Starting tomatoes from seed?

[Iowa4life]

Hello, I am new to the forum but have been gardening for a few years. I decided this year I wanted to start tomatoes and peppers from seed. The question I have is that is it necessary to have grow lights when starting tomatoes or is it sufficient enough to put them by a sunny window? Does anyone start their seed without artificial heat or light? What is your process for starting tomatoes without artificial heat(meaning a heating pad) or grow lights)? I realize that they would probably benefit more from grow lights but is a sunny window good enough? Thanks!

 

[Rrrrraine]

Hi! Newbie here but I did grow some tomatoes from seeds of fresh tomatoes.

They are placed in seed trays in the balcony with direct sunlight. Some of them are growing now but I noticed when I transplanted them to a new pot, they die Here are what's left which I haven't transplanted yet.





I tried planting one direct in the pot and so far, it's doing good. Hopefully I'll be able to grow this one with no problems

Maybe you can try to experiment which light benefits your seeds by planting some under grow light then some by the window. For me I take advantage of the sunlight in our balcony and so far my plants love it. I haven't had any experience with grow lights, maybe some of the members has tried it, too.

 

[Chuck]

Hello, I am new to the forum but have been gardening for a few years. I decided this year I wanted to start tomatoes and peppers from seed. The question I have is that is it necessary to have grow lights when starting tomatoes or is it sufficient enough to put them by a sunny window? Does anyone start their seed without artificial heat or light? What is your process for starting tomatoes without artificial heat(meaning a heating pad) or grow lights)? I realize that they would probably benefit more from grow lights but is a sunny window good enough? Thanks!

Tomato and pepper seeds do not need light to germinate but they do need heat. Soil temperature is very important. The optimum temp for both is 85F but maintaining 85 isn't easy without a propagation mat. However they will sprout at lower temps and anything above 70F will be satisfactory although not a fast. Once they are up if they do not receive enough sunlight or artificial light they will reach for the light and become leggy. I have a gas cook stove and the pilot light for the oven keeps the temp at an even 72F and I have no problem. I have found it takes about 3 times as long for pepper seeds to sprout than it does tomatoes. You can increase the soil temp if you cover and seal the top of the seed starting container with clear food wrap like Saran Wrap and placing it in the sunniest place you have

 

[granjera]

I definitely agree with Chuck about peppers. They are very slow growers from seed.

I have all my seeds growing on a window seat that has a southern exposure and they're doing fine.

 

[atlmom5]

I think Chuck said it all about tomato and pepper seeds needing the heat rather than light to germinate. I also would like to add that if you don't have a heating mat, that you could place your containers on top of the refrigerator to help heat the soil too, and you could even put the Saran Wrap over the containers like Chuck suggested. This is something I do with my pepper and eggplant seeds since they take a lot longer to germinate compared to the tomato seeds.

 

[Corzhens]

Hmm, this is a puzzle to me because I live in a tropical country. When we plant tomatoes or pepper, we just sow the seeds on a bed and when they sprout, we choose the best seedlings to replant in the desired location. And since the plants grow in a natural way, I think they need the sunlight for the production of chlorophyll in their leaves. But for germination perhaps it is the heat the causes that since the sunlight does not penetrate the soil.

 

[headfullofbees]

I live in a temperate country.
Because our season for growing tropical/sub-tropical plants is so short, we have to get ahead.
This means that our tomatoes have to be sown indoors, protected from the cold.
We either sow seeds (my choice, as I choose when and in what they're sown, and have a far greater choice of varieties) or we delegate that to others and buy in plants, which is a good option for people otherwise too busy.
These photo's show some of my starts, but my "Mortgage Lifter", "Black Cherry", "Maskotka" and "Stupice" have already been potted on.
I expect to lose approx. 5-10% through clumsiness.

From the left, Black Enorma aubergines (eggplants/brinjal), Harbinger tomatoes and San Marzano tomatoes.
They are not wilting, they have been "pulled" towards the light, and I turn them every day.

Below are San Marzano seedlings.
The pack had 300 seeds in it! so I was concerned about germination rates.
I sowed about 100 seeds and have about 100 seedlings!
The surplus won't go to waste; there are folk on the allotments who'll use them.

I use, and swear by, these:
http://www.garden4less.co.uk/stewart_essential_52cm_large_propagator.asp

As you can see, we have snow!

 

[granjera]

Put this seedling in the ground on Valentine's Day. My bells, which I started from seed in January, are only are finally 2 inches/5.1 cm tall.

 

[Bliss Danapr]

Many people suggest heat mats and lights but I just do it the old way...fill some old beer cans with random soil from outside and start planting, and so far, my tomatoes are growing really well...instead of light and heat mats I just trust the good old sun to do all that stuff for me

 

[CanadianLori]

@Bliss Danapr when do you start (seriously) your beer cans and in order to get the big tomato plants do you use tall boys or small kegs

 

[Bliss Danapr]

@Bliss Danapr when do you start (seriously) your beer cans and in order to get the big tomato plants do you use tall boys or small kegs

Yes, I use the tall boy bear cans

 

[granjera]

Aah, I have fond memories of working for a Canadian company in the 80s....Spent (winter) weeks in Ottawa. Beer was quite the popular lunch time beverage when I went out with my co-workers.

 

[Nancy]

I get much better results with old heating pads and regular fluorescent shop light fixtures. We do not have enough sun here in the winter for the plants to grow well. They get leggy and pale and grow slowly. When I use heat and lights they get so big in 6 weeks that I have to repot into bigger pots. For me, it is worth the bit of extra effort.

 

[LA in Idaho]

I have 2 4 light grow lights and 2 small heat mats. This will be my 4th year at starting my own seeds. The first year I started all the seeds at once and way too early! I was scrambling for bigger pots to up-pot them and ran out of lighted space so was constantly shifting them all so each would get some light! The next year I planted all the different seeds again but 2 weeks later. By the 3rd year I realized that seeds do not germinate at the same times so staggered the seeding according to germination rates but still started them too early for the space I have. This year hopefully will be much better.

 

[CanadianLori]

I have pots everywhere. My 6x8 greenhouse now only has 2 square feet of standing room just inside the door - I have to shift pots to reach the plants in the back. Course they are not all tomatoes. There are lots of other vegetables in there too. I have small gardens, do a lot of container growing and then also supply my friends with mature seedlings come the end of May.