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Trindaddy Temecula, CA Aug 06, 2010

Hello everyone

Well I'm new to gardening and I have almost no clue to what I'm doing. Nevertheless, I planted two tomato plants back in April/May and they are almost six feet tall and are producing lots of fruit. Needless to say, I'm very excited. I just purchased a sweet pepper grow kit. The pot is about five inches tall and approximately five in. in diameter. The directions say to place 10 seeds in the container does that sound right? It then instructs to transplant them to a larger container once they have 3 sets of true leaves. Question. What are true leaves and how big of a container should I get. I have a small apt. patio and the tomatoes are in 14 inch pots each. Any advice?

Thanks
Trindaddy

PS I'll try to post some photos of the tomatoes. I'm so excited that I tell just about everyone I know. They sometimes look at me weird cause I'm 237 lbs of former Infantry Marine.

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NatureLover1950 Vicksburg, MS(Zone 8a) Aug 06, 2010

Just my preference here but I use something like peat pots or pellets so I can plant no more than two or three seeds per pot. When the seedlings get big enough I pull out the two weaker ones and leave the strongest. I prefer to do this because transplanting is a shock to most plants and it will set them back for a while whereas using the peat pots allows me to just pop the whole thing in the ground when the seedlings are big enough. As to the leaves--newly emerged seedlings will have two small leaves at first and then will develop their true leaves as they grow. The initial set of leaves is usually small compared to the true leaves.
Congratulations on those tomatoes--can't beat home grown. My older brother was a Marine and he took up gardening too. Your excitement reminds me of him when he first got started :-} (He was a big guy too.)

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stephanietx Fort Worth, TX(Zone 8a) Aug 08, 2010

You can also use 8 oz. Styrofoam cups or plastic cups. Just poke holes in the bottom for drainage. They you can plant 2 or 3 seeds in each, thin out the ones that you want, and you don't waste as many seeds.

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LiseP San Antonio, TX(Zone 8b) Aug 10, 2010

True leaves, from my understanding, are not the first pair of leaves.

Most plants (except onions and maybe one or two others) send up a first pair of leaves that, no matter what the veggie is, look the same as every other vegetable's first pair of leaves. But then the next and subsequent leaves will look more individual and "true" -- that is, they will look like the veggie's actual leaves.

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