Since sowing my Gardeners Delight seeds they’ve come up a treat – however, I do think they’ve gone a little bit on the leggy side. Seedlings go leggy because they’re stretching towards the light (meaning that they may have some light restrictions) and the result is a slightly over tall, disproportionate plant.
A good indicator of knowing when to separate your tomato plant seedlings is the presence of the second set of leaves. The sooner you can separate these plants the better.
Gently pat out the seedlings from the pot and the seedlings should break apart from the pot revealing their main root ball.
Fill two inch pots with multi-purpose compost and make a hole in the center of the pot for the the seedlings. Try avoid handling the seedling by the stem as this could damage the plant, instead handle the plant by it’s leaves and root stock.
Place the seedlings in the pot and cover the base of the seedling well. Because my seedlings are on the leggy side, I’ve tried to bury the seedling as close to the first set of leaves as possible to try and strengthen the plant. I’ve moved these seedlings into an area that has better access to light so that they don’t continue to get leggy.
When I plant these outside I’ll look to mulch these as this will help retain water during the warm dry spells and also had some much needed nitrogen into the ground. I’ll plant the marigolds that I’d sown earlier to keep the black fly attack down. I’m also considering sowing some spring onions, again for pest management, but also make the most of the space that I have.
I’ll also have to employ some measures to keep the slugs at bay too as I’ve read that slug attacks are said to be higher than usual this year thanks to the mild winter.
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