Did I jump the gun?

[pershing]

Ok, I live in Texas and instructions was to start tomatoes 6-8 weeks before avg last frost which is mid March. I started them on 1/22. I have repotted them twice and they are now on 16 oz solo cups. These beasts keep trying to root bound and im running out of light height. Some of these are almost 12" high. Temps for next 10 days are as low as 30. Will they stress out? Should I repot again? Should I plant them and put a mini green house on each plant? Here is a pic of the bigger plants. Help this tomato-noob...

Pershing

[dpurdy]

pershing,
Those plants look good. I'd just make sure that you lower the room temperature down to 60 to 65 degrees until you plant. That will slow them down a little and buy you some more time. Not to worry too much, I've been in you position before. I've had some tomato plants get 24 inches in height before I could plant them. Your plants are at a nice size for planting out. One other thing to watch out for is that they tend to dry out very quickly when they get that big in an 8 oz. cup. Looking at your pic, they all look nice and green and show no signs of stress. If you lower your room temp and run your lights for 6 or 7 hrs., you should easily get another week or so in those cups. Don't try to promote more growth by fertilizing. If you see your plants starting to show signs of stress (usually a change in color), I would re-pot those plants if necessary. Like I said before, I think they look real healthy, and I wouldn't worry too much at this time.
dpurdy

[Worth1]

Those plants aren't anywhere near to big for those cups.
Not even close.

Worth

[pershing]

Thanks, the cups are clear and I see roots all over so was concerned with root bound. The room is around 66-68 can lower it a bit. Lights are on for 12 hrs so I should lower it to 6-8? No fertilizer either then. I did move the tallest ones because they reached the lights and were getting burned. Will stay on it. Thx for the feedback...

-P

[Dewayne mater]

I can't really judge the height of your lights, but, I keep the lights no more than 1 inch above the plant tops. You don't want to encourage spindly upward growth and if they have to reach for the lights, you can get that. Also, consider putting a fan on them as that encourages a thicker stalk. An amazing amount of roots can develop in cups that size and if they get a bit root bound towards the end, then they will likely explode when you put them in the ground where they are unrestricted. Looking good in my opinion. One last thing, I would pick you plant out date and put them out then even if a light frost or two is predicted. Be prepared to cover them at night if needed. It is much better to have to cover a time or two than to wait and end up with heat that stops the fruit set before you are loaded up. You pretty much get one bite at the apple in DFW in my experience. (Unless you put out a fall crop later). Good luck.

Dewayne mater

[Tom A To]

Have you pinched these plants? You should if you haven't. Pinch them above the fourth or fifth set of true leaves, don't count the cotlyedons (first two leaves). They should throttle back on growing taller for a while and concentrate more on the roots. Meantime, they will develop new buds along the stems.

[Salsacharley]

If you are using incandescent lights I wouldn't put them very close to the plants. The heat from the incandescent lights can fry your plants if they are too close. Put a thermometer under your lights and see how hot it is. The warmer your plants get the faster they grow and that isn't a good thing if you want thick plants. A fan will help cool them.

[pershing]

Yeah, the ones that touch the bulbs the burn. Which is why I moved the tallest ones somewhere else with a little more clearance. Thinking to remove the plastic to help keep the temp down. Problem is that is whats keeping my toddler from going Godzilla on them.

Have never heard of pinching them. What does that do for the plant?

- P

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by pershing

Have never heard of pinching them. What does that do for the plant?

- P

Less leaf surface area for photosynthesis to take place will produce more roots, slow down growth, promote side branching and make bigger stems.
This should happen in the garden on any count.
Mine look like small palm trees after I pinch the lower leaves and this goes on if any leaf hits the ground.

Worth

[pershing]

Will it be a problem If I want to single stem it?

[pmurf09]

keep lights as closes as poss. Might stop strech?

[feldon30]

I think you are pretty much right on target. I might start hardening them off, bringing them outside in full shade as long as the temp is over 45 degrees. It will both slow them down and start acclimatizing them to sunlight.

[nnjjohn]

Not sure if led bulbs work but I know they don't throw heat.. i am thinking to try them in hang clamp fixtures as mentioned here no more than an inch over the seedlings.. Has anybody here tried low watt led grow bulbs and is LED light any good for growing tomatoes? BTW, great thread, I learned a lot here reading a few replies on this topic tia John

[pershing]

Looking kind of thin and tall. Getting concerned...

-P

[Tom A To]

You're in Texas, why are these plants still inside? Has the weather been too cold?