Andria,.. I can only speak for the way I do it so here goes. If you directly sowed the seed in your garden there would be a certain amount of nutriant in the soil...right? so I feed my seedlings half strength organic fertilizer from the time of the first true leaves till they are 2 or3 inches tall and then I increase the fertilizer gradually everytime I water. I also use vitamin B1 in the mix mainly because someone gave me a bottle and I think it really helped. My tomatoes were planted Feb 1st. and are now in 32 oz. cups and about 1 ft. tall. I will have to admit that I was and am amazed at how well they have grown. I think the B1 had alot to do with it. Had I known they were going to get this big this fast, I would have waited afew weeks before planting them. I'd like to plant them but am afraid of late freezes. Some of them are starting to bloom in there cups. I say fertilize ..... go for it.

Not knowing what type of media/soil that you use in your cups it would be hard to guess.

Personally, after i transplant my plants to cups, i do give them a little 20-20-20 water soluable fert. I also start mine in the sterile starting mix so there is no nutrients for the plants.As far as adding more, i usually go by the way the plant looks and how long they will have to stay in the pots.

If you are not giving them anything from start to finish, then they definatly need some nutrients for them to get larger.

You'll have to wait for the organic method folks to reccommend a fertilizer. I'd probably go with a fish based or seaweed.

Also, when starting them early, the fertilize may surprise you on how much faster they will grow. It can be difficult to try and time it right and not have overgrown, root bound plants when the weather decides to settle down and play nice.

Another thing that you might run into is, if the plants have been stunted so to speak and you hit them with a dose of fert. you will have a small stalk at the base and the new growth will be a larger diameter, creating a weak area at the base.

It would be best to give slight amounts of fert as the plant grows, keeping it healthy and more resistant to disease.

Andria,

I do about the same things that Telow and Busyone do.

I start seeds in a sterile, soil-less growing medium, so it contains no nutrition at all. Once I've potted up the tiny seedlings (this year I did it as soon as they had two true leaves) into individual containers, I feed them with a water-soluable fertilizer. You can use whatever you have handy. For the first feeding or two while the plants are a lot smaller, I feed at half-strength and after I've moved them outside and they are hardening off and growing more quickly, I increase it to full strength. This year I've been using Maxicrop Seaweed emulsion. If you're organic, any organic fertilizer seems to work equally well, but I espcially like liquid seaweed because it has naturally-occurring growth hormones in it. Liquid fish fertilizer is fine too if you don't have cats. I'll use liquid fish on larger, caged tomato plants that the cats can't disturb. However, if I use it on smaller plants still in flats, the cats are attracted by the smell and climb all over the plants looking for the fish.

I try to feed carefully and cautiously because it doesn't help the plants if I get them too large too early and they get top-heavy for their pots of if they're root-bound. I don't necessarily feed on a schedule. I just keep an eye on them and feed them if they need it.

I don't worry if my plants seem small while they're indoors under lights because there's no way they will grow as fast indoors under lights as they do once they're outside in natural light. Once they're hardened off outdoors in natural light, they grow very quickly. That also is when their need for nutrition increases. However, if you are potting up into a potting soil that has a slow-release granular fertilizer in it, that will largely take care of their feeding needs anyway. You have to be careful that you aren't, for example, potting up into Miracle-Grow potting soil and then also feeding them full-strength Miracle-Grow fertilizer, because they don't need both and that much fertilizer could damage them and slow down their growth rate.

Telow, I'm looking at my soil temps and air temps and forecast and thinking tomato-planting day is almost here for me. However, we were 26 degrees as recently as early Tuesday morning, so I am not going to plunge in and plant more than I can cover up if a colder-than-expected night surprises us. However, I have 8 "early" tomato plants in containers that I bought at a store in mid-February, transplanted into pots, and I have kept them in the garage at night or all day long on cold days (there haven't been many cold days since I bought them) and have carried them outside on most days. I think 7 of those 8 plants have set fruit already, and the 8th is about to bloom. Having those few early ones in large pots helps me stay calm, cool and rational and avoid planting my main crop too early. Otherwise, I probably would have risked putting a few in the ground already (and, then, of course, they likely would have frozen on Mon. night/Tues. morning because we had frost from 9 p.m. until after 8 a.m. and below-freezing temperatures most of that time).

I am so ready to put some plants in the ground if only the weather will allow it!

Dawn

Andria, it does sound as if they may be hungry. I use only diluted chamomile water (supposed the help with damping off issues) when they initially sprout and before they start putting on their 'true' leaves. Then I switch to a very diluted amount of Miracle Grow and increase the ratio with each inch of new growth. I would prefer to use strictly organic ferts like liquid seaweed or fish emulsion early on (rather than Miracle Grow) but I wait until they are hardened off. I learned the hard way last year not to use those while the seedlings are still being housed indoors. The plant lights really heat things up. Have you ever had a guest bedroom smell like dead fish?!? It's not pleasant.

Good luck!
Lynn

Thanks everyone. The seedlings are usually started in 4" pots, are hardeneded off, and when ready put into the ground. Sometimes with "bigger" things like tomotoes, peppers, or curbicits, they are potted into gal pots. Usually because the plants are ready, but the garden bed is not. It usually takes quite a while before the plants are ready. I'm pretty negligent all around with feeding plants- but I usually get a crop. They crop is just smaller or later than I hope. Tomatoes and peppers work great. Curcubits (including summer squash), Kohl crops (brussel sprouts, cabbage, & broccoli- but kale, chinese cabbage are fine), potatoes and onions are the hard ones. I've been paying more attention to the soil and feeding it w/ compost before I plant. However, I don't usually feed once the plants are in the ground. My crops are getting better, just not where I want then to be yet.

Thanks again for the suggestions. I learn more and more and the garden gets better and better.

Andria

Have you ever had a guest bedroom smell like dead fish?!? It's not pleasant.
Good luck!

I need to start paying better attention. I always forget that most of you are doing this inside the house.It never occured to me about the fish smell.

Trust me, it's a mistake you only make once....lol

It is possible to have guest that stay so long you began to notice the smell of dead fish . HeeHee

Dave walked in from the garage yesterday and pronounced that something died in there. Yup it was my fish fertilizer.

I gave them a weak little drink for the first time since potting up.

Stinky.

Jo

When I use fish fertilizer in the garden itself, all sorts of unwelcome wildlife magically appear.

When I use blood meal in the garden, vultures periodically circle in the air above our place, looking for the "dead animal" they smell. Sometimes they circle for days.

When I add bone meal to beds, I have to be sure to keep the garden gate closed all the time or a dog will sneak into the garden beds and try to dig up the "bones" they are smelling.

I never had those issues when I lived in the city, but I didn't even try to use bone meal in the back yard there because the garden wasn't fenced off from the dogs (and the dogs didn't bother it).

That's one downside to using organic fertilizers derived from animal products.