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Growing Tomatoes garden

Leggy tomato starts

2 years ago

Every year I start maybe 40 different kinds of heirloom tomatoes from seed in my greenhouse. I use quality starting mix, have grow lights, and keep them well watered. I start them in trays that have good size cells (24 plants to an 11"X21" tray), and when they start sizing up I put them in 4" pots. But every year they get very leggy, not like the sturdy, squat ones you find at stores. I plant my spindly tomatoes deep, and they bush out and produce after a while. But I'd like to grow more compact starts. Any suggestions?

Featured Answer

party_music50

2 years ago

Do you give them fertilizer? I think temps in the mid-80s will be too warm to produce sturdy seedlings.

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Comments (6)

Labradors
2 years ago
Maybe put them closer to the lights and put a fan on them.

Linda
kudzu9
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks. I forgot to mention that the grow lights are suspended from chains that I can adjust to keep them close to the starts, and I do have a thermostatically controlled fan that comes on when the greenhouse gets above the mid-eighties.
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ally, when I was growing up and going to school, I was taught that every question is a good question. :-) The pepper plants I have, have a main trunk that is too 'long'. The leaves are too high up on the stem. A well grown vegetable plant should look stocky. It is sometimes a result of growing without enough light. It doesn't seem to make the plant as well anchored in the ground and I would worry a bit about it falling over as it got larger and had the weight of the fruit on it. But that's just my own nit piking I suppose. Maybe it wouldn't make any difference at all.
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Agree. Your lights are too far away and since you don't say what typr or how many, likely too little light as well. Lights should be no more that 1-2" above the plants so they are almost touching the leaves. And your growing temps are probably far too high. Shoot for 60 degrees +/- 5 degrees. And feeding them now only increases the problem. Transplant them deeply, burying most all of the stem in deep containers filled with a good quality sol-less potting mix and do whatever you have to do to get them more intense light and keep the light CLOSE. There are several different growth regulators used in the nursery business but most are not available to the home gardener. Nor are they needed. Excellent stocky, sturdy transplants are easy to do if only you supply enough light and proper air temps. Dave
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Whether you trench in or bury deep makes no difference as long as you don't shallow plant. Just snip off the leaf branches that will be buried - or don't - works either way its just easier to plant I think with them trimmed and there is nothing to be gained by having a forked-tongue plant sticking out at the soil line. Snip them close to the stem or leave a short stub - works either way - I usually leave about a 1/4" stub or so but it's not a big deal either way. It's not brain surgery. ;) Dave
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Light. By keeping a grow light or other source of light just a few inches (3"-4") above the seedlings' tray, the little plants don't have to reach for light and can develop stronger stems. When the seedlings start to grow, you can raise the lights about an inch at a time, keeping them close to the seedlings, but of course not touching. What fertilizer are you using on your seedlings?
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Labradors
2 years ago
If the lights are T5's or T8's, they can be an inch or two above the seedlings. Another thought is that maybe they need to be replaced. The fan helps to make the stem nice and strong and thick. Usually, they run continuously.

I don't use a fan, but I start my seedlings in a cool basement. The low temperature also helps the seedlings to grow short but stout.

Linda
kudzu9 thanked Labradors
kudzu9
Original Author
2 years ago
I haven't given the starts fertilizer before, but will do so next year. I germinate at the recommended temps using thermostatically controlled heat mats set in the low-80s. However, some days the temps can get hotter in my greenhouse after the seedlings start growing, and I can't set them outside due to deer.
John D Zn6a PIT Pa
2 years ago
I built a new hot frame over the winter and grew my tomato starts there this year. They got full sun from soon after sunrise till late afternoon and they were leggy. I'd guess they each need more room or like trees they'll put all their effort into growing higher than their neighbors. Myself the leggyness doesn't bother me as I'm willing to dig a hole as deep as my spade and transplant them deep. Would be different If I was in the business.
kudzu9 thanked John D Zn6a PIT Pa

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