I live in zone 8 and planted these indoors mid January for transplant ≈ now.
They sprouted great and grew super well the first couple of weeks but it's almost like they haven't grown at all since sprouting their set of true leaves (about 4-6 weeks ago).
This is my second year growing tomatoes but my first to start them from seed and I'm wondering if I did something wrong?!
They have been on a heating mat, under a grow light and given regular waterings since sowing. I am currently attempting to "harden them off" but I'm worried they're just too small/fragile!
by CrystalKiwi08
11 Comments
Are they struggling for light? I think the sprouts can get leggy if they are trying to find sunlight
They are definitely starved for light (elongated) and maybe for nutrients. What soil is that ? Btw you should also turn off the heat mat after sprouting
They look leggy from lack of light, as evidenced by the fact that they are falling over and the seed leaves are so high on the stems. Have you fertilized them? If you started them in January, they should be about 12 inches tall by now.
1. Not enough light, 2. Take them off the heat mat the minute they sprout.
You might do best to just buy some young plants year in a nursery and then work on refining your technique for next season. There is no harm in that. Don’t feel bad.
I think it might come down to light and nutrients.
What kind of light are you using? Do you know the ppfd/dli? If not, do you know the wattage or lumens?
What kind of soil and/or fertilizer are you using? A lot of seed starting mixes are low or devoid of nutrients and this is for good reason – tiny seedlings don’t need any nutrition, they pack it all in their seeds. However, soon after developing their first true leaves, they need nutrients, and if the soil doesn’t have any, you need to provide it in the water. Not too much when they are still small, but they need some.
Your soil looks a little chunky and might be holding on to too much water.
Roma and paste varieties do just look a bit spindly and leggy though. They’re dramatic ladies. These look like they’re doing fine.
In my experience, growing Tomatoes from seed is more trouble than it is worth, unless you want to grow a super niche variety that you cant find at the store. They like lots of light and warmth which isn’t abundant in feb/march. It’s still pretty early in zone 8 for hardening off so they probably didn’t appreciate that. You can get Roma starts for super cheap and they are well worth it when you consider the time, effort and electricity you have put in since January.
You can try planting that stem down to the first leaves and then putting your light close to them as others have suggested. If you can keep em alive that way until it’s time to put em in the ground and then bury the new stem a bit more I bet they’ll make it. You should’ve seen some of the runts I planted last year that turned into unstoppables once they were established.
The good news is that you can bury them up to the leaves and roots will sprout from those long stems.
They leggy. Need more light. Grow lights often need to be very close to plants to offer them enough light so they don’t get too big.
More light or less heat, or both.