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Beginner help please - tomato seedlings

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  • adbarnesadbarnes Posts: 7
    Now that I have found the tomatoes :flushed:, is pot pictured above ok?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    What’s the size difference between the ones the toms are in and the new pot?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • adbarnesadbarnes Posts: 7
    What’s the size difference between the ones the toms are in and the new pot?

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I would use smaller pot for those, but that's more due to limited indoor space than anything else so I think they'll be OK if you haven't any a bit smaller.
    Mine are about the same size, but in a seed tray, and I'll be putting them into cardboard pots (about 3 or 3.5 inch I think) in the next week or so. They'll probably need one more potting-on before they can go into their final pots outside, but hopefully some of my hardier seedling/young plants will be big enough to go into the cold frame before then to make room.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Bit big to plant into straight away.  Are the toms showing roots thru the bottom of their little cardboard pots ?
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    edited April 2022
    It's not embarrassing @Dovefromabove  It's not even a mistake.  It does look rather smooth and hairless for a tommy!  I must add, that I have two "rogues" among my tomatoes whose leaves look like potato leaves - but they are in a polystyrene box with their other tomato friends - so they can't be!  Just rogues I suppose.

    @Skandi - well spotted!!  

    Here is a photo.  You can see the little pickle in the foreground.


    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I had my specs on and still missed that too!  :D
    Definitely too big for those little toms. A 3 inch pot is ideal for going into, as @JennyJ says, but I don't think they're ready yet. They've barely got proper leaves.  :)
    I sow in 3 inch pots- 3 seeds, then pot individually into that size  when they're showing through the bottom. I've just done some of mine. They'll stay in those for a while and then possibly get moved again before being planted in the greenhouse.

    I use those takeaway coffee cups, as they're deeper, and great for getting a good root system. My daughter buys me a coffee now and again, so it's a good use of the cups  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • BigladBiglad Posts: 3,265
    edited April 2022
    Depending on the type of cardboard and not keeping it moist enough, I've had cardboard pots get 'crusty' and form a root barrier. I tend to put them in the ground/bigger pot and then cut a few slits from the rim downwards. Just to help the process ;)
    East Lancs
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    That’s why I said to bury them deep @Biglad … we can do that with tomatoes 👍. 
    Like you I’ve found with other plants, if you leave the rim above ground the cardboard dries out even below ground and causes a problem for the roots getting through into the soil. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • adbarnesadbarnes Posts: 7
    Thanks for all the replies, they have been helpful and much appreciated.
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