Here are 12 Brilliant Tricks for Growing Tomatoes from Seeds that will help you to grow perfect plants with a juicy and plump harvest!
Follow these Brilliant Tricks for Growing Tomatoes from Seeds to ensure you grow disease-free plants and enjoy fuller and plumpy fruits!
Find everything about growing tomatoes here
Brilliant Tricks for Growing Tomatoes from Seeds
1. Plant Seedlings Deeply
The logic behind planting tomato seedlings deeply is the fact that these plants start to form roots from any buried portion.
So, the deeper you plant the seedlings, the better root system they’ll have, resulting in better absorption of water and nutrients. All this will make the plants healthy and less susceptible to drought and diseases.
Put these things in the tomato planting hole, check here
2. Plant Tomatoes Sideways
Growing tomatoes sideways will help your plant grow vertical roots. Leggy plants grown sideways will get more nutrients as more root nodes are attached between the stem and the soil.
Growing tomatoes sideways also saves you from worrying about plants with overgrown stems, which makes the plant droop. This would not be a concern if grown sideways.
3. Start Seeds Early
Under favorable conditions, tomato seeds germinate in 5-7 days and will take up to six to eight weeks to grow into seedlings. It will be best to start tomato seeds indoors about four to six weeks before the last expected frost date.
4. Use Aspirin!
Many researchers have shown that tomatoes use hormones that are similar to Salicylic acid to trigger Systemic acquired resistance (SAR). This helps them fight off many fungi and bacteria, helping the plants to develop better fruits.
You must be knowing that aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid. Crush one tablet of Aspirin, mix it in 400ml of water and spray it on the plant foliage from the seedling stage onwards, once in 2-3 weeks. It will keep the plant immune from many potential diseases.
5. Plant Dry Seeds
Do not plant the seeds with pulp or when they are wet. This makes the germination process long, and the wetness might also attract fungal issues.
It is always a good idea to wash the seeds after you scoop them out and dry them on a paper towel before sowing.
6. Growing Tomatoes from Slices
It is one of the best ways to grow tomatoes quickly. Place slices of tomatoes on top of the potting mix, cover with a layer of growing medium, pat, water well, and keep the pot where it gets bright, indirect light. You’ll see new plants in 1-2 weeks!
7. Pick Healthiest Seedlings
After growing multiple seeds, select the seedlings that look the healthiest. The reason behind it is simple—healthy and bushy ones will make the best plants!
Find out the one secret for healthy and productive tomatoes here
8. Make a Greenhouse for Tomato Seedlings
You can also make a mini greenhouse to start tomato seeds 2-3 weeks prior, which will give you a headstart into growing them if you live in a cold region. When it gets warm, transplant the seedlings into the garden.
9. Harden Off Seedlings Slowly
Hardening off tomatoes is a transition period to adapt them to their new location, and providing them a slow transition will help them to become stronger.
According to the Penn State Extension, a gradual introduction of these outdoor stresses will cause the plant to accumulate carbohydrates, trigger more root development, reduce the amount of freeze-prone water in the plant, and thicken its cell walls. All this will help the plant to grow better and more robust.
Follow these points for hardening off tomatoes:
- Provide the plants a 7-14 day transition period.
- Slowly increase sun exposure outdoors.
- Safeguard plants from wind for the first week.
- Water the plants less frequently, but do not let them wilt or dry out.
- Avoid fertilizing the plant during this period.
- Start hardening off when the outdoor daytime temperature is above 50 F.
10. Treat the Seedlings with Epsom Salt
Use half a teaspoon of Epsom salt along with bone meal powder in the bottom of the planting hole while transplanting the seedlings, and cover with a layer of soil.
Make sure before planting that roots do not directly touch Epsom salt. Read more here.
11. Plant Seedlings in Decomposable Pots
The idea behind planting seedlings in a decomposable pot is to not disturb the roots while re-planting. Plant does not like their position to be changed, and re-planting them from one place to another shocks the roots, resulting in poor growth and development.
A super innovative way to handle this is to grow seedlings in decomposable pots. This way, you can simply dig a hole in the garden and plant seedlings along with the pot. The pot will decompose on its own, and the tomato seedlings will root themselves.
This is a brilliant way of transplanting seedlings without disturbing the roots!
12. Use Steamed Bone Meal Powder While Transplanting Seedlings
A spoon full of steamed bone meal into the planting hole at the time of planting seedlings will give them the headstart they need for good growth.
Bonemeal is an essential source of nutrients, especially phosphorus, which will help the plant to produce quality tomatoes.
