tomatoes

[thundercrack]

tomatoe seedling growing . have planted tomatoe seeds and they have srarted to grow but they appear to be bolting,very leggy. why? how should I have raised them? in the dark? shade?full light?
thanks, alf

[Clanad]

A couple of thoughts... January is a little early to start seedlings, at least here in the western U.S., however, simply transplant them to a larger pot and bury them up to and maybe including the first sets of leaves. Additionally, if you are using an artificial sunlight light, make sure the tops of th eplants are quite close to the light source... perhaps no more than an inch or two. Moving them to a cooler location could slow down the growth as well... On the whole they'll do well after transplant to larger peat pots though...

[WendyS]

You're certainly an early bird and I think this is the problem. I normally plant my tomato seeds in mid/late March to grow them outdoors, germinating them on window ledges. This will still be soon enough as once they start growing they become very leggy very quickly. I suspect yours will not thrive and perhaps the best thing to do is start off another batch much later, ensuring they get as much light as possible.

[marvinparvin]

I agree - January is much too early to sow tomotoes in the UK. Start again end of March.

[thundercrack]

hi, thanks for the reply's. I was going purely by the info on the back of the tomatoe seed packet s which said "sow indoors from january onwards" As you all say, perhaps it may be better to sow again in march.
thanks, alf.