Sowing tomatoes: 3 simple ways to do it

Planting tomatoes is a quick and fun process with delicious results in the summer. If you have decided to make your first harvest of tomatoes this year, if you have already sown before, but you are not sure if you are doing everything correctly, then I invite you to watch this short video tutorial, where tomato sowing is shown in 3 ways:

Next, I will review these 3 ways to plant tomatoes at home on the windowsill and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, as well as the tools needed for each method.

Method 1. Sowing tomatoes in tablets

I recommend this method to those who intend to grow a few tomatoes, for example to those who have a small nursery or to those who only plan on a few tomato bushes on the balcony. It is not necessary to buy large bags of soil: I recommend sowing tomatoes in tablets: peat or coconut. I choose peat bogs: in the next article I will tell you why I choose them, here the topic is longer.

How to do it:

• Place the tablets in the container so that the indentations are at the top;
• Fill with water and wait. Depending on the manufacturer, the tablets will swell in a few or ten minutes and you can already sow them;
• After the tablets have swollen, place one or more seeds in the center and cover them with peat. The seeds should be about 1cm deep. To make it easier for you, I push them down with a wooden sandwich stick;
• It is necessary to cover the sown tomatoes. I cover with a plastic container that you find at home, but you can also buy special ones. It can also be covered with a simple polyethylene film. It is important to create a greenhouse effect: as a result, the seeds will germinate faster;
• Move the container with the tablets to a warm (not necessarily bright) place. For example, heated floors are ideal.

After-sales assistance:

• Open the lid briefly each day to let the air out;
• Watering these peat tablets is very simple. The color indicates the need for water: when it becomes lighter it is time to water. Watering should not be done from above, but by pouring the water into a container. As much as has not been absorbed, pour it out without letting it soak in water;
• When the first shoots appear, remove the lid – it is no longer necessary. It needs sun now, so move to a sunny windowsill;
• Since tomatoes love to be transplanted, once the true leaves have grown, you’ll pot the seedlings, meaning you’ll transplant them into larger containers.

Method 2. Planting tomatoes in the nursery

I advise you to choose this method if you have a small greenhouse and want to grow several varieties of tomatoes.

How to do it:

• Prepare the lands. This time I choose a peat substrate, i.e. deacidified peat, to which additional humus and minerals have been added. I advise you to open a new package to air it, and moisten it before sowing;
• I sow in a special nursery with members, each of which has holes through which excess water escapes to the bottom of the nursery. Of course, it is possible to sow large quantities with peat tablets, but to me nurseries with many pots seem more convenient and take up less space on the windowsill;
• Fill the jars with peat, distribute it so as to obtain a uniform surface, crush the larger pieces between your fingers;
• Sow a few seeds in each member. I sow the same way: with a wooden skewer I push each seed a little into the ground and bury it. It is sown to a depth of 1 cm. Very fast and convenient work.

I always excel at what I grow. For this I use two methods:

1. I cover the walls of the jar with simple paper tape and write the name of the variety on each line;
2. If you sow several varieties in one row, I use another method: I cut a plastic cup into triangles and write numbers on them, which I also write on the seed packet. Then I insert the marker into the corresponding member. Marked.

After planting, it is necessary to moisten it, do not pour water with a jet, but spray it. And the procedure is the same as I described before: cover it and put it in a warm place.

In a few days the shoots with the first leaves appear, then it is not yet harvest time: you have to wait for the first real leaves. When they appear, you will evaluate the condition of the seedlings, calculate their needs and transplant the best seedlings into another larger container.

When growing in a nursery, the differences between varieties are very visible, e.g. ‘Black cherry’ is a very tall, very tall variety. These are some of our favorites: You can see how they look in the analysis of last year’s tomato crop, Click here

‘Vilma’ – dwarf, cherry, grown in greenhouses along the path or in pots.

Even if sown at the same time, but they grows differently – this is completely normal. If some of your seedlings sprout more slowly, know that something bad hasn’t necessarily happened to them: it’s just that some varieties grow faster, others more slowly.

Method 3. Sowing tomatoes in a large container

When planting many tomatoes of each variety, I recommend using a larger container. Lots of tomatoes – I mean when you use all the seeds in the pack. At least for me, it’s easier to put them all in one container (one container – one variety) or sow them in rows in one container (one row – one variety).

How to do it:

• Prepare the lands – as in the second method;
• Prepare a container. I like to use things a second time, so for this purpose I use plastic packaging of meat or larger containers of sour cream. Make holes in the bottom to let excess water drain out. If the holes are very large, so that the earth does not fall into them, I use the following trick: I also cover with a piece of newspaper. Place the container in another to perform the function of a plate: excess water will drip there;
• Add the peat substrate and level;
• Tomatoes are sown in several rows in a larger container: make furrows 1 cm deep with your finger. One line will be about a tomato variety (don’t forget to write the name). After planting, cover that layer of soil on top;
• In the smallest container, where everything is for one variety, there is no need to make rows, just pour the entire contents of the seed pack and spread it so that it does not fall in one place, but is distributed more evenly. Then take another handful of soil and pour it on top;
• Spray and cover (but not tightly).

Moreover, the procedure for uncovering and unearthing is the same, as soon as the seedlings appear. And even later, when the seedlings have real leaves, you will separate them and transplant each into a separate container.

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READ ALSO:

Planting tomatoes begins with choosing a variety: I invite you to see my last year’s tomato crop: “Crop review: how tomato seeds grew in Ukraine”.

Want something more interesting? “A new trend for growing tomatoes: what are dwarf tomatoes?

And even after that you will have to properly care for your plants, learn:Pruning tomatoes: video instructions for beginners”.