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Tomatoes from seed

English_girl_in_FranceEnglish_girl_in_France Posts: 108
in Fruit & veg
Hello! I have a bit of a dilemma... 
I have created a vegetable patch so I'm all set to start planting my veggies! However, the last frost date where I live is the second week of may. My mum told me I should start planting my tomato seeds indoors now and then transfer them after this date. But I tried this a few weeks ago and i only got one little shot come up which withered and died after a few days 😩 I have no idea where I'm going wrong, I have tried to google it but found quite a lot of conflicting info... 
I tried to grow them on a windowsill above a radiator which probably gets around 3/ 4 hours of direct sun a day. This is the sunniest place I have in the house. 
Does anybody have any suggestions? Should I try again at a different window with a bit less sunlight but no radiator? Or should I just try outside? 
I did water them quite a lot too  maybe that was the problem? Should the soil have been moist all the time? 
Thank you very much 😊

Posts

  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    https://www.tomatogrowing.co.uk/html/growing-tomatoes-from-seed.html might help with your problems.

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    "A few weeks ago" was certainly too early to start growing tomatoes from seed. They would have had minimal light and being over a radiator wouldn't have helped at all. You shouldn't try to keep the plants in very wet soil as that can cause the roots to rot. They need to be watered when the top starts to dry out a little. It is best to water them from the base so that they can soak up as much water as they need and then you can dispose of the excess water so that they aren't standing around in a small pond.
    It is a good idea to plant the seeds in small pots, two to a pot so that you can throw away the less successful seedling and keep the stronger plant. I use 6cm pots but you can use pots made from loo roll middles, or coir pots. Once the plant has some decent proper leaves you can pot it on into the next size up and once it is a nice, robust plant you can start to accustom it to the outdoors by putting it outside on warm and wind-free days and bringing it in at night.
    As to which windowsill you use, the radiator may be a problem so if you can find a space to grow the plants where the temperature isn't going to fluctuate too much, that would be good. You could try using a grow light.
  • English_girl_in_FranceEnglish_girl_in_France Posts: 108
    @Ceres @steephill
    Thank you both! I have re planted some seeds in some little pots made from the toilet roll tubes (such a great idea, thanks!) And have moved them away from the radiator and have also put a white led light above them (I saw online this can work instead of a proper grow light!) Fingers crossed 🤞🤞
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    I disagree with too early to sow, I usually sow mine in January this year it was 5th February,North facing kitchen window turned several times a day they are now ready for potting on, quarter trays, different varieties,
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