I started my Super San Marzano paste tomato seedlings in the middle of February. It took most of them a week or so to sprout. By the first week in March they were about 3-4 inches high, and the first true leaf started to peek out.
They haven't grown since.
I would think it was something with the variety, but the single Henderson's Pink and the two Kellogg's Breakfast I started a week later have been behaving the same way.
I have watered them normally. I have fertilized them a few times with kelp liquid fertilizer. I moved them outside when the weather was warm and sunny and moved them back inside when it got windy and cool again. I checked a few, their roots look normal.
This week I'm going to pot them up a size, and I will be potting them deeply so some of the stem is in dirt to promote even more root growth. But I'm worried as these little darlings should be ready to go in the ground in a month and they are still so tiny. Also, I believe my seedlings last year were way further along than these.
Any thoughts?
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I started mine only about 3 weeks ago. They are still small and I also worry that they won't be ready in a month. Last year I started them in Feb and by April they were pretty big.
Me, too, about last year. I don't know what's going on. Some of them don't even have any 'true' leaves yet, and a couple have dropped their first leaves. I'm potting them up a couple pot sizes this weekend.
Patience!
Jody,
So glad you stopped by the booth at the PA Herb Festival! It's great to be able to put a face to a name!
I'm a little stumped by your tomato seedling issue. I started mine in the house the week of March 15. They germinated well within a week and within two weeks of planting they HAD to be potted up and moved to the greenhouse because they were about to get their 2nd set of true leaves! (and you saw how big they had gotten by April 16!) I was simply amazed. If I recall correctly, last year it took much longer than that. The only differences I can account for are a change in potting soil, and a change in lighting. The potting soil I'm using is Premier ProMix BX with Mycorise. This year I also bought several shop lights and kept them just an inch above the top of the pots when germinating and then just an inch above the leaves as they grew. Perhaps the added heat from the lights caused the rapid development.
It really does seem as though the potting mix is the issue doesn't it? Perhaps you used the same mix this year as last, but the company changed the formula?
It seems that nearly everything is growing like gangbusters for me in the Premier ProMix BX.
I get mine from Griffin Greenhouse supply in Morgantown, PA. I do believe they'll sell to anyone wether you are a commercial grower or not.
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