Help with Tomato first time growing

Hello every one.

So my wife and I decided to try our hand at growing tomatoes.

So we went out and got the seeds and a trough to start with. Got my self sone good organic potting mix and some bonemeal.

Planted the seeds and watered with water from my aquariums. Aquarium water is very rich in good stuff fir the plants so I used It exclusively.

8days later they started sprouting. 2weejs later they are really growing.

My question is should they stay in this trough or, must I move them. Also if I move them what pots should I use.

Sorry fir all the silly questions.

 

Thanks. I did not expect all the seeds to sprout. Do I just dig them out? Should I wait for them to get a little bigger? Sorry for all the questions.

 

Hiya dash.
I have to ask, where do you plan to grow these on? The 'normal' method is to either grow under glass (greenhouse for instance), or outside in pots/grow bags/ground. In both of these cases they should have been sown months ago. Maybe you live outside of the UK?

 

Ahh, I see you're from South Africa, ok. Basically, you need to tease out the seedlings trying not to damage the roots. If it were me, I'd decide how many plants I wanted, and choose the seedlings with the best looking root systems, and plant into 3" pots, as John says. Hope this helps.

 

Ok going to grow them out side. Spring is almost here and the weather is warming up nicely.

Will get some pots and show you guys first. Thanks for the advice thus far. Really appreciate it.

 

I reckon you must have over 200 seedlings, the ones in the middle will be the most leggy, and those around the outside will be much healthier plus easier to separate, get all you need (plus some spares) transplanted into small pots or cellular trays [1] as soon as possible. Tomatoes benefit from being placed deeper and deeper every time they're transplanted or potted on as they'll have a larger root system and stronger stems.

If you've added the bonemeal to seed compost, it's too early to be feeding them.

Are they to be grown in pots or open ground, and what variety are they?

And tomatoes seem to be one of those seeds where if you sow 200, 199 will germinate, but if you only have 2 seeds, you'll be lucky to get one.


[1] like these

 

Thanks for all the fantastic advice. Going to keep them in pots as I live in a complex.

Unfortunately we threw away the seed package. So I have know idea. Can I put 2 or 3 plants per pot?

 

1 plant per 3" pot to start with, then when large enough, transplant each plant into something like a bucket sized pot.
Edit : I'm assuming they're a regular sized variety

 

Thanks guys. Those are some big plants

 

Hi dash
I lived and worked in West Africa in the late 70's to mid 80's.
It was probably a little more humid where I was than where you are but one thing that I found was that Africa made me a "super gardener", by that I mean that very little, if anything, failed to grow.
You obviously need help with your toms and the guys have given you some great advice, I would just add that I wouldn't be tempted to over water them once they start to fruit, a really good soaking twice a week should be enough.
If you succeed with your tomatoes or not I hope that you will be encouraged to keep on trying. Seed packets contain just about all of the information that you need about the variety that you are going to grow so keep it safe for reference, failing all else this site has some pretty experienced gardeners who will be only too pleased to offer advice.
Good luck.

 

Thanks mate. Really appreciate it and, all the other advice given so far.


I will never give up on this hobby as it is so rewarding. Got some other plants like roses, edibles like chillies and a few others as well.