[A Reyt Tayty]

I've really gone to town with the toms this year. Best seed compost I've ever prepared (I hope). One third each of sieved compost from a growbag, loam and vermiculite. It looks to have paid dividends. My black cherry toms are up after only 4 days. I don't mean just breaking the soil, some are over half an inch high. Are they growing too fast? Other varieties haven't shown yet.

I tried some experiments with some of the mix before using it. I filled a pot with it and stood it in a tray of water until it had absorbed all it possibly could. The mixture seemed spot on. Not waterlogged, but plenty of water. In the past I've never liked the idea of watering like this, and have always watered from the top. I may try the water from beneath this year now.

[solway cropper]

Some varieties grow faster than others. Watering seedlings from the bottom tends to reduce problems like damping off. I place my cell trays/small pots in large shallow trays and water from the bottom. Works for me.

[A Reyt Tayty]

Some varieties grow faster than others. Watering seedlings from the bottom tends to reduce problems like damping off. I place my cell trays/small pots in large shallow trays and water from the bottom. Works for me.

I've just checked on a pot with no seed in which I watered from the bottom yesterday, then removed from the water and left to stand out of the water overnight. I've just emptied the contents out, and they seem very waterlogged to me. I may have to rethink.

[boddy]

Oh dear, after all that effort! Would love to know what the black cherry toms taste like!

[Headgardener22]

Oh dear, after all that effort! Would love to know what the black cherry toms taste like!

My experience is that they taste sweet but they have a tendency to split if you're not careful with the watering. I really love black tomatoes.

[A Reyt Tayty]

The seed from the black cherry came from a friends plant which he bought last year. It cropped rather disappointingly, but the fruit tasted very nice. Hence me choosing a really good fruit and saving the seed from it.

[8doubles]

I always put the tom seedlings in a tray and water from the base, try to keep pot and plant size the same in each tray so they get an equal amount of water.
A good method of watering tiny seedlings from the top  is a plastic bottle with lots of tiny holes drilled in the cap.
Very good for precision watering !