Grow Tomatoes From Seed Using Fluorescent Lights!

Miracle Grow Fertilizer Ingredients - Grow Tomatoes From Seed Using Fluorescent Lights!

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It's easy to grow tomatoes from seed indoors under fluorescent lights. Not only is it easy and inexpensive, but it produces vigorous healthy plants. I have successfully grown a dozen separate tomato varieties under ordinary cool-white fluorescent shop lights in an otherwise dark basement room.

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Miracle Grow Fertilizer Ingredients

Before we discuss more about the fluorescent lights, let's cover the basics of starting tomato seeds.

Sterile Soil

Don't take a chance of introducing soil-borne diseases by starting seeds in quarterly organery soil. Instead, buy or make a soil-less mix like Jiffy-Mix, which is made from ingredients like peat moss and perlite. If you want to make your own mix just add equal parts vermiculite or perlite with fine peat moss.

Peat pellets and soil blocks

An alternative to a soil-less mix is to start your seeds in pre-formed peat pellets. These are slightly more costly but surely convenient. Soak them in water and the peat pellets expand into small soil packaging that can later be planted directly into a pot or garden.

Seed Trays/Flats

Any package can be used as long as it has drain holes. I buy the 72-cell lightweight seed-starting flats but they aren't required. You can also use the bottoms of waxed milk cartons, paper cups, open seed trays or private containers. Any package should be about two to three inches deep. Seed trays normally contain a clear plastic cover for the purpose of holding the soil from drying out; this might be a concern if your indoor air is very dry.

Labels

Be right when handling the small tomato seeds not to mix up the varieties because part of the fun is looking out which tomatoes grow the best. Then don't forget to label your containers. Write the range and the planting date on the label. Plastic food packaging like milk jugs make nice durable three-inch labels when cut up with scissors. Using an industrial Sharpie pen will ensure the writing doesn't fade in the sun.

10 Steps to Planting Tomato Seeds

Fill the package with soil-less mix to within one-half inch of the top. Water the soil-less mix in the package and allow to drain. Tamp down the soil lightly with your hand. Place two or three seeds in each package (we'll thin later to one plant). determined sprinkle one-quarter inch of soil-less mix evenly on the surface. Tamp down the soil determined to ensure good caress between seed and soil. Using lukewarm water, spray or slowly water the soil covering until thoroughly wetted. Cover the packaging with the plastic lid or plastic wrap to hold moisture. Place the seed package in a location where the temperature is 75 to 85 degrees F (24 to 29 C) for fastest germination. After one-fourth of the seeds germinate, take off from heat source (if used) and move under fluorescent lights.

Fluorescent Lights

As soon as the tomato seeds have germinated, sufficient light becomes essential. Ideally you'll supply 12 hours of sunlight per day to keep your seedlings from getting leggy and stretching for more light. If you have a sunny window or greenhouse with natural light, great! If not, you can spend a dinky or a lot on grow lights. I've found that simple 48-inch shop lights fitted with appropriate cool white bulbs work very well. You should dangle the lights two or three inches above the tops of the plants; hang the lights by a chain on a hook so that the height can be adjusted easily. You can build a cheap grow light stand (I have plans on my website) or you can use an old bookshelf with open sides. The thing is, you don't have to spend a lot of money. Don't worry if the leaves occasionally touch the bulbs because the lights don't get hot.

Sixteen to eighteen hours of fluorescent lighting per day works well. If you put the lights on a timer you won't even have to worry about turning them on and off each day.

Thinning the Seedlings

After two weeks or so the first true tomato leaves will have formed. At this point, the seedlings should be thinned to one plant per cell. I find it easiest to pull out the weakling with my fingers; someone else formula is to snip off the extra plants with scissors at soil level. The goal is to not crowd the plants and end up with the strongest, sturdiest specimens. If you want to save some of the extras, then go ahead and transplant to their own containers.

Hardening the Seedlings

Brush the tops of the seedlings lightly with your hand each day or set a polite fan to move the seedlings around. This hardens the stems and causes your tomato plants to grow stockier. This step reduces leggy seedlings and results in more compact plants.

Fertilizing

If you've used a pre-fertilized seed starting mix, you won't need need to fertilize. However, if some of the leaves are yellowing or no fertilizer was present, you can apply a liquid tomato fertilizer at half strength. Miracle Grow makes a tomato fertilizer low in nitrogen but high in potash and phosphorous that gives good results.

Transplanting Seedlings to Four-inch Pots

After the young tomato plants are four inches tall, they're ready to be transplanted to small pots. Fill the pots with seed starting mix or good quality potting soil and push aside a space in the pot to accept the root ball and stem up to the first leaves. determined take off the seedlings from the starting package with a spoon or dull knife being right not to damage the stem. Plant the tomato seedling in its new pot, holding by its leaves or root ball, then add a dinky more soil and firm gently. Water well. Then, after allowing the plant a join of hours to adjust, set the pot back under the lights. For the next several weeks, fertilize (following manufacturer's directions), and water until the plants are eight to twelve inches high and seven to eight weeks old.

Moving outdoors

You'll find that fluorescent lights work great for starting tomato plants. Now it's time to move covering and get some sun! Wait until the midpoint frost free date has passed, and the soil temperature has reached at least 50 degrees F (10 C). Then "harden off" or health the young tomato plants by placing them covering in a protected spot like a cold frame or a sheltered spot for a few hours each day for a week. This process will reduce the transition shock and firm up the plant for surviving all weather conditions. Then look forward to those luscious tomatoes!

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