Sooo I may have gotten excited and sowed my tomato seeds way too early. I am in zone 9b, Northern California and my usual outdoor planting window is April 10 (that’s when I transplanted them last season). My plan this year was to try to transplant my tomato plants earlier around March 28 or the first week of April and just cover them with a frost cloth, but now I think I may have planted them way too early. A lot of my tomato plants are developing flower buds, should I pinch them off?
by tomatos_red
22 Comments
Definitely pinch everything until the day you put them out.
You might need to pot them up again, or give them away and let it be someone else’s problem 🤣
Yes, pinch
Pinch and raise your lights. Light should be 2″ or more from the tops of your plants
I did not pinch and ended up with red tomatoes while they were still in pots. Most all are in the ground now but the big vines don’t look so good as it was cold last week.
Agree with the others who have suggested pinching the flowers. But I also wanted to mention something that might help you plant out a little earlier that I’ve used with good results. Wall-of Water insulated teepees. The sun heats them up during the day and they release enough warmth during the night to keep the seedlings healthy and let them get an early start.
This is kind of a corny video, but it will still give you a better idea of how they work: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZQKUzI1-_8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZQKUzI1-_8)
Edited to add: I found a better video [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKG-qhSAX5k)
Let your plant grow naturally.
When I’ve started too early, I dig nice deep holes and let them grow more roots. You might also pot up to gallon pots, if you can make space for them. I’d bury as much of the stems as I could.
When did you sow these?
There’s absolutely no science behind the idea of pinching flowers.
It’s just a myth people keep repeating until they’ve convinced themselves it’s true.
I’ve never pinched flowers and I get amazing harvests every season.
In fact if you think about it from an evolution standpoint, it makes absolutely no sense. You’re acting like you know more than millions of years of natural selection and evolution.
How big is your farm? 😅
😬
Yup, you’ll get better results if you let the plant focus on getting established first, then it can put energy into fruit later.
pinch them off. they’re not ready for babies yet. When I do it I yell “no teen pregnancy!!”
Hi, when will you transplant ?
How soon are you setting them out? Mine did the same thing about a week before setting out (I’m in 10a) and I left them. The plants are fine and one of them has set fruity already.
Why are they in double cups? Apologies if that’s a basic question.
I thought this was a private weed growing sub photo 😆
Alot of folks saying pinch them but just curious if that would apply to determinate varieties as well since they tend to have one flush of fruit ?
Pinch off and alter nutrients towards nitrogen.
They are indoors, it is way too early for flowers, take em out
I’d pinch until you’re ready to put them outside. Also, look into bigger shelves cuz you’re gonna need them lol.