High humidity, warm temperatures, poor air circulation, and crowded seed pots create ideal conditions for the spread of damping off diseases. Every seed starter learns this, usually the hard way. High humidity encourages damping off, a suite of fungal diseases that can wipe out 90% of your seedlings in a few hours. High humidity is your friend during germination, but it's the enemy of your seedlings once they've sprouted. Keep the dome over the flat to maintain humidity until most of the seedlings have sprouted–usually 4-10 days–then remove it, and leave it off. Pour water into the flat, and let the roots draw it up into the pots. Once seedlings sprout, stop watering from above, and water from below instead. However, if the soil surface does dry out, give the pots another gentle overhead watering. The starter pot surfaces should stay moist enough, under cover, to allow good germination. If you follow the step by step instructions for starting tomatoes from seed below and use a heat mat and dome, you shouldn't have to water until after seedlings emerge. If I start my seedlings late or I want them to grow faster, I increase the time the lights are on to 16 hours a day. I have them on a timer set to give 12 hours of light a day. In fact, I still use it, although I've replaced the warm-white and cool-white tubes with full-spectrum Grow Lux Plant Lights. I installed one warm white bulb (for red light frequencies) and one cool-white bulb (for blue light frequencies) in each fixture. The first time I tried starting tomatoes from seed, I bought two 4' (1.3m) fluorescent shop lights, and suspended them over the growing area with chains. "Leggy" seedlings have thin, delicate stems and are much more likely to succumb to damping-off or other fungal diseases. You may be able to get them to germinate on a windowsill in February or March, but daylight is too thin, and the daylight hours too short, for them to thrive. Tomato seedlings are programmed to germinate when temperatures are warm, light is strong, and the days are lengthening. Probably the biggest mistake people make starting tomatoes from seed is trying to start them without enough light. The easiest way to do this is with a Hydrofarm Germination Station, which is a seedling heat mat, a standard flat, and a plastic dome that fits over the flat, for holding in humidity and keeping the temperature higher.Īs Soon As They Emerge! Widgets Cherry tomato seeds can germinate at lower temperatures, but the larger salad and beefsteak tomatoes need temperatures of 75-90° (24-32° C) for strong, even germination. Maintain warm, even temperatures and high humidity in your starter pots or flats. Use bright lights as soon as seedlings emerge.Maintain warm, even temperature and humidity.The three keys to successfully starting tomatoes from seed are: ![]() Growing Tomatoes in Cool-Summer Gardensģ Keys to Successfully Starting Tomatoes from Seed.
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