It has been one week since starting our tomato plants and you can see young tomato seedlings emerge. Several of our seeds have germinated. It is very critical at this stage to monitor the moisture levels and the placement of the lights.
Care of young seedlings after germination
Remove plastic cover after germination begins to allow for good air flow.
After we see several young tomato seedlings emerge, it is time to take off the dome lid or plastic covering. This is to allow for good air flow around the seedlings, which helps prevent mold from growing. We still should continue to see our seeds germinate even with the covering off. One of the most important things to remember at this stage is to watch the moisture levels. As you can see, we’ve had quite a few seeds germinate in the first week. Tomato seeds germinate quickly so this is pretty normal. It is very important not to let them dry out but also not to overwater them.
Methods for checking moisture levels after the young tomato seedlings emerge
There are a few methods you can use to check moisture levels. When you stick your finger in the soil and it comes out with a little dirt on it then the moisture level is most likely adequate. Another way to tell if they need more water is to feel how heavy your container feels when you pick it up. If it is very light then there is not enough moisture.
Also a big indictor of moisture levels will be the way the seedlings look. If they are drooping and your container feels dry, they will need moisture right away. Once they reach the point of critical moisture loss they can die in minutes because they aren’t able to store moisture like a larger plant. If they are drooping and the container feels wet then it is possibly an issue with your seedlings damping off. In this case you won’t want to give them any more water until the tray dries out. It may not be possible to save them at this point, so you will want to take steps to avoid this scenario.
How to water young tomato seedlings
Once you have determined that your seedlings need moisture, the best way to water at this stage is to put a little around the base of each seedling. Try not to wet the leaves. Start out with just a small amount and increase if needed. You can always add water but you can’t take it away. Too much water can cause young seedlings to dampen off because it creates a wet environment. We keep our seedlings very close to a wood stove, which gives them a warm place to grow and thrive. We are also careful not to overwater. The link below explains what damping off is and how to avoid it.
Keep your lights very close to the seedlings
Now that the tomato seedlings have emerged they begin reaching for the light. It is important to lower the lights so they are very close to the young plants. If the lights are not placed low enough, the seedlings will reach for a light source that is too far away. As a result, the stems will become long and lanky. They may fall over, or at the very least, develop weak stems. When we were first learning how to start plants indoors, we learned this the hard way. We lost several of our seedlings before we realized what we were doing wrong. Adjustable lights are important for this reason. If you notice in the picture, we have some pepper seedlings that are farther along and they have already been transplanted into cups. They sit higher on our shelf, so we can adjust our lights on each end to accommodate both heights.
Sit back and watch your seedlings grow!
This is a fun stage because young tomato seedlings grow quickly. They will change rapidly each week and it only takes about two or three weeks until they are ready to transplant into individual cups. We will move on to the transplant stage soon, but in the meantime we will continue to monitor moisture levels closely. We hope to catch you in our next post. Feel free to check out the short link below to our YouTube channel covering this information! Thanks for checking out our site!
