Tomato seedlings not growing1/15/2024 The easiest way to avoid damping off is to use disease-free potting soil and clean supplies. It gets there in contaminated soil and on previously used equipment and pots. It’s a fungal disease that moves around your growing area along with runoff from watering plants. You can buy purpose-made plastic labels or, if you want to use less plastic, wooden popsickle sticks or wooden tongue depressors work well (but don’t last all summer.) Hygieneĭamping off disease can wipe out a whole crop of seedlings quickly. There are years I was sure I’d remember what was what…and I forgot. If you’re growing more than one variety, label them as you plant them. So feel free to do the bottom watering if you like, although I find that watering gently, by putting my finger over the tip of the watering can to slow the flow of water, is enough to prevent making a potting soil sinkhole.) Tomato Seeding Densityĭepending on how many plants you’re growing and how much space you have, you can seed more or less densely: The reason is that a strong jet of water from a watering can can move around seeds and soil. This just means sitting a container in water so that water wicks upwards. (NOTE: A lot of people “bottom water” seedlings. What we’re trying to do by covering with soil and tamping is to make sure the seed is in contact with soil, which helps with uniform germination. You don’t need to put much potting soil over the seed: Cover with a depth of soil similar to the seed width…up to about one-quarter inch. Then place a thin layer of potting soil over the top. If you’re planting a number of seeds in one container, space them out on top of the soil If you’re planting an individual seed, place it on top of the soil I leave mine on for 16 hours a day.įill your container loosely with potting soil, leaving a bit of space at the top. Use a timer so that you don’t have to remember to turn the lights on and off every day. Mine aren’t, so instead, I prop up trays of plants closer to the lights by putting something underneath them. Some light are adjustable, allowing you to move the lights close to the seedlings. Remember: You’re growing a young plant to transplant outdoors – where it will spend the rest of its life in sunlight. You don’t need full spectrum lights, nor do you need the strongest lights. My lighting for growing tomato seedlings is fluorescent shop lights. So save yourself some money and don’t go overboard on lighting. The lights just need to be good enough to give you healthy, fairly compact tomato transplants. You’re not trying to create perfect conditions to grow a plant right through to harvest. Here’s the thing to know: Your tomato seedlings don’t need the same light as an indoor hydroponic vegetable crop. There are many types of lights available. If you don’t have a bright window, you can start seeds under lights. The simplest and least expensive is to grow seedlings in a bright window (south facing is best.) When there’s not enough light you end up with leggy plants that topple over. Good light is important for growing compact plants. If the soil is dry, moisten it before using it. (A finely ground soil mix is important for commercial growers who need uniform, optimal seed germination but in a home garden we usually have more seeds than we need, so having the odd coarse chunk in the potting soil is no big deal). You don’t need the finely ground potting soils.Ī general-purpose potting soil is fine. These are made with ingredients that are more finely ground, so that there are no chunks of material blocking the way of little germinating seeds. You might see potting soils specifically for seed-starting. The other thing is that garden soil can harbour diseases that kill young tomato seedlings. That’s for two reasons: First, many garden soils have a structure that packs down, preventing little roots from growing. If you’re using biodegradable, natural-fibre pots (peat pots are common, and I’ve even seen pots made from cow manure) a word of caution: Bury the entire pot when planting in the garden, or the whole thing is a wick, wicking water away from plant roots.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |