Our tomato starts are growing fast now. We planted the two to four seeds per cup on 2/20/11. They were starting to outgrow their cups so, I divided them and transplanted them into their own cups. If the weather was warmer, I would have put them into one gallon pots. I disturbed their roots quite a bit dividing them, so I'll let them grow their roots back and in a couple weeks I'll put them into bigger pots outside into a temporary greenhouse. We are also fertilizing them with "Grow Big" when we water them. I'm still using frozen tomatoes from last year's harvest in sauces, but I can't to eat some fresh ones!
We started:
Oregon Spring
Stupice
Gold Nugget
Cherry (variety unknown)
Heirloom (mixed varieties)
Can you tell me more about what you are doing to your starts? I've been following your instructions and getting seeds to start, but they seem to not like to grow very much. Can you tell me more about "Grow Big?" (I love your site, thank you very much.) -Lisa K.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoy my blog.
The keys to growing starts is to make sure they good light and fertilizer. Our window seat that we keep them in is South facing.
As far as fertilizing... once the starts have their first true leaves they should be fertilized with a liquid fertilizer that is balanced. Potting soil is a just a medium for growth, it doesn't contain the nutrients that starts need to keep growing strong.
I learned my lesson a couple years ago when I didn't use fertilizer and all my tomato starts yellowed out and stunted. I used "Grow Big" and they greened up and grew like an inch in a couple days.
"Grow Big" by FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company that is a 6-4-4. It also contains trace minerals. FoxFarm makes a lot of different fertilizers for gardening and hydroponics.
We make a dilute solution and use it for every watering. I bought it at Willow Tree Gardens in University Place.
I hope that helps. Happy Gardening!