Speeding Tomato and Pepper Seedlings Along?

I started my first tomato seeds a little over a month ago. They are only just now putting on their second set of true leaves. I made an order from Amishland Heirloom Seeds this week (Black Ruffles tomato and Basque pepper) and just got an email that she’s very behind on orders due to a family emergency. Seeds won’t be shipped for around 3 weeks. This gives me a much later start than I wanted, given our short summer season here.

Is there anything I could do to ensure the fastest germination and growth possible once I have and have planted the seeds? What I’ve done so far is plant the tomato seeds either in coir starter pots or in Black Gold seed starter mix in a six-pack. I’ve had them on a seedling heat mat inside only until they germinate. But because I don’t have a growlight, I take them outside for full light once they’ve broken above the surface. I take them in again at nights until they’re old enough to need a little less coddling. When they’ve gotten big enough to seem constrained by the pots, I pot them up into something larger using Black Gold Potting Soil.

Should I cancel the order? Should I not and plant them? Or should I not and just hang onto the seeds ’til next year? :-/

You sound like your doing everything you can to me.I plan to start mine in about 3 weeks,indoors.Explain to me how you figure you have a short growing season.You live in California in zone 9.I am just curious.My last frost is may 30.First frost october 1.Is your growing season shorter than that?I figure,I have 100 days.Plenty of time for tomatoes,correct?Edge

Edge, I live in a very mild winter area. The kind of heat that tomatoes and peppers loves only lasts a month or so, if that. Elsewhere in CA, that's not a problem, but here in the SF fog belt, our summers are often foggy. It's pretty much a straight line between me and the Golden Gate. There's no significant land mass ameliorating the ocean air.

I'm surprised you can even grow tomatoes there at all, I thought you had to be over here on the hotter side of the hills to have much luck with them. But the good news is since your hottest summer weather will probably be in late summer/early fall when the fog goes away, maybe that'll be just the right time when they need a little heat if you start them a bit later than you normally would?

Spidra--I successfully grew tomatoes in Alameda several years ago, but found I absolutely had to have them near a light colored wall, fence, house etc to get extra reflected heat and light. Otherwise, they sulked and just kinda've hung out--not really growing, not really dying. Mine did best right beside the stucco wall of my house. If you don't have anyplace to put them with light or white colors, why don't you try just some white poster/board underneath and behind the pots? That might be just enough extra light and heat to speed things along.

Thanks, yotedog.

My biggest worry is how long it takes to move tomato seedlings to the point where one would transplant them. The ones I planted a month ago are growing very slowly, in my opinion. Although not as slowly as the cilantro seedlings!

I wonder if you could use a cold frame that is, in reality, a hot frame? Upping yotedog's ante and using reflective lining?

If I were you Pagancat, I would paint some of the cold frame white to reflect the light, and some of it black, to absorb the heat and help keep them warm at night. Maybe walls white, and floor black, or vice versa. Best of both worlds...

LOL - not me, thanks - I have more than I can handle with a 24x 16 hoop house - was thinking about spidra's situation.

But I could see where both paints could definitely help.... or even brick.

Pagancat,
How do you like you Hoop House? I was thinking of getting one. Do you use it commercially or for home use?

I love DIY but am not able to do much of it since becoming disabled more than a decade ago. I could see if a friend might help me. Thanks for the suggestions.

Lynn - well... I use it for both, really! I have a fairly small one (in terms of commercial use) but all the coleus I was raising are going in there this week.

Probably my biggest challenge with the hoop house has been heating and cooling - but that's probably a big deal in any Gh, right? Regardless, it is lovely to have now that it's above freezing! If you get one, I suggest having it built so that the sides roll up.

Spidra, you could probably get a rather unexperienced handy person to knock these together for you - they're fairly simple. This is also a good item to get from Freecycle.com or Craig's list - just old window frames from a new window remodel project. Here's some ideas: http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?cat=388

I don't know any handymen that will work for free. I lost my last source of income in late January and my SSDI app is pending.

I would recommend re-potting those seedlings ASAP. If they have food, light and even moderate warmth they will grow at an astonishing rate with unrestricted root space. If their roots touch the pot, it slows them down.

I started some too early and was trying to hold them back. They got leggy and about 1 foot tall in 4" pots so I put them into 1 gallons. That only lasted a couple weeks. They were blooming and I had to go on and take a chance. So far it has worked well and my largest fruit is about 50 cent size.

Many times I've seen young plants catch up with older ones once the weather warmed and the days lengthened.

Spidra, If it were me I would buy new seeds close by so you can plant now, keep the order in if you want those seeds for next year. I planted tomato seeds on the 14th of this month and I repoted 14 of them today and should have done more. They are on their 3rd set of leaves. That is because I have them inside in my kitchen. It is warm in the house and I also have florescent lights on them 15 hours a day.

It sounds like you can't do the florescent light thing, that is too bad. They aren't that expensive at Home Depot. Around $9 or $10 for a SHOP LIGHTS (if you demand the cheaper ones) and about $4 each for the lights. It would take 2 bulbs. So you are talking about around $20. That might be expensive tomatoes.

You really need the lights to get plants that are not leggy. Do you have a used building items store, like Habitat for Humanity? They might have one. Just a thought. Possibly Good Will, Salvation Army, Thrift stores.

Good luck, Jeanette

Tomatoes and peppers that are leggy are *no* problem. You can plant them deep - all the way up to their leaves or break off the leaves and do it higher - they will root along the stem. Don't pitch them, you'll just have to restart them and it sounds like your resources are waaaayyy tight. I am replanting some now that are too tall for the 6 pak, so I'm actually wrapping the stem around the root ball (you won't believe how flexible those things are) then planting the whole mess. If you're going to put them in the ground, you can lay them down and do it so the top is all that's exposed.

C'mon SSI - now!!! You're in my thoughts, hang in there.

I know I can plant tomatoes deeply, the deeper the better, but have been told that it doesn't work for peppers and eggplants. Not true?
Would sure be helpful :))

Margo

Well, I'm doing it, but it is on the advice of another grower, not on my own experience. I think when I go visit the pepper plants tomorrow I will unearth one of them and see what I got.

I will tell you that the starts are thriving, even if their stems aren't rooting... so at least they don't rot.

Oh, and eggplant, I sure dunno. But it wouldn't hurt to try one, eh?

My squash and cukes from seed last year were leggy and I buried them very deep. Thet did just fine.

Doug

But she can't keep repotting and burying and winding them forever. At some point she has to get some beef to them. She is in a damp and foggy area.

Spidra, when will you be able to plant outside??? What are your outside temperatures? I am wondering about the possibility of maybe putting them outside in a light but protected area with a plastic bag of some sort around them. The thicker the plastic the better.

Doug, I have found that cukes and melons don't like to be handled (re-potted) much. I can see where they might work planting deep if not too wet. They are pretty pulpy stems.

Jeanette

LOL - I wasn't suggesting that she do it FOREVER ... although I guess she could try it, see how long it went....

Fact is, if she doesn't have the light or the heat, it ain't gonna work anyway, so why not try winding a few times until one or the other appears? She may just get lucky.

Hey Margo - I just went out and de-potted (un potted?) one of my California Beauty peppers that was planted deep (actually, it was one of the wind-around-the-root-ball specimens) and sure enough, there are roots extending from the bottom segment. Without actually dissecting it, I believe they're from the stem, not the root ball, if only because it will no longer unwind.

But the good news is: they survive and do well.

Jnette - I can plant outside now for all but the hottest stuff (melons & corn should probably wait a couple weeks more). I'm tracking my garden progress here so you can see what I've started and what I've already planted out:

http://myfolia.com/gardener/spidra

So the issue for me wasn't whether I could plant out. It was whether I should cancel the order or use some miracle method of making the seedlings grow quickly or just get used to the idea that I'll have to wait 'til next season to plant the seeds. The tomatoes are not the end of the world since I have many other tomato varieties I've already planted. The big one was the Basque pepper since I have no equivalent for that.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Ok Spidra, neat site btw, I went back to the beginning of this post and I guess I got carried away in my suggestions. Here is what you said:

Should I cancel the order? Should I not and plant them? Or should I not and just hang onto the seeds ’til next year?

My response now, and should have been then, is: Wait until they get here, plant a few and save the rest 'til next year.

That is what I would do. Now, let us know what you do.

Jeanette

Pagancat wrote;"sure enough, there are roots extending from the bottom segment. Without actually dissecting it, I believe they're from the stem, not the root ball, if only because it will no longer unwind."

COOL!! Thanks PC. That will make me much happier, and maybe the peppers as well :)

PC, I always heard that crowding the roots stunted the growth. Are you saying that you are going to get just as good production from that pepper?

Jeanette

Spidra, I don't have Basque pepper seeds, but do have extra seed for several heirloom hot and sweet (non-bell) peppers. I'm guessing they'd get to you sooner than the order you are waiting on, if nothing else. Send me a dmail if you're interested.

Sunny

Well, the roots are still spreading - the container is not that big, it's just the cell of a 6 pak, but they haven't reached the sides or bottom yet, by any means.

Additionally, I went to a lecture a bit ago that said although the root systems of pre-grown plants definitely were not as big as direct sown plants, they tended to have a higher yield, so yeah, I guess I would say your production will be higher. Seems counter-intuitive, but probably the only good reason not to direct sow - that, and you tend to miss some of the insects and blights if you don't plant too early. I think that's the larger problem - people trying to rush the plants and ending up having to resort to pesticides to keep them going.

Glad I could help, Margo!