Content
- Sowing tomatoes properly - successful debut for premium tomatoes
- This pretreatment lifts the germination of tomato seeds
- Early sowing behind glass - these steps are trumps
- Compensate for poor lighting conditions
- All important manipulations until planting
- Is direct sowing useful?
- Tips & Tricks
Sowing tomatoes properly - successful debut for premium tomatoes
Sowing tomato seeds is easier than you think. Learn here all the important steps to succeed behind glass. So the project is from the start under a good star.
This pretreatment lifts the germination of tomato seeds
The 2-3 mm small tomato seeds signal with their velvety, slightly hairy shell a natural germ inhibition. Before sowing the seeds, stimulation for germination is recommended.
Of course, normal tap water is also suitable for pretreatment. The advantage of the solutions mentioned is the simultaneous prophylaxis against mold, probably the greatest danger in the context of sowing.
Early sowing behind glass - these steps are trumps
Regardless of whether you want to cultivate your favorite tomato varieties in the bed or in the tub, a cultivation behind glass is recommended. The best time to start sowing is in late February / early March. Ideally, there is a light-filled conservatory, a bright greenhouse or a spacious windowsill.
An exemplary germination temperature ranges between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius. Keep the growing medium permanently slightly damp, you can look forward to the first seedlings after 10 to 14 days. During this phase, you can also create a moist, warm microclimate on the windowsill, for example with the help of a heatable mini-greenhouse. Alternatively, simply stretch transparent foil over each culture vessel.
Compensate for poor lighting conditions
The light conditions are a central factor in the cultivation of tomatoes. In winter gardens or hothouses, experience shows that they are bright enough. On the windowsill special plant lamps improve the light supply during cultivation. Otherwise, the plantlets stretch towards the sun, inevitably vergeilen and tip over. For this reason, we recommend sowing on the windowsill at the earliest from mid-March.
If you then place a mirror behind the seed box, the light-hungry tomato seedlings should no longer go in search of light. Rather, they then assume the desired compact habit.
All important manipulations until planting
If the conditions are right, the first tender cotyledons will appear after 2 weeks. Now the development is proceeding swiftly, while the moist and warm climate is maintained. The ventilation flaps in the conservatory or greenhouse should be opened daily for a few minutes. In addition, the substrate and the seedlings must not dry out under any circumstances. As soon as at least one more pair of leaves has developed above the cotyledons, the time is ripe for piking. Here's how to do it:
Pour the tomato plants moderately, but regularly. It is not yet fertilized in this phase of growth. By mid-May, the tomatoes have reached a height of about 30 centimeters. Once the igloos have left, they are planted in the bed or in the tub.
Is direct sowing useful?
Every year, in our latitudes, a limited window of opportunity for outdoor cultivation of tomatoes opens up. At the earliest from mid-May direct sowing comes into consideration. For the tomatoes to ripen until autumn, good to optimal weather conditions are required. Before you give up growing tomatoes yourself, it is worth a try under the following precautions.
Choose as a location a sunny, sheltered location. Ideally, a place in front of the south wall of the house, ideally under a canopy. Offer the heavy eaters a nutrient-rich, humus-rich, fresh soil. Protect the seed with a foil tunnel. In the consequence you build a tomato roof as rain protection. When sowing, proceed as follows:
Tips & Tricks
The mild-spicy tomato aroma unfolds even more intense when garlic broth is used for the watering from the beginning. To do this, drain two garlic cloves in 10 liters of water for 12 hours. Every 14 days this solution replaces the irrigation water for one pass.