How to Care for Tomato Seedlings for the Best Harvest

We prepare the earthen substrate and seedlings

Caring for seedlings is a rather painstaking task that requires a lot of time and effort. In order to grow healthy seedlings, it is necessary to take into account a significant number of factors, ranging from the temperature of the external environment to the presence of the necessary microorganisms in the soil. Caring for tomato seedlings begins with the preparation of fertile soil.

It is much easier to buy ready-made seedlings, but nevertheless, many gardeners prefer to grow seedlings on their own. Properly grown at home, plants bring a rich harvest. In addition, caring for seedlings is simply interesting, and growing seedlings on your own will bring pleasure to lovers of gardening.

The preparation of the soil in which you will plant tomato seeds should begin in advance. In particular, if you are going to use “live” soil from your own beds, it can take up to three weeks to make it suitable for planting.

If you are confident in your own abilities, prepare an earthen substrate at home. The mixture in which tomato seeds are planted is called classic and consists of equal parts garden soil, humus, black peat / compost and river sand.

When using soil from your garden, remember that it should be free of insects or toxic substances. It is necessary to steam the earth in advance so that its microflora has time to recover by the time the seeds are sown.

For beginner gardeners, it is preferable to purchase a ready-made earthen substrate. Specialized stores sell soils that are already enriched with all the nutrients. Unlike those prepared on their own, purchased soils do not require special care and it is not necessary to steam them and “feed” them with additives.

When choosing a container in which tomato seeds will sprout, keep in mind that its height should not be less than 10 cm. For such purposes, both special pallets and plastic boxes, as well as “pots” from ordinary cut-off bottles, are suitable. Fill the container with the substrate 5-6 hours before sowing and moisten abundantly. Elite tomato seeds do not need special preparation for sowing. To process simple varieties, prepare a weak solution of potassium permanganate and dip a bag of seeds into it for a few minutes. Then rinse them with warm water.

Growing tips

Caring for seedlings is a rather painstaking task that requires a lot of time and effort. In order to grow healthy seedlings, it is necessary to take into account a significant number of factors, ranging from the temperature of the external environment to the presence of the necessary microorganisms in the soil.

During the first week after sowing, the container with seeds should be covered with a film or covered with a transparent cap. Make sure that the ambient temperature is approximately +25 degrees. Seedlings will appear 5-6 days after sowing. When the seeds germinate, we will remove the film from the container and focus our attention on creating favorable conditions for the seedlings. As you can see, no special care is required.

After seed germination, you need to lower the temperature in the room to + 17-19 degrees, and also take care of the lighting necessary for light-loving tomatoes. Tomato seedlings need a light day lasting from 12 to 14 hours. If natural light is not enough, use fluorescent lamps. Over time, they can be left on for the whole day.    

At first, full-fledged irrigation of crops is not carried out, otherwise the root system will develop worse than the aerial part. Spray the soil only with boiled or settled water, to which you can add a couple of drops of potassium permanganate. The temperature of the liquid should be 20-25 degrees. Otherwise, the risk that your plants will pick up the so-called “black leg” increases – in this case it will be almost impossible to save the seedlings.

Until the leaves appear, water the seedlings no more than once a week. In the future, make sure that water moistens only the root and does not fall in large quantities on the aerial part.

About picking and hardening

A pick is simply a transplant of plants with a fairly strong and overgrown root system. If more than two weeks have passed since the appearance of the leaves, start preparing for picking seedlings. This is a painstaking process, but a couple of tips will help reduce the risk of plant damage.

• Take care of the new container in advance. Its dimensions should exceed the volume of the previous one by at least 5 times.  
• It is not necessary to excessively moisten the ground before picking – this will help to carefully remove the seedling along with the earthen clod.
• After transplanting, tomatoes should rest in a shady place for 1-2 days.
• Do not feel sorry for frail seedlings and, after picking, cut them off at the root. This will help them develop better in the future.

To prepare plants for transplanting into open ground, it is necessary to harden them well. To do this, the seedlings are taken out to a cool room and left there for 15-20 minutes. A glazed loggia is perfect for such purposes if the air temperature outside is above 10 degrees.

The hardening process lasts an average of 10-12 days. For the first few days, do not allow the plants to be exposed to direct sunlight for a long time or under a draft. Only when the hardening period comes to an end and the seedlings get stronger, you can leave them at an open window even for the night.

gardeners mistakes

Excessive heat or too generous watering may not be the best way to reflect on the results of your efforts. Compared with other crops, tomato seedlings are quite unpretentious and able to survive in not the most favorable conditions. However, losing sight of the important features of caring for tomato seedlings, we risk getting weak plants with a poorly developed root system and fragile leaves.

• Seedlings need to be watered only as the topsoil dries. The abundance of moisture is one of the main factors causing the “black leg” that gardeners are so afraid of.
• Trying to plant as many seeds as possible in one container, gardeners make the second mistake. Seeds planted too often will grow slowly and interfere with each other. In addition, it increases the risk of spreading diseases. Try to plant the seeds so that in the future their leaves do not touch and each seedling receives enough sunlight.
• Many words have been said about the benefits of fertilizers, but their excessive amount certainly will not turn into quality. Novice gardeners sometimes overfeed their “children” with various additives, which poisons them, making them frail. Use nitrogen supplements with extreme caution. Do not go to the other extreme, ignoring unnatural leaf color changes or other symptoms of diseases.
• If the container with seedlings is on the windowsill, take care of the cleanliness of the glass. Remember the love of tomato seedlings for sunlight.
• You will significantly improve the quality of seedlings by carefully observing the timing of the procedures for sowing, hardening and picking. For the convenience of gardeners, a memo with approximate timing calculations is printed on packages with seeds. In addition, similar tables can be found on the Internet or magazines on gardening topics.

Video “Proper care of tomato seedlings”

Practical tips for caring for tomato seedlings from germination to picking.