The tomatoes are getting leggy and I worry that the root growth isn’t what it should be. They are starting to touch the grow light. This happened last year too. I need to find a solution that I can repeat.
Potting up
First things first. I potted up the tomato seedlings on March 6th. They were already very leggy, but that’s because they are in a tray of 72 and fighting to get to the light. Now I’ve potted them to 2.5″ square pots and placed those into 3 trays. Of the 18 varieties I seeded, only 17 varieties made it and most of each variety did well. Very good rate of germination.
Touching the lights
I noticed that very soon they were starting to touch the light. They did this last year and I didn’t think they grew well overall. The roots needed to be more mature before I planted them outside. So I went ahead and trimmed them back the week before Easter (about April 1). We went to open the cabin over the weekend and when we got back, the tomatoes were touching the lights and getting scorched.
A Second Thinning
I took a closer look at the plants. Some are very tall, some are on the short side. Some have good roots – can see the roots from the bottom; and some are struggling – the branches are putting out suckers looking to root.
I decided that they need more space and more height room. So I got a couple more trays and put more space between the pots. I grouped them by height so none are “hidden”. And I also stacked them to some popsicle sticks. I put them outside during the day for a couple of days.
Looks like they are doing better. They aren’t gaining height but they are sturdier and look great.