I get so excited to see if new seedlings are sprouting, don’t you? Checking in on the babies multiple times a day? It’s like “a watched pot never boils,” but with seeds.

Imagine my delight when, just 3 days after sowing them, I caught my tomatoes in the act of sprouting.

Then, just 3 days later I had 100% germination!

Pure delight. No worrying about watering or doing it wrong.

Now what?

Fertilize

Over the next few weeks, I’ll fertilize weekly, weakly, 😉 to give these babies a little boost while they grow. I recommend an organic liquid fertilizer like kelp emulsion, diluted to about 20% of what the package says.

[If you’re using Orta pots, water from above when you fertilize! If you put fertilizer into the reservoir, the terracotta will just filter it out and end up smelling yucky.]

In a few weeks, when the seedlings have 2-4 sets of true leaves, I’ll pot them up, either to a Square or Rectangle, or to 4” pots, depending on what I've got free at the time, like so:

Note: Even with the warm weather coming up, baby tomatoes sprouting this week may get too big for their pots before the weather is ready to plant them outside. Here in mild California, I like to wait until at least early May. You may want to wait longer.

Keeping plants indoors as they grow, however, always gets a bit tricky for me and our tiny spot next to the washing machine, as I try to squeeze more and more plants into the same footprint.

You may be wondering to yourself . . .

. . . why all the bother to grow tomatoes from seed?

As much as I like to sing the praises of starting really easy seeds like greens, peas, and calendula, like I did last week, it's hard to match the reward for effort with tomatoes.

These (above) are some of the best tomatoes I've ever grown. It's a variety called Chocolate Silk, grown by breeders named Steve Peters and Kanti Rawal who specialize in tomatoes that can withstand California's extreme daily temperature swings and the intermittent drought that comes from hot dry air combined with periodic irrigation.

You can only grow these from seed, and only if you can get them from Steve. (Or from someone who gets them from Steve, like me - I've got a batch on order and will let you all know when they arrive!)

This isn't so much to promote Steve's tomatoes, though, but to say that the best, unusual, unique, distinct varieties often come from a local breeder, or from someone who is passionate about tomatoes, and searches the world for specific tastes, colors and textures.

​Happy Cat Farm, for example, has one of the most extensive collections of tomato seeds that I've never heard of. If you're in Pennsylvania or have a similar climate to theirs, run, don't walk, to see what they've got.

Sungolds are nice, sure. Early Girl is pretty tasty and reliably early. Beefstakes and Cherokee Purple can be lovely too, if you have good growing conditions for them. All those are likely to be available for $5 - $20 each at your local Home Depot.

So, for $50 - $200 you can buy 10 tomato starts in standard, predictable flavors. It's fine. Good even, if that's your best option. Better than the grocery store for sure.

On the other hand, you can get 10 or 20 specialty seeds for about $5. With decent preparation and growing conditions, tomatoes are very robust from seed, and you're likely to get close to 100% of your seeds all the way to big plants.

Even with expensive, fancy seeds, you still net out to about $0.50 per plant.

But it's not just about the money!

Especially with tomatoes, it's a LOT about the flavor, and about plants that will thrive in your climate.

Here in the Bay Area, with our notoriously windy, cold and foggy mid-summer weather, we simply can't grow most tomatoes bigger than a cherry. That's why Steve's tomatoes have been a revelation. He bred them in California's hot valleys *and* on the foggy, windy coast.

If you have a particularly humid, soggy climate, maybe you need tomatoes that are extra resistant to fungal disease. If you're in Alaska, you need super-short season varieties. Etc.

Those standard nursery varieties available all over the country are middle-of-the-road, and will be merely fine-to-good for all but the most ideal growing conditions.

The real magic of tomato growing starts when you're growing a variety you love the taste of, and that grows strongly and productively in your climate.

Is starting tomatoes from seed more of a hassle than going to the grocery store or growing from starts? Undoubtedly, yes.

Are the cost savings, the success rate, and the amazing flavors worth the hassle? That's a personal question, but I know that for a lot of us who grow from seed, it's not even close. The results from seed are SO much better.

Do you have any questions about growing tomatoes from seed? Just hit reply and ask!

[I'll answer the top 2 questions here:

Do I need a heat mat for tomatoes? No, but they need to be at least at room temperature, and using a heat mat makes the seeds germinate much faster, like 3-4 days compared with 10-15 days.

Do I need grow lights for tomato seedlings? Emphatically YES, unless you have a warm greenhouse. The best value for your money is to look for "work lighting" or "shop lighting" at a big box store. 4,000 Kelvin or higher ("cool" lighting), 5,000 lumens or higher.]

Happy Seedurday,

Anne

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When you’re ready, here are some more ways I can help you grow a thriving garden from seed:

1. Plan your seed-starting schedule with our ​free printable planner.​

2. Download the free ​Orta Seed Starting Handbook with all the basics you need to succeed with seeds.​

3. Take the guesswork out of watering with Orta Self-Watering Pots. (Find discounted factory seconds here!)

4. Join the Orta Seed Club to have 5 hand-picked, unusual & high-yielding varieties delivered to you every season.

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