Starting tomato seeds for the garden.

[augiedog55]

I've got several questions for you pro's. I'm starting my tomatoes from seed for the first time this sping. I'll be germinating my seed up stairs in the computer room on a heat mat and then taking the down stairs to the lights. Its 58 degrees down where the lights are.I've been practicing over the fall and winter to get plants to 6" tall with some great luck since I got a heat mat with a thermostat.
Ok I'll be starting around 15 varietites . I'll be starting around 50 seeds for me (12 plants) and to give the rest away. I 've got a 72 cell tray to start them in. I'll be starting around 5 seeds of each kind per cell. Heres my first question. Do I wait until all 15 cells have their seeds up before pulling the flat off the heat mat to move to the lights? I've read several places that say when you see the first signs of life remove your seedling from the mat and go to the lights. I'm thinking that not all 15 varities will germinate at the same time or day. I have noticed that some seeds take 5 day and other take ten.. So if I remove the tray on say the 5th day when first life is seen will that not keep say the plant that take 10 days from germinating? do I wait until all are up?.. What If one variety does germinate at all? So I guess I need to know when to remove the tray from heat to the lights. I'll only have one shot to hit my target date. I hope my rambling isn't to confusing.
Any help would be appreciated
Bruce

[Stvrob]

This is probably not the way others do it, but one thing I do is start the seeds in little rubbermaid food storage trays on the heat mats, with a separate tray for each variety. then I either move the tray to the light after they germinate, or if germination is sporadic, or I'm very low on seed, I will immediately transplant them (carefully, only holding them by their cotyledons with clean hands) into a plug tray and moving them to the light.
I'm not an expert by any means, usually I do things harder than they need be.

[livinonfaith]

I left mine on the heating mat for about two weeks, but they were also getting light from my South facing window. All of the seeds were up well before then, I just wanted to give them a good head start.

Then I left the rootstock seeds on the mat for a couple more weeks because they looked so scrawny. Once they started to catch up, they came off the mat, too.

Just make sure that you don't let the soil get too hot or you will cook them. I used a meat thermometer to check mine. Mine did best when the growing tray was elevated just above the mat, not sitting directly on it.

[GoGayleGo]

My similar question: This is my first time trying to start from seeds...put them in Monday evening. I have a mixed bag of stuff, tomatoes, cukes, tomatillos, peppers, and some herbs. The cukes are already up, the thyme is starting to come up.

Do I remove them from under the dome now? Do I leave everything else under the dome until they come up?

Is a heat mat still used when they have been moved out under the fluor lights, or only when germinating/under dome?

I've read a bit, but am still confused.

Thanks!

[augiedog55]

Livinon faith. Until I got a thermostat for my heat pad I was cooking my seeds and didn't know it.. Before I got it I had a put thermometer in the soil mixture and it was 95 degrees. Thats when i got a thermostat for my mat.Now I can regulate the heat. I set it on 80 degrees.It will shut off at 80 and the temp will go almost up to 81 and then it will not turn on the mat until it reaches 78 degrees. So I get a 3 degree temp range.I'm looking at some test seedlings I started on Sat. and I see life....Yahoo

[Redbaron]

Augiedog,
You can leave the flat on the heat mat a day or two extra, but not too long or the first to sprout will get leggy. Once you take the plastic cover off, the other seeds can still sprout, just be sure not to let the soil or potting mix dry out. I like to mist the soil on the cells slow to sprout with a spay bottle just to make sure the soil stays moist for the late comers. The slower germinating seeds will generally catch up later.

[livinonfaith]

Originally Posted by augiedog55

Livinon faith. Until I got a thermostat for my heat pad I was cooking my seeds and didn't know it.. Before I got it I had a put thermometer in the soil mixture and it was 95 degrees. Thats when i got a thermostat for my mat.Now I can regulate the heat. I set it on 80 degrees.It will shut off at 80 and the temp will go almost up to 81 and then it will not turn on the mat until it reaches 78 degrees. So I get a 3 degree temp range.I'm looking at some test seedlings I started on Sat. and I see life....Yahoo

That should be just perfect!

I'm a big ole cheapskate, so mine are just heating pads from the drug store. They have three temp settings, but even the lowest one can get too hot for the seeds, if you put the tray directly on it.

Found that out the hard way last year! Thankfully, I only lost a few that were right in the middle of the tray.

Sounds like you are dong it right, though!

[slb345]

To follow up on Bruce's question - I'm still a bit unclear on this.

I'm planting several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants all in the same tray. They are on a heat mat and dome covered.

Today is day 4, and several of the tomatoes rocketed out of the soil overnight with fairly spindly looking stems. Maybe they're spindly because I surface planted them. No sign of life yet for the eggplants and peppers, and about half of my tomato varieties.

Are you guys suggesting that I pull the tray off the heat mat, remove the dome, and flip on my lights? I realize that the dome removal probably won't hurt, but will adding lights to seeds that haven't germinated negatively impact their progress?

Thank you!
Scott

[TomNJ]

Seedlings need bright light as soon as they germinate - it only takes about two days to get leggy seedlings without lights. It's okay to leave the heat on for a few more days to help the slow germinators, preferably set to more like 70°F if they already had five days at 80°F.

Why not bring your heating pad to the lights, or the lights to the heating pad? Alternatively you can cut the 72 cell tray into sections by variety and just move those sections that have germinated.

I germinate over king size heating pads (12" x 24") that fit beautifully under standard 1020 trays (http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-732-50...f=cm_lmf_tit_1). I set up the heating pads, trays, and lights at the same time in my cool cellar (~63°F). The lights are off, the trays are covered with Saran wrap and the pads set on low, which gives me about 80°F just under the soil surface.

As soon as the first seeds germinate (3-4 days) I turn on the lights and remove the plastic wrap, but leave the heating pads on for another 2-3 days. Removing the plastic wrap cools the soil, but the lights heat it, so the temperature may need adjusting at this stage.

After 2-3 more days on heat (if needed), I shut the heating pads off and turn on a fan for a few hours a day. Be sure to keep the lights 1-2" above the seedlings as they need as much light as possible.

TomNJ

[buckhunter]

I have been leaving the heating mats on the entire time I am growing my seedlings in my basement . Am I understanding correctly that I should remove the heating mats after a few days .? I have some foil insulated board that I put all around my trays to help reflect the light and keep the heat in as much as possible

[Donna Mattingly]

I started over one hundred seeds today - but now find I might have gone against the "signs", with March 1 - 3, 2015 being - from what I'm now reading - among the *worst* times to plant. What if I simply leave the seeds in place and avoid watering until the signs are more favorable? (Hope no one thinks I'm crazy, but I need all the help I can get here!)

[Stvrob]

What signs are you talking about?

[KarenO]

I cut my 72 cell trays up. I will never, ever want 72 of any one thing and things germinate and grow at different rates. if I plant 12 peppers seeds and 12 tomato seeds, I cut 12 cells off the tray for each. that way, I can identify them and I can move them around, leave one on the heat and move the other under the lights etc. just cut the trays apart with scissors.
Same reason I use Jiffy pellets for some things.

Karen O

[peppero]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

What signs are you talking about?

Probable referal to moon sins.

jon

[luigiwu]

I cut up my 72 cell tray so I can put the first germinators under the lights as it happens. I've only ever used heat mat for my pepper seeds and then they never see the heat mat ever again.

Originally Posted by GoGayleGo

Do I remove them from under the dome now? Do I leave everything else under the dome until they come up?

Is a heat mat still used when they have been moved out under the fluor lights, or only when germinating/under dome?
!

You should remove the dome when they've germinated and are under light or you'll have a world of problems with mold and stuff...

Dunno what zone you are in but it seems very early to be sprouting cukes... peppers are started long before plant out day. Cukes are probably the last, closest to plant out date since they take so little time...

Originally Posted by buckhunter

I have been leaving the heating mats on the entire time I am growing my seedlings in my basement . Am I understanding correctly that I should remove the heating mats after a few days .? I have some foil insulated board that I put all around my trays to help reflect the light and keep the heat in as much as possible

What temperature is your basement? Most pple grow their winter indoor tomato plants in approx 60 degrees and up. I something plain white, like a board or a whiteout screen and its just fine.