caring

Caring for Tomatoes When Seeds Turn to Leaves

Dan Fruits & Vegetables, This Land of Ours

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Cathy Isom continues her series on planting tomatoes from seed by giving you some helpful information about caring for your tomatoes when seeds turn to leaves. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

Caring for Tomatoes When Seeds Turn to Leaves

Once your tomato seedling has true leaves, it’s time to start feeding it. Any good liquid fertilizer can be used once a week. Dilute it to half the label recommended dose.

Light is critical now. Keep your tomato seedlings close to your grow lights and rotate the plants if they seem to be growing or leaning in one direction.

Tomato stems grow sturdier if they are tossed about by the wind. You can simulate this indoors by putting a fan on your plants for an hour a day or simply running your hand through them each time you pass them. When the tomato seedlings are 2 to 3 inches tall and have a couple of sets of true leaves, it’s time to pot them up or move them into larger pots of their own. You should transplant individual tomato seedlings into bigger pots, to continue growing stronger indoors. Commonly, 3- to 4-inch containers are good for seedlings this size. You may need to move them to larger pots later if you can’t move them outdoors.

I’m Cathy Isom…