It's too heavy and does not drain well enough for pots.)
When I do pot up, should I bury them deep like I normally do when transplanting into the garden? Yes. Some people pot up several times. I prefer to do it a single time, partly because of the number of plants I grow, and partly because I want a plant at 6-8 weeks that is 8-12" tall. Plants that are younger seem to adapt to hardening off much better than larger older ones. I have tried both and the smaller ones usually catch up and even pass the larger plants in short order.
I hope that helps.
Betsy
Here is a link that might be useful: How do I start tomatoes from seed?
Catching the ball from Remy......
It depends on which seed companites you're talking about. The smaller family run ones sometimes produce their own seed, which they usually do by fermentation, or they may subcontract out seed production or they may buy wholesale off the shelf, or a combination of those methods.
And here I'm talking about OP varieties.
Hybrid seed is produced for the US and elsewhere in several countries and that hybrid seed may be treated with TSP ( tri-sodium phosphate) or acid and that can produce seeds that are darker in color and have no fuzz and are flat.
Nothing at all wrong with those seeds but they can be smaller b'c of the treatments,etc.
TSP is often used b'c it's known that it can cleanse the seeds of TMV ( tobacco mosic virus) which can be a problem still, especially in large commercial greenhouses where it's spread mechanically, not by the usual insect vector.
Hope that helps.
Carolyn
Did the transplant5 days ago deeply in cups in Jiffy mix.
The roots were almost non-existent and they just don't seem to be coming around yet.
Have had whole lower branch with leaves on some get really soft and fall off at the stem.
Also some of those white spots are raised above the leaf surface and some of the white spots are actual raise lines.
They also don't look to be growing but just sitting there.
The raised white spot thing and the soft leaf with branch falling off makes no sense, well to me anyway. Can't really find anything googling etc.
Wondering if anyone has seen raised white spots on their seedling leaves.
Have re-sown everything in case. Have 3 or 4 weeks before I can pant outdoors. Oh well. If the new ones do ok what's a week or two.
I didnt have any particular problem and always have my seedlings outside at least during the day as soon as they sprout. It has been very windy and wind can really do a number on any potted plant. I usually let my seelings get bigger than is recommended before I pot them up. When I take them out too young I think they can get overwatered too easily. Seems like too much soil in relation to small little plant. LInda
Best guess is 1) transplant shock, 2) bad mix since it is a soil not a soil-less mix (name is Supersoil Potting Soil) and it is just beefed up Hyponex and most know the history of the problems with Hyponex when it comes to containers), 3) trying to rush hardening off or not monitoring the details given the weird weather - we have to adjust to the changes because the plants can't and lots of us all over the country are having to adjust this year.
Best chance for salvage - transplant them inside into a good soil-less mix (one that says 'mix') on the label and don't use one with moisture control added as that just creates more problems. Then keep them inside for 48 hours til they recover from transplant shock and then they can go outside for an hour or so at a time slowly increasing the time as the weather permits.
Hope that helps.
Dave
And MTO is correct, that is normal drying of the blossom after they are pollinated. Blossom drop looks more like the picture on this page: abscised flowers
There is some great info on Keith's site: Online Tomato Vine
Betsy
Kim, no, I've never heard of it and I did some searching for it as Gold of China and China Gold and all I came up with were lots of links to tomato paste made in China with gold tomatoes, but no info about any specific varieties.
IS it possible for you to contact the person with whom the trade was made?
Carolyn
Hi and welcome to the forum -
I don't pluck. I start 10-20 in each cell/cup and then transplant them all to their own cells. And "plucking" isn't usually recommended because doing so can damage the roots of the remaining plants. If you don't want to transplant and grow the others just snip them off at the soil level with a small scissor.
As to when to snip? Any time really but I would wait until the first set of true leaves begin to form and it becomes really clear which is the best one. Don't worry about where it sits in the cup since they will need to be transplanted later anyway.
Hope this helps. And if you haven't already seen it be sure to check out the How to Grow Tomatoes from Seed FAQ here.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato from Seed FAQ
It's still a bit early to get those into the ground. Hold off at least two weeks. This is an oddball year for weather and it's not the norm. After five or six more years of this mildness then you could likely to be safe to get those maters into the ground in early April.
Thanks for the comments. To help you understand what happened, I probably need to explain my green house. My green house is a pop up variety, called spring gardener gable greenhouse shown in the link below. I set my greenhouse up so that the windows on one side face directly west and the ones on the other side face directly east. So in the early morning and late afternoon the sunlight shines on the east and west facing walls of the greenhouse. If the windows are open (rolled up) the light penetrates directly onto the plants for a few hours in the morning or afternoon. The windows do have screens underneath that partially dims the sun when opened but not fully. Today, I opened the windows early in the morning and the sun probably was directly on the plants through the window on the east for a couple hours at most but it was still enough to cause some sun damage. Some of the plants came up four days ago when we had a snowstorm come through, and yesterday and today were their first real sunny days. So they just weren't ready for that direct sun after the storm. There must be something that happens physiologically when they first sprout that determines the amount of pigments they develope right off the bat. I just speculate that if you could provide them with the right sunlight intensity right as they sprout they would then not need as much tenderness when hardening off. And like I said it was not a lot of damage, just a little light coloration on some of the leaves that faced the sun. So its not a big deal, they will all be fine. It just reminds me how slow you have to take it hardening off tomatoes.
Here is a link that might be useful: Green house
For bottom heat, see if you can find a string of old Christmas lights, or better, a rope light, and coil it under the tray. Cheap and easy.
Light above is harder. More is better, and on the floor is not really light. I know because I'm having the same issues. I know it's tough on a student budget, but using the window and the light would be better.
I've read about epsom salts for purple leaves. But yours don't look all that purple to me. There is so much information around. I'm sure you'll be fine. 8)
Since you're in a dorm, how about just taking the tray off the floor and letting it live in a higher place? The floor can be 5-10 degrees cooler than up near the ceiling. Also, it could be that your seed starting mix doesn't have much fertility, since often seedlings are moved into bigger and better environs once they are up and running. If you can't afford some plant food, maybe make friends with someone in the bio department, especailly their plant person, and maybe they will help you out. Or make a request for help from the homefront? Good luck!
Check out the Winter Sowing forum for more info too. It's here on GardenWeb. Also, wintersown.org has a ton of useful information on creating your own mini-greenhouses. I start my tomatoes, herbs, and peppers like this every year now. That way, you don't have to worry about hardening off your seedlings. It's pretty amazing.
You can also cut a 4 inch thin walled pvc pipe into 6 inch pieces and stick them around your plants. Then slide the soda bottle over the the plant and onto the pipe. It will give you a little more height, if needed. I use to do this before I started growing inside my high tunnels.
Jay
Honestly the problem is the planter, not the tomato variety. It is an idea that just doesn't work. Would you consider using it for some nice flowers instead?
If not, try one of the dwarf varieties like New Big Dwarf.
Dave
Dave, I have thought of using the planter for flowers or whatever but I guess I'm just stubborn. I just keep hoping to find some veggie that works in the durned thing... "Patio" sure didn't. (That's also why most of my tomatoes are in the garden, cause if they were only on the deck I wouldn't get many!) My youngest loves to see the tomatoes growing on the deck too, so I'll keep trying... thanks!
Marcy