When to Transplant Tomato Seedlings: Flower Truss Formation

Out of sheer respect for you, I simply cannot bring myself to address you by just your first name this first time. I might get it wrong, but I am going to use your formal patronymic anyway.

Hello, Lyudmila Alexandrovna! I testify my deepest respects to you! That’s the main thing.

And the minor thing is a question. It is known that from the appearance of buds to the opening of the flower truss, it supposedly takes 2 weeks. It is also known that it’s undesirable to plant out tomatoes with an already blooming truss, because it’s too late and the plant won’t have time to form a good root system. What is your take on this? How many days after the buds appear do you try to plant your seedlings out in the dirt?

Dear Valery, I don’t know if I’m just lucky or if it’s my conditions, but my seedlings always reach planting time in the exact same state—budding, but not blooming. Most often, the buds are just in their infancy.

But I think if we must plant out seedlings with the first truss blooming and the conditions are perfect (soil temp, no night frosts, enough moisture), there shouldn’t be any losses. But if the tomatoes hit a stressful situation right away (sunburn, lack of moisture), then anything can happen.

Quote from Aleksan9ra: Here in our region, if Thrips are present on the onion sets… the top 1 cm of the blade will suddenly bend at a sharp 90-degree angle… I immediately spray them.

Lyuda, what do you spray them with?

Galya, I watch the weather. If it’s very hot and dry and the onion tops are wilting before my eyes, I spray once with Actara (a systemic insecticide). But I do not harvest any greens from that bed until the final bulb harvest! If there are only a few pests, I use Fitoverm (organic Spinosad).

But honestly, I stopped planting bare onion sets directly in the spring. I sprout them indoors into seedlings first. When everyone else is planting bare sets in the dirt, mine are already 7-8 inches (18-20cm) tall. Thrips don’t even scare them, so no spraying is needed!

Quote from Dusya Kalyazin: My primary use for root celery is a soup mix prep: I slice the celery root and carrots into thin little matchsticks…

Thanks, but that’s not for me. I have two massive freezers and still run out of space—we freeze over 88 lbs (40 kg) of chicken alone! The carrots go in the root cellar. And nobody here likes eating celery root; I just boil it in the broth for flavor and then fish it out and throw it in the trash. 😂

Valery, as an example, I pulled the exact dates from one of my growing seasons. I think this makes it very clear:

• Feb 26: Sowed seeds.
• March 7: Cotyledons (seed leaves) opened. I immediately pot them up into individual cells at this exact stage.
• March 12: Growing in cells on the windowsill.
• March 27: Potted up a second time into 16 oz (0.5L) cups.
• April 17: Seedlings moved out to the greenhouse (still in pots).
• April 26: Planted into the greenhouse soil.

Quote from Aleksan9ra: April 17: Seedlings moved out to the greenhouse.

Wow, you are incredibly good at stunting/braking your seedlings with cold temperatures and light!

April 17th is 50 days from your Feb 26th sowing date, and there are STILL no buds visible! You planted them in the ground on April 26th—just 2 or 3 days after the buds finally formed. Masterclass!

Quote from Valtwelve: Is that toilet paper you use? Just one layer over the seeds?…

Yes, it’s toilet paper. I use a soft brand that turns into absolute mush when hit with boiling water. I fold it into 4-6 layers, place it on the bottom of the container, and pour boiling water over it. Then I lay out the dry seeds and cover them with a very thin, single layer of paper.

When it’s time to transplant, the seedlings pull out completely freely. The roots are still short. If a tiny piece of paper sticks to the root, it’s no big deal, though that rarely happens anyway.

Quote from Valtwelve: The only thought nagging me is that artificial grow lights might actually reduce yield…

Good afternoon. If your grow lighting is set up competently, nothing decreases at all. For five years now, I’ve been growing all my seedlings in a converted bathroom with absolutely zero natural light (just a tiny window near the ceiling for temp control). Artificial light only.

My tomato seedlings are ready in 40 days. All flower trusses are exactly where they should be. Yields are fantastic. There are nuances though: before taking them out to the greenhouse, I spray the foliage with a stress-relief product to prevent sunburn. The leaves are very tender.

Each of us has our own method. I direct-sow dry seeds into well-prepared potting mix. I tamp the soil slightly, lay out the seeds, cover with soil, and press it down well.

During the initial stages, heat at the roots (“warm feet”) is more important than room temperature. Good soil, humidity, and temperature are the key to uniform emergence. The dense surface allows the seedling to pull itself free. In all my years of gardening, I have never met a “helmet head.”

“Helmet heads” are only hard to remove if they are dry! For helmet heads, moisture is the main thing, IMHO. I just put drops of water directly on the dry helmets on my seedlings throughout the day, and the leaves eventually pull themselves out. If the soil is moist, you don’t necessarily have to tamp it down so firmly.

I became a new subscriber today, and I am so happy! My main hobby is roses (I have 70 bushes!). But two years ago I started growing tomatoes, and… it’s true love! It’s never too late to learn, right?

We only have 5 acres, filled with 70 roses, fruit trees, and a 10×13 ft (3x4m) greenhouse. Last year Cladosporium (Leaf Mold) hit my greenhouse hard. What varieties perform best for us here?

Welcome! For the future, regarding your seedlings: The absolute best time to prick out (pot up) peppers is at the cotyledon stage (the two seed leaves).

Why? Because at this stage, the seedling hasn’t grown lateral roots yet; there is nothing to tear, the pepper adapts perfectly, and it doesn’t stall in its development.

If you transplant your main peppers now (with true leaves), they might freeze and stall for 10-12 days. Scoop them up carefully. Three days after transplanting, feed them with Calcium Nitrate, and three days after that, a complex liquid fertilizer. If it’s sunny, put them on the windowsill to bask!