Especially if you love unusual tomato varieties, you should try growing them yourself. While only a few varieties that are popular with many customers are usually available for pre-grown plants, you get a large selection of seeds that ensure a variety of flavors when harvested later.

Tomatoes should be preferred to a light location

The right time for sowing

Tomatoes need a lot of light and will quickly wither if there is a lack of light. They then form long, fertile stalks that quickly break off and lead to the dying of the seedlings. Therefore, sow tomatoes from mid-March at the earliest and place the seed trays in front of a bright window.

If you like growing plants, it is worth purchasing special LED plant lamps. Under the artificial light, the seedlings grow stronger and more compact. Cultivation succeeds even in dark apartments and the basement. Place the plants on a shelf and attach a plant lamp to each shelf, (€21.99) you can grow a large number of seedlings yourself despite the small footprint.

Sowing Instructions

  1. First fill small growing pots with nutrient-poor growing soil.
  2. Place a seed in each pot.
  3. Cover the seed with a 1/2 inch layer of soil. Since tomatoes need the bright red spectral light to germinate, the layer of soil must not be thicker.
  4. Moisten gently with a sprayer.
  5. Cover the seed tray to create a warm, humid greenhouse climate.

Tomato plant care

  • Open the hood daily to ventilate. That way the seeds don't start to mold or rot.
  • The temperature should be constant between 18 and 25 degrees.
  • The cotyledons appear after about ten days.
  • As soon as the second pair of leaves appear, transplant the small tomatoes into a pot with a diameter of nine centimetres.
  • Now use conventional soil for vegetable plants, as the young plants need more nutrients.

Continue tending the plants as usual until they are about a foot tall. From this point on, you can slowly acclimate the tomatoes to the outdoor climate.

  • In warm weather, place the young plants in a sunny spot outdoors.
  • After the ice saints, they are moved into a tomato house at a distance of 80 centimeters.

tips

If possible, get the seeds of rare tomato varieties as early as mid-February, as unusual varieties are quickly sold out. Store the seeds in a dark, dry place until sowing.

Category:

Vegetable garden