April is the month to sow tomato seeds – here are some helpful tips
Timing is everything when it comes to successfully growing tomato plants from seed. Sow the seeds too early on in the season and the cold weather and lack of light will not let them flourish. Sow them too late, and the tomatoes won’t have time to ripen. Generally speaking, the end of April is the latest you can sow tomato seeds outside in the UK, which means this is the month to get sowing. Here are some helpful tips from mail order seeds company Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk/) that will help you grow a bumper crop of tomatoes this year.
Give seedlings room
One of the worst things you can do when growing tomatoes from seeds is to crowd the seedlings. They need enough room to branch out and grow to their full capacity. As soon as they grow their first leaves, transplant them and then in around 2 weeks move them into a larger pot (around 4 inches).
Give them light
Just as for many vegetable seeds and seedlings, your tomato seedlings will need lots of light and strong, direct sunlight is best. Be sure to grow them in the sunniest spot in your garden and if you are growing them in a greenhouse, you will need to use grow lights on them for at least 14-18 hours, with the youngest plants being closest to the light.
Warm the soil
If you want to be able to harvest your tomato plants in the shortest time possible, you’ll need to ensure the soil you plant them in is warm enough. Tomatoes need heat to grow to a healthy size so a few weeks before you plant (ideally) cover the soil area with plastic sheeting which will warm up the soil underneath and should help your tomato seedlings to flourish earlier.
Water your tomato plants
When your seeds have developed from seedlings to young plants, it’s very important to water the plants well and often. You may hear that watering less helps the tomato plant to produce its natural sweetness, and while there is some truth in this, underwatering is all too easy and will stress out your tomatoes!
Sow soon and follow these simple tips and a bumper crop of tomatoes is a good possibility. We have a huge range of tomato and other cheap seeds for sale at http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk/, so why not take a browse?
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