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Determinate vines are easier to control and support during the growing season. Successive plantings may be desirable with determinates to keep the harvest coming through the entire season. Most determinate tomato varieties ripen their fruit over a shorter period of time. Newer determinates produce better foliage, may grow taller and ripen fruit of similar quality to modern indeterminate varieties. (Remember those dense, thick skinned, flavorless early hybrids? Even their color was washed out!) The first determinate varieties developed had inadequate foliage cover and taste, but they ripened very quickly. Tomatoes are classified determinate if they eventually form a flower cluster at the terminal growing point that causes the plant to stop growing in height. In temperate climate zones, indeterminate tomato varieties will produce fruit over a 2-3-month period. Indeterminate tomato plants continue to grow, flower, and fruit until the first hard frost. This type of tomato plant grows to a certain height, flowers, and fruits all within a short period of time. Source: Egan Snow.ĭeterminate tomatoes are generally small, compact, stout-stemmed bushy plants. The type of tomato you’re growing and the method you use to trellis will help determine how to space your tomatoes. This will help you plan your plant spacing to suite your particular tomato crop. You should first establish whether the tomato you’ve chosen is a determinate or indeterminate variety. Subscribe to the Epic Gardening Podcast on iTunes or Spotify Creating Your Tomato Spacing Plan Get more tomato growing tips on our Pinterest board.Listen to this post on the Epic Gardening Podcast Strengthen a growing tomato plant to prepare it for the home garden. Re-potting tomato seedlings to a bigger container. How to label and grow tomatoes from seed. Review: Pro-Mix Seed Starting Formula for growing tomato seeds. Grow tomatoes from seeds: what you need to know How to germinate seeds to get best results when growing tomatoes Best seed starting containers to use to grow tomato seeds What potting mix to use when you grow tomato seeds Seed starting mix for tomatoes: what ingredients are important. When to Transplant Tomato Seedlings to Get the Healthiest Tomatoes. That will tell you you’re feeding your seedlings too much. Keep an eagle eye out for crystallized salts on soil surface. If you decide to give your plants some additional nutrients now, then feed seedlings with a weak (1/4 strength) water-soluble tomato fertilizer. If possible, wait until your seedlings have at least 2-3 sets of leaves before feeding. Tomato Dirt best advice: keep an eye out for yellowing leaves, which indicate the need for food. It’s up to you during their tomato seedling babyhood to decide whether or not to feed them, and if so, how much.Ī large number of successful home gardeners recommend waiting to fertilize until you transplant your baby tomato seedlings into their next-size-up containers. (Read more about fertilizing tomato plants.) Your seedlings aren’t quite at that point yet. On the other hand, mature tomato plants are like teenagers: you just can’t feed them enough. The other side says, “Give them some extra food! They need a strong start.” One side says plants are still feasting on the nutrients provided by their seeds. The jury is still out among tomato gardeners about how much to fertilize seedlings at this point in their young lives. Rotate tomato seedlings daily to prevent stem bending. Most home windows simply don’t have enough light for seedlings, especially in late winter and early spring. This is the most challenging lighting scenario for young tomatoes. Lights should remain on 12-16 hours a day. Yep, that means you’ll have to check your seedlings daily and move lights up and down occasionally. Mount lights with cords or link-type chains so you can adjust light height as seedlings grow. Fluorescent lights are among the most affordable and popular light source for seedlings. During days when temperatures rise to 50° F and higher, prop open the cold frame lid. When the forecast is for below 20☏ overnight, place an outdoor electric light inside the cold frame (one 60-watt bulb for every 12 cubic feet should be enough). Make sure yours has a tight-fitting lid so that heat stored up during the day from the sun will keep seedlings warm during cool nights. They can’t navigate this stage of development alone. Your greenhouse may not be as accessible as your living room or kitchen, but make sure you check on your tomato seedlings every day. If your greenhouse is situated where it gets maximum exposure to sunlight, use it! Caution: out of sight is not out of mind. Otherwise they will become leggy and weak very quickly, which will set back production in your garden.ġ. Seedlings need 12-18 hours of light each day. Bright light is super-important for healthy tomato seedlings! As soon as they sprout, they’ll reach up for sunbeams (or fluorescent beams).
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