Tomato Seedling Advice?

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Probably ok. Tomato plants like large, deep pots and very good soil. You can use better soil when you repot. Don’t let soil dry out, make sure they get lots of sun and keep staked. As they grow, you can break off dead tree branches for staking. Tie with string, old pantie hose, ripped up T-shirt. Plant a separate container of basil.

If you like hard-boiled eggs, the next time you make some, save the shells. When you transplant them, crunch the shells up and mix them in with the soil. The calcium helps prevent blossom end rot.

I had a lot of luck with my own apartment patio garden. Even cucumbers did really well. The only thing to watch for is the height of your patio. If you’re too high off the ground, or your patio is sheltered, you may not have very much luck getting your flowers pollinated. I had to hand pollinate my tomatoes and cucumbers. Tomatoes are easy to hand pollinate – just give the blossoms a little flick as soon as you notice they’ve bloomed.

Good luck!

Thanks!

gailcalled – I was planning to get basil. Can I grow it in the same pot as the tomatoes? I remember reading somewhere that it enhances the flavor of the tomatoes.

wyrenyth – I’ve got a ton of eggs in the fridge and was planning to make a big batch of deviled eggs. I’ll make sure to hold onto the shells. Thanks for the tip!

I tried them together last year, the tomato overshadowed the basil and it was scrawny.

It can enhance the flavor, but as noted, I wouldn’t try to put them together. A full grown tomato plant has a massive root system, and not only is it likely to overshadow your little basil seedling, it would probably also choke it out.

I also have my tomatoes in 10” pots right now. They’re all three about three feet high. I will probably transplant them at some point, but my mother in law grew a tomato plant in a 12” pot that ended up around seven feet tall and gave off bushels and bushels of cherry tomatoes. The cucumber does best in a long rectangular “window” type planter.

I blend egg shells and vegetable scraps and pour the slurry in the planters. I think of it as “instant composting”.

cant you go ahead and put it in the container of choice so it can get rooted?
also I heard epsom salts – just a teaspoon or two in the water can help the chlorophyll and green factor.

Epsom salts – dissolved previously in water and used to water the plant, quite similar to using Miracle Gro or a comparative product – will enhance any plant. It’s also a useful additive to fish tanks. :D