Hi, I've recently started trying to grow my own tomatoes, decided I needed a hobby on my days off. am a pure amateur, as evidenced by my assumption I had to use miracle grow every time I watered (luckily my plants survived my mistake, with only slightly yellowed leaves). any way, they've been growing for a good bit, and from what I've read on line I need to repot them for a couple of weeks before I can finally plant them outside. my question is, can I have more than one seedling in a pot? see, I have 7 large variety tomato seedlings, and 10 cherry tomato seedlings that need repotting, but only 6 4.5" deep, 5.5" diameter pots. like I said, the pots wont be the final home, I just need a deeper pot to replant them in to grow the roots out more from what the internet tells me. can someone give an amateur some advice?
also, some places have told me I don't even need to repot them first. is that true?
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applestar
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I prefer to uppot tomato seedlings because you can bury them deep each time, and extra roots grow along the buried stem. I put a thin layer of potting mix in the bottom of the bigger pot, then some mix on one side to support, then drop the seedling in and fill.
I could see putting 2-3 tomato seedlings per size pot you mention. It would depend on the size of the seedlings. It's not difficult to separate tomato seedlings as long as their roots are not tightly intertwined. But if you want to make the process easier, you can make dividers out of cut up waxed paper food cartons like milk and juice or plastic containers like Chinese take out or clear salad green and fruit boxes. Dividers will mostly keep the roots of the plants away from each other.
I could see putting 2-3 tomato seedlings per size pot you mention. It would depend on the size of the seedlings. It's not difficult to separate tomato seedlings as long as their roots are not tightly intertwined. But if you want to make the process easier, you can make dividers out of cut up waxed paper food cartons like milk and juice or plastic containers like Chinese take out or clear salad green and fruit boxes. Dividers will mostly keep the roots of the plants away from each other.
I up-pot tomatoes when they have two or three sets of true leaves. They go from being in 6 paks into 1 1/2 inch square by 3 inch deep individual pots for each seedling. I only re-pot once and that happens about six weeks before they get put outside to harden off. I harden off for about a week before planting in the ground. I do individuals because I also grow for several nurseries.
There is no reason you cannot plant in larger pots and separate when you want to plant in your garden. The reason for repotting is to force the plants into root growth which makes for much stronger, healthier plants. This should be done sooner rather than later. As Applestar says, you can keep the roots separate, but there is no problem dividing tomatoes, just be careful.
There is no reason you cannot plant in larger pots and separate when you want to plant in your garden. The reason for repotting is to force the plants into root growth which makes for much stronger, healthier plants. This should be done sooner rather than later. As Applestar says, you can keep the roots separate, but there is no problem dividing tomatoes, just be careful.