It’s been hot here lately so I started “early” outside. I’ve never grown tomatoes or much else before. The pot is roughly 10” high and a foot wide. Is this way too much in there? What should I do next for that issue? I could put them in the ground or get new pots.
It’s also going to be 30 degrees F one night soon, and then right back to low 60’s and high 70’s and 80’s. Cover and stick in our unheated temporary greenhouse?
Location: South Louisiana, Super Sweet 100 tomatoes
by Rather_be_on_a_trail
5 Comments
Well, we all have our own techniques.
I start my inside in little pots , under grow lights with a heat mat underneath.
This is gonna be a fun kind of adventure for you!
Definitely , wanna be sure that they go inside when it gets that cold.
Are they growing in compost?
Hi fellow South Louisianian!
Here’s my tips:
1) Spacing. If you want them to stay in that pot, only keep the healthiest seedling. However, the bigger the pot or space allowed, the more potential for a bigger harvest. I believe these take up 2 feet wide of space, plus you want at least a foot in between each plant to give them some breathing room. They need that down here with so much humidity.
2) Housing. After you have decided where they will live, they need walls because they are indeterminate, which means they will get tall (like 5 – 6 feet!) and continue to produce for a few months if the conditions are right. Tractor supply has some decent tomato cage systems to help you get started.
3) Feeding. Start them off in composte rich soil and let them get settled in. Then Nitrogen (liquid or blood meal) every two weeks until you see flowers. When you see flowers, switch the feeding to Phosphorus and Potassium (liquid or bone meal). When you see fruits, also add calcium and magnesium (Lowe’s sells food for this, it prevents blossom rot).
4) Friends. Plant marigold and basil around them. Marigolds help keep the hornworms at bay (we have a ton down here, so it’s not going to keep all of them away but it helps). Basil helps improve the flavor and also deters some pests. BT spray is organic and helps keep hornworms away as well. Those little shits will fool you because of their camo…you can find them easily with a black light at night. Pick them off immediately and destroy them or they will eat your whole plant in a day.
5) Other. If you’re on Facebook, find Jenny Bourg’s Tips and Tricks page. She’s a gardening god down here and produces hundreds of pounds of tomatoes every year and sets state records. Search through her posts and her YouTube for advice…I promise whatever questions you have she has answered on Facebook.
Happy Gardening! ❤️💙💛🍅⚜️
I have a really jank setup due to not wanting to overspend so take this as you will, lol.
I think they are fine as they are (just shelter them when it freezes), and I would wait until they have two or three sets of true leaves. After that I would separate them out and grow them how you want (depending on variety, replant one into that pot, beefsteak varieties need bigger pots).
I once put about a tablespoon of seeds from a store bought roma in a 4×4 pot and let them struggle for two months on my porch, then separated them into the strongest ones and planted 14 of them. They did outstanding in my book, even with my undisciplined chaotic style. Only thing that killed them were the non-stop spidermites and finally the blight.
You’ll do fine, even with bare minimum 😂.
Just make sure they get plenty of light.
And a pot like that you need to make sure they don’t dry out. They are very fragile at this stage.
When they get big enough you’re going to want to separate them and put them in individual pots.