Growing tomatoes indoors, time to separate? *photos*

Guapa1

Hi all,

I grew lettuce and basil all last year and decided to up the ante this year with tomatoes. I don't have a garden, and have been using the windowsill in the kitchen. I'm using cerise cherry seeds that I picked up in a local shop.

Now from what I've read, I'm supposed to wait until they have sprung their first leaves and then separate.

However, I've noticed this fog like thing on the soil, it's not on the lettuce?

Anyway here's the pictures.





Would you say I should separate them to one stalk for these size containers?

Ta muchly

elliep_2

Personally I'd leave them a bit longer. You're supposed to leave them until they have 2 sets of true leaves (the tri-pointed ones) before transplanting. Just pick out the biggest and strongest ones to plant on and either throw or give away the rest.

Eventually that pot will be too small for 1 plant but perhaps the next stage could be 4 plants per pot, one near each corner?

I don't know what the fog is, maybe someone esle will be able to answer that.

A._Badger

It's hard to be sure from the photos but that 'fog' looks very much like mould to me - usually due to over-wet compost. Unless you are careful, it could destroy your seedlings.

I disagree with leaving them as they are. Most seed packets tell you to !!!!!-out (unbelievably, this s/ware wont let me type p*r*i*c*k-out) 'when large enough to handle' and that's what I would do right now - particularly as you have sowed them quite close together and they are rather etiolated (leggy).

If it were me, I would now pot them on individually into fresh compost in 3 inch pots, burying them quite deeply - so that the seed leaves are almost (not quite) touching the surface of the compost. Water with tap water, not water from a rain butt, as you don't want any more moulds or fungal attacks.

Also, try to give them more light and if they continue leaning, as they are doing in your pictures, rotate the pot daily, or even twice daily if you can, to try to even this out.

Obviously, we all have our own techniques, but that is how I've done it for many years.

Hope that's some help.

betterlife

hi i potted mine up and they where about the same size as your,this was about a week ago, i put them in 3inch pots, i then moved them from the kitchen to my unheated polytunnel and there doing fine. i agree with thinking the foggy stuff is mould as this happened with a few of my things, i think as i had all my seeds germinating in my kitchen which every time i cooked was getting hot, steamy etc it caused this to happen, good luck.

Guapa1

Thank you. Many I've over watered them then because I used the same compost for the salad and it doesn't have that on it.
I'm moving them into my bedroom as it's the sunniest room in the house.

Lotus-eater

What Mr Badger says is right. What you could do next time is sow the seed a little more apart and when they come through, just keep the number of seedlings you need (and a small reserve) and snip the rest off at ground level, this will give the remaining ones more space and light.
And water from the bottom, keeps the surface drier.

A._Badger

Just to add to what Lotus-eater has said, you might also consider sowing tomatoes individually. I use the tiny pots that come with some compartment trays (they're about 1 inch at a guess). As tomatoes have quite large seeds, sowing individually is easy and when they have germinated, you don't so much p*r*i*c*k*-out as pot-on into the next size. This means you have next to no root disturbance.

Another thing worth considering in view of your mould problem is not using compost to cover seeds. I stopped doing this years ago, switching instead to the commercial technique of using seed-grade (fine) vermiculite to cover seeds. This excellent technique seems to combat fungus, even-out moisture levels and has proved so successful that I now use it for almost everything.

Hope that's some help.

Lotus-eater

Yes the only reason I don't sow tomatoes in seperate pots, is because I want to start about 45 of them and 40 odd chilli plants and I like doing them in my heated propagator as they come up very quickly and reliably.
I can't fit that many pots in my propagator

But I have just got hold of some of the trays the A.Badger is talking about and am considering cutting these up to fit nicely in the propagator. Saying that I hardly ever lose a seedling in p-ricking out and they always seem to jump ahead at that point, not be held back. I suppose I am quite good at putting them out though (he says bashfully )

I don't know, but I wonder if the point you p-rick them out makes much of a difference to how they come on. I tend to !!!!! out before the main leaves are out and when not much root growth has happened.

A._Badger

That's an astonishing quantity of plants Louts-eater, I'm impressed! If it's not a rude question, how on earth do you manage to eat so many?

I p-out mine early, too and like you, don't notice any checking. I think you're right, though, you probably have a good technique, which is what happens when you've done it a few times. I think, for beginners, though, the one seed per pot method is a great help as there's so much less risk they will damage the root or stem.

Guapa1

You know now I think about it. The compost I have has been outside and uncovered. Should I buy a new bag before I re-pot?

A._Badger

Guapa1 wrote: »

You know now I think about it. The compost I have has been outside and uncovered. Should I buy a new bag before I re-pot?

I would, yes. Incidentally, if this keeps happening with your seeds, you might want to invest in a tin of Cheshunt Compound (you can get it at any garden centre) and use that when you sow, following the instructions. That will counter 'damping-off' disease toa large extent.