Best time to Transplant
 

I've tried again to grow Tomato plants from seed. I have never been successful in previous efforts at this. I planted them last Sunday and most are 1-2 inches tall and spindly. I'm worried they will begin to fall over. I grew them,for the first time using Jiffy peat pellets. They are on a hot pad set at the lowest temperature and under a grow light. I feel,rightly or wrongly, that I should transfer them to a 3' container. If so when and how deep should I plant them?

I'm certain you'll receive an answer or two shortly. :D

I do not start my seeds for another month. Any time earlier isn't suitable for here in zone 5b. :)

Here's what I think.

Remove the heat pad. The warm soil will encourage fast growth which will result in spindly seedlings. Carolyn and others have stated that bottom heat isn't needed for Tomato seed germination. It will hasten the germination period but when a few pop up remove the pad.

The ambient air temperture should be around 65 degrees or so. Cooler is better than hotter at this point.

Be sure the shoplights are within an inch or two of the seedlings. If not, they will stretch towards the light. Run the lights about 16 hrs a day.

Water at a minimum. Good and dry before watering will be better than maintaining a damp mix.

Running a fan so that a slight breeze is blowing across your plants will make the stems thicker.

Transplant seedling to an individual container when the first set of true leaves appear.

If all efforts fail and you still have a spindly or leggey seedling with it's first true leaves, don't worry. The seedling will be transplanted deeply. Set it to a depth that's just below the first set of true leaves.

The same things apply to the new transplanted seedling or they too will get leggy.

Hope this helps,

Tim

When to transplant
 

jwr,

I did repsond earlier but it wouldn't post so now I've typed in the subject title, which I haven't had to do before and didn't do when I posted in another thread here earlier this AM, and did tell Mischka about it.

What I said was to get them off the heating pad ASAP and into a larger container. One can transplant when the seedlings are about 2 inches tall or have their first set of true leaves, meaning not the cotyledons, which appear first.

After a few days to allow them to settle in make sure you grow them at a cool temperature b'c the two main factors that allow for getting strong stocky plants are slow growth at cool temps.

Temps can be as low as 60 F but anything less than heat pad temp helps.

I sow seeds in a seed pan, never Jiffy pellets, b'c I like to be able to transplant directly into cells, 4/pack and 8 packs to the tray insert.

Carolyn, who forgot what else she said in her initial post here. :)

Carolyn

JWR- i totally agree with the previous posts. who would not? there are more steps to go as carolyn has alluded.
i have come up with a somewhat bucolic and lazy method. i am like scott in texas. seed starting and potting up are kinda like painting a house. you gotta be brain dead and if not, when your are finished, you are!
i use jiffy sevens cause i'm lazy. never had any problems with tomatoes but am somewhat suspect with pepper seed. after the plants get their first true leaves, i set the entire jiffy seven in a small translucent plastic cup and fill this up with soiless mix. get the plants as close to the top of the cup as you can. put soil in the bottom to get the leaves even with the top of the cup so you can get as much light as possible. when these babies become robust, maybe 4-5 inches, i take them up to a cup size you would mix a nice boubon and coke in. i am not good with oz's. do the same thing, just pour the soiless mix in and keep the plant as close to the top as you can. i keep my lights as close as possible [ shop lights]. 1 inch if i can. i do not put drain holes in any cups because i like to judge by weight how much moisture is in or out. you can easily tell when one is dry. this has worked for me for many years with no problems. if you find a way to make this easier, be sure to email me ASAP. i guess sticking them in the ground might be!
william

William, you pot up [i]twice[/i] and call yourself lazy??

ajax- well kinda. had my wife do the first one and i did the second. don't worry bout the mule, load the wagon!!!!
i was in china while the first repotting had to be done. when i was back in philly, i did the second step. she did a very good job too!
william

Hmmm...that's a thought, perhaps I can get my hubby to do a re-pot....how cheap are tickets to China?