I started some Roma tomatoes on Jan 4th, they were leggy so I repotted them into 4” pots on Jan 25th.
I have been having a hard time with them in small pots. I am either over or under watering them and they are having leaves droop and dry out.
Today I repotted two of them to 3gal grow bags.
🤞
If you zoom in on the pictures you can see the damage I am experiencing. I hope that the grow bags will be easier to keep at a stable moisture level.
I haven’t had any issues with the peppers on the upper racks and I am watering them the same way, only when needed to the best that I can tell.
I’m in the Pacific Northwest so I have about two months before planting outside.
by Midisland-4
8 Comments
https://preview.redd.it/qsilvgg7kkhg1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c999e3e39ce1168667322f72f78fcffb7537b2c
Wilting…. Likely over watering but I wait until the soil is dry before watering. This is in decent potting mix….
What kinda lights you got there?
They look fine to me. Tomato seedlings can be dramatic sometimes but yours look very healthy.
The issue you’ll run into is timing. If you can’t plant outside for two months, your starts are going to exceed their containers before then. You might want to start a few seedlings to have some starts going in reserve in case your current starts get over the hill.
One thing that might mitigate it: Take the two plants that you repotted today, remove them from the soil, and repot them even deeper. Cut off lower leaves and I mean really, really bury them so that the current root ball is as deep as it can go. This will stall the plant’s vertical growth while the root system develops from the additional stem height that you’ve buried.
Your starts look great overall!
You’ll definitely have some beasts if you started them in January! I plant mine last week of May in the ground, so I start them first week of March. They only need 6-8 weeks indoors! Best of luck 🙂
Looking good. When they’re leggy , like that , you want to be sure to plant them a little deeper than you normally would.
It’s perfectly fine to trim off the bottom branches
Roots will grow out of the stem.
You’ve got some lovely starts there. Look how thick the stems are! Now I am feeling left behind because I don’t even have seeds in yet. For water, I believe the key is to maintain moist but not soggy medium. If you are seeing light brown crust at the top, you’re too dry and your babies will suffer. If it’s black and you see even a hint of icky green algae, which can take hold very quickly, your soil is saturated and your babies will suffer. Happy growing!
With tomatoes, my suggestion would be to plant them lower in the 5-gallon grow bags, then fill in soil as they grow. Then you won’t have to repot as often and they’ll start growing additional roots of the stems as you fill up the pot.
Your tomatoes are beautiful! You’ve been doing really well with them. 😻 Youngins are always a little tender looking but over time the vine will thicken. You’ll still want some support because the fruits will get really heavy though. Also, since you’re PNW too, I’d double check your last frost date and add a week or two. My first time taking mine outside right after the last frost, my area experienced a cold snap and it destroyed my poor tomatoes. Shoulda knitted a cute sweater for the poor thing. orz