Does the depth of the seed have any effect on the seedling?

[hardland]

Does the depth of the tomato seed have any influence on the health of the seedling? I try and sow my tom seeds 1/4 inch deep. Sometimes my seedlings seem leggy, almost right away. What would happen if you sow a tom seed 1 inch deep or say 1/8 deep?

[rainbowgardener]

Leggy is about the light and other growing conditions, not the seed. I haven't tried it, but I would worry about planting tomato seed an inch deep. Until the seedling emerges and produces leaves, it is living off the food in the seed. Once it produces roots, it gets water and nutrients from the soil through the roots, but initially the roots are very small. So planting it that deep, you are requiring it to live a long time and produce a lot of stem, before it receives much energy back. Might not make it.

I basically don't bury seeds, except the largest like peas. I just put them on the soil, press them down a bit to be sure they are in good contact and dust them with loose potting soil over the top.

But all gardening is experimentation! Try the experiment and let us know!

[hardland]

Leggy is about the light and other growing conditions, not the seed. I haven't tried it, but I would worry about planting tomato seed an inch deep. Until the seedling emerges and produces leaves, it is living off the food in the seed. Once it produces roots, it gets water and nutrients from the soil through the roots, but initially the roots are very small. So planting it that deep, you are requiring it to live a long time and produce a lot of stem, before it receives much energy back. Might not make it.

I basically don't bury seeds, except the largest like peas. I just put them on the soil, press them down a bit to be sure they are in good contact and dust them with loose potting soil over the top.

But all gardening is experimentation! Try the experiment and let us know!

Interesting; If I'm using a mix with no soil ( Fafard 3B, 45% Sphagnum, perlite and vermiculite ) how does the seedling get nutrients? Do I need to water now and again with very dilute fish emulsion, or ACT from worm compost?

[TZ -OH6]

Rainbow's right, you have to get them under the light as soon as the first ones come up or they keep reaching for the light. Sprouts that emerge early in the night will be leggier (at first) than those that emerge during the day.

I normally use a pencil tip to make seed holes, so the seeds fall in anywhere from 0" to 3/4" (no difference), but once I had some helpers that were a little aggressive and their pencil holes went nearly to the bottom of the cells, but the seedlings didn't seem to have a problem coming up through more than an inch of potting mix.

I like a little bit of depth (and tamp down the surface a bit) because it holds onto the seed coat and helps the plant pull free.

[hardland]

TZ, I guess we were typing at the same time. Any thoughts on my mix having no nutrients?

[TZ -OH6]

Not a problem in the beginning. Basic seed starting mix (peat + vermiculite or perlite) has enough nutrients from the peat to get the plants going for a while because even though there is not that much nutrition it is a small plant in a large pot so the plant gets a lot of use out of what little is there. A single seed in a little starter cell can often/usually get to pot-up size without additional nutrients.



But your mix has added nutrients (and dolomitic lime per the other thread I screwed up answereing) so you shouldn't have to provide nutrients at least until the plants are almost ready to go in the ground (if at all), and by that point you will have enough experience with them to notice that they are not growing as fast as they were.


Here are the stats for Farfard 3B


BULK DENSITY
11 and 14 lbs

PH RANGE
5.5 and 6.5 after wetting

CONTENTS
Canadian sphagnum peat moss
Processed pine bark
Perlite
Vermiculite
Starter nutrients
Wetting agent
Dolomitic limestone

USES
Cuttings
Seeds
Bedding plants
Hanging baskets
Flowering plants
Foliage
Interiorscapes

[hardland]

Not a problem in the beginning. Basic seed starting mix (peat + vermiculite or perlite) has enough nutrients from the peat to get the plants going for a while because even though there is not that much nutrition it is a small plant in a large pot so the plant gets a lot of use out of what little is there. A single seed in a little starter cell can often/usually get to pot-up size without additional nutrients.



But your mix has added nutrients (and dolomitic lime per the other thread I screwed up answereing) so you shouldn't have to provide nutrients at least until the plants are almost ready to go in the ground (if at all), and by that point you will have enough experience with them to notice that they are not growing as fast as they were.


Here are the stats for Farfard 3B


BULK DENSITY
11 and 14 lbs

PH RANGE
5.5 and 6.5 after wetting

CONTENTS
Canadian sphagnum peat moss
Processed pine bark
Perlite
Vermiculite
Starter nutrients
Wetting agent
Dolomitic limestone

USES
Cuttings
Seeds
Bedding plants
Hanging baskets
Flowering plants
Foliage
Interiorscapes

Do you mean the blood and bone meal I add to my mix on previous posts. I didn't add this to my seed starting mix though.

[TZ -OH6]

The info I posted is cut and pasted from the Farfard company website. That's what's in it out of the bag.

[hardland]

Strange, I didn't see Dol lime listed on the bag, or on the website. I only add Dol lime to the final pot up when I plant in containers with the Faf 3B.

[TZ -OH6]

Here's the website

https://www.fafard.com/?p=139


I'm not surprized that your lable was incomplete. I don't know if there are any lableing laws for potting mixes, and if it is not on th label it gives the manufacturer the option of changing formulas slightly from time to time.


Most potting mixes have lime/dolomite in their ingredients to adjust/buffer pH, and it is sometimes a good idea to add more to ageing mix because of the acids from peat decomposition. If normal levels of calcium are in the soil, even watering is going to be the biggest cure for blossom end rot. As a side note, I seem to remember that Florida tap water is usually pretty hard (high calcium) due to the aquifer limestone.

[hardland]

Thanks TZ. What is a wetting agent?

[TZ -OH6]

A wetting agent promotes absorption (surfactant). Peatmoss is notoriously resistant to wetting. Water will often bead up on top of it or the peat will float on the water. With the wetting agent the potting mix will wick water up into the pot and distributed it evenly (when everything works right).


I'm not sure what they use as the agent. I've tried liquid dishsoap but its not as good.

[dave.c]

First, it's very cool that tomatoes have their own forum... And THANK you for explaining "wetting agent" finally in the last comment. I've been seeing this around and didn't really wanna ask...

[TZ -OH6]

You may also come across the term "spreader-sticker" for adding to pesticides and foliar fertilizers. It is also a surfactant, and helps stop beading of water on waxy leaves so that the spray can coat/wet the leaves. Liquid dish detergent works pretty well as a substitute.