Spring Fever–Starting Strong Tomato Plants

We get some terribly hot and dry weather during our summers, so it is critical that our tomato plants have deep, well-formed root systems to help them survive those periods. I start my tomato seeds in a tray like this one.

Once the seeds have sprouted, I can remove the little “plug” from this tray. (Because of the way that they are made they don’t have to have a root system to hold the “plug” together, but you will need a pencil or something to push it up and out of the tray from the bottom.)

I take the seedling “plug” and put it into a 3″ square pot (I bought 3 of these trays with pots in them from Amazon).

I let the plants grow in this pot until they are about 6 or 7 inches tall. (These aren’t quite ready.)

Once they get tall enough, I pinch off all the leaves except for the ones at the very top. I then plant it in a taller pot by putting the plant in the bottom of the pot, and then filling the pot all the way up to the top with just the few leaves sticking up out of the soil.

I will let them get about 8 or 9 inches tall and then transplant them in the garden. I will pick off most of the leaves except for the ones at the top and plant the tomato up to its neck in the garden. I used this technique for my Cherokee Purple tomato plants last summer and they absolutely thrived and were super productive. This year I am growing Cherokee Purple and Roma tomatoes. Even if you don’t start your plants from seed and follow these techniques, you can follow the last one with plants that you buy from the nursery.

Happy gardening!