Growing tomatoes from seed takes six to eight weeks from planting to transplanting. Starting seeds indoors too early results in long, overgrown seedlings. My goal is to transplant my seedlings to the garden about a week after my last expected spring frost date. Find out your region's last frost date and count back six to eight weeks.
That's when you should sow your seeds indoors. Are you going to grow tomatoes from seeds for your garden? Tomato seeds that are kept at warm room temperature and sprayed with water twice a day should sprout within a week. As soon as the seedlings break through the surface, move them to bright light. A full-spectrum growth light is ideal, but a sunny window will do as long as you watch the seedlings closely to make sure they don't dry out.
Follow these simple steps to grow tomatoes from seed, and yours is sure to be one of the biggest on your block. Growing your own food should be a relaxing and pleasant activity, so follow your instincts and have a good time. Understanding the different types of seeds will help you choose the right tomato varieties for your garden. You have all the information to plant, germinate and support your baby plants to start producing the best tomatoes you'll ever try.
The main stem can also be damaged if a seedling falls off, which sometimes happens when a weak-stemmed tomato seedling becomes heavy with new leaves. Avoid the temptation to plant small tomato seedlings in large containers, which can cause sparse roots to be overwhelmed by soil microorganisms. But be careful, as you don't want the tomatoes to ripen too much, which can result in a very soft tomato. I like the phrase “potting” to move a seedling to a slightly larger container, which happens twice with my tomatoes.
In addition, if you plan to grow organic tomatoes, seed initiation makes it much easier to control the elements involved in plant growth. If you want to calculate the length of your growing season, check out this handy calculator on the National Garden Office website. If you plan to keep your tomato plants indoors, this isn't a problem, so you can start at any time. If you have a single raised bed, you can alternate the sides of the bed where you plant tomatoes from year to year.
And when they grow near a window or on a windowsill, they will reach so much that the plants will grow tall and weak without structure. In that case, you can opt for tomatoes that grow longer, such as steak, Roma, San Marzano and Giulietta.
