I need suggestions for my garden and seedlings *PICS*

[Linda10]

"im kinda confused about my seedlings since each cell had about 2-3 sprouts because i planted 3 seeds per cell. will some of the sprouts eventually die leaving only one stem per cell? i hope i worded that understandably"

Bate, each "stem" in each egg carton cell is a separate tomato plant.

When you transplanted them from the egg carton cell, you could have separted them by carefully pulling them away from each other while holding onto the leaves.

Since you planted both plants in one container when you transplanted, you can either cut one off at the soil level, or just let it grow...your choice.

I hope that was clear enough, lol.

[bate181]

what will happed if i let both grow in the same pot? will i be able to separate them later for planting in the ground?

[Granny]

Originally Posted by bate181

yea i planted them deep. and i think i covered some suckers. i transplanted the seedlings into those pots using soil from my garden and i just realized that that may have been a mistake. should i have used starter soil like i used in the egg cartons? well, too late now, ill see what happens. i actually plan on starting more seeds pretty soon for the heck of it.

im kinda confused about my seedlings since each cell had about 2-3 sprouts because i planted 3 seeds per cell. will some of the sprouts eventually die leaving only one stem per cell? i hope i worded that understandably

No, you should not have used seed starting soil when you potted up your plants. Starting medium is sterile but it also has very few nutrients. I use an organic general purpose potting mix. No idea what others might use, though I'm sure some will chime in and tell us. I don't add fertilizer to tiny plants as it is much too easy to give them too much or even to burn them.

If you planted 2 or 3 seeds in each cell and got 2 or 3 little stems, that means that virtually all of the seeds that you planted germinated. Each one of those little stems represents a different plant. You can very carefully separate them when they get their first pot up. Most of them will survive. I've been using the thick sowing method someone here at Tville kindly posted pics for - 20 seeds or so per cell but he does three times that.

[Ruth_10]

Welcome to the forum. Take advantage of all the tomato growing experience here by going through as many of the threads as you have time for.

In your garden photos showing the tomatoes with multiple stems, are those from purchased plants or from ones you started from seed? If they're purchased plants, then it's another stem of a single plant. If it's from seed you started yourself, it might be a second (or third) plant.

You will be much better off having only one plant per planting hole. For your smaller seedlings, either separate them when you pot up (pop the whole contents of a cell out and then drop it on a firm surface from maybe six inches up, then grab a seedling by a leaf and gently wiggle it away from the other seedlings--the roots will be intertwined and some will break, but that's okay) or snip them off at soil level.

If you are planting close together (which you are), your plants need a certain amount of root space to support the foliage (in addition to above ground space for the foliage). You will have just as good (or better) tomato production from one plant per hill as with two planted in the same hill.

You mention keeping your seedlings planted out in the garden well watered. Use the finger test to see if the soil an inch or so down is still moist. Over-watering can lead to trouble, so err on the side of less rather than more.

Enjoy your tomatoes! You'll learn something new every year, no matter how long you grow, and you'll get some tomatoes every year, too, and they'll be good because you grew them yourself.

[bate181]

i purcharsed these plants. and ive already transfered the seedlings into bigger pots, so should i cut the second stem from pots with 2 or let them both grow?

[dice]

should i cut the second stem from pots with 2 or let them both grow?

You can let them both grow for a couple of weeks, then keep
the strongest one, and snip off the others. Or you can set
them outside, let them dry out, and separate them, repotting
each into an individual pot. Since these are more likely to be
a fall crop than a summer crop started this late, I would just
snip the weaker ones off. You can always start more seeds in
mid-summer if you want more plants for your fall crop than
what you have left with one seedling per pot from those you
have now.