Indoor starting tomato container

[Christian1971]

Is a container that is 1.5" wide and 8" tall, work for growing a tomato or pepper seedling indoors until transplanting outdoors. Or does the container need to be bigger, to hold more pot mix? Thanks

[rainbowgardener]

8" tall is plenty deep enough, but 1.5 inches wide (presuming it is square) is tiny and probably wouldn't be enough soil. I start my tomato seeds indoors in small cells, then transplant them into little pots that are 4" square by 6" deep. They stay in those until they are ready to go in the ground.

[Voices30]

I like the cells too because you can allow them to root up a little bit, then tap them out and you will have nice plugs. They sell the starter trays really inexpensively, but if you do have a little cash, get some nursery grade starting cells with the tray. They are of a hard plastic material and can last you for a long time (instead of that junky peat pot starter kits from big-box stores that are very flimsy and fall apart). I used to use random containers like you are describing, but having the proper pots and trays really does help in how things turn out (for me anyway).

[rainbowgardener]

but they can't stay in the cells very long. And at least for those of us in cold winter areas, you won't be able to put them in the ground at that point. So there is a need for some intermediate step, which is what my 4" pots are. They stay under the lights in those pots for several weeks.

[Voices30]

We step up too to 4" down here. It's colder here than you think! But not as cold as this last week was for the nation. We did break into freezing, but golly was it cold up north. I really don't envy you guys. I lived for 6 years in Des Moines, IA, and another year in Minnesota. I don't think I will ever go back!