tomato seeds

[mirandamommy]

I painstakingly searched for rare heirloom breeds for my tomatoes this year. This is the first time I have started them from seed. I sowed them into cells and am keeping them inside. The packages said they would sprout in 5 days, but it's been 7 and I see no sign of green. I planted them in organic potting mix. What have been your experiences from starting tomatoes from seed? Should I give up hope or does it take more than 5 days? Should I be doing something else with them? They are by a window and I am keeping them moist and covered with plastic. Any advice?

 

[farmerlor]

Hmmmm, sometimes potting mix has fertilizer in it which may have been to harsh for the seeds. I usually start in seed starter or coir and then transfer to dirt. But I've known plenty of people who just start in potting soil too. Are the cells warm enough? If it's cool in that window that could delay your start. If you're keeping them too wet the seed will rot. I'd give it another couple days and wait to see what happens.

 

[smom1976]

I planted mine in little peat pods.. you know the ones that you pour water on and they swell..

They took forever... like more than two weeks..

some took past 3 weeks..

and they are heirloom seeds..

 

[setter4]

Some of mine were up in a week and some weren't so don't give up yet.
If you don't see anything in a couple of days then replant and use seed starter mix.
Good luck!

 

[momofdrew]

their enviorment should be warm and toasty to thrive
warm bottom heat
They really dont need alot of light before sprouting
I have put pots on top of the ref for a week It is the warmest spot in my house makes me dust it too

 

[obsessed]

I don't mean to hijack thread. But will this advice work for eggplants. I got some from SSE and planted them last week in seed starting mix but no sprouts yet. Thing that I planted in the garden have sprouted though. Like corn and radishes and some zukes.

 

[vfem]

I hope so, this is how my eggplant seeds are set up right now. We're just going to wait and see. :/

 

[digitS']

This should give you more hope than "sprout in 5 days" thinking.

Soil Temperature and Germination - University of Minnesota

Steve

 

[Rosalind]

Tomato, pepper & eggplants all need warm bottom heat. Those nursery heating mats help, but are expensive--I think Patandchickens posted something recently about putting a string of incandescent Xmas lights under a jellyroll pan as a DIY.

Heirlooms often germinate slower than others. I've found it also depends on where you got the seed from: Last year I bought a lot of stuff from Seeds of Change, and it took most things twice as long as it said on the packet to get started. This year, I bought most of my tomatoes from Sand Hill, and they popped right up on schedule. I also planted some leftovers from last year's Seeds of Change packets, and they still took twice as long despite being in the same flat with the same heating mat, same light, same water etc.

I planted most of my seeds the first week of February, and you know, I have pepper seeds bought last year that only just started coming up last week. Yep, those dumb peppers and a few eggplants took a MONTH to come up. Don't give up hope yet. One of the functions of the garden is to teach you patience...

 

[digitS']

I start seed on TOP of the fridge. . . . no, not IN the fridge. The old bills and such get cleaned off and I put down an aluminum foil covering, then newspapers, and then the boxes of soil & seeds.

The temperature is always about 70F up there - day and night. The house temperature goes down to 60 at night but the heat from the fridge motor and coils keep it a little warm up there.

Steve