[mad mark]

I planted tomato seeds about two months ago in paper pots I made and they are just struggling to get going. We have had them in the house until last weekend when my oh decided she wanted her living room back and so they are in the plastic greenhouse thingy. Any tips to get them moving? They are about two and a half inches high and very straggly things. As you can see I am a novice with tomato seeds......Thanks in advance...
When is that sun going to come out?

[azubah]

just the usual things really. Make sure they are not too wet or dry. It should be warm enough in the greenhouse now. Are they in individual pots of the right size? Hope they get going soon.

[Trillium]

And if they've been in the house all this time, be careful about putting them in the stronger light of a greenhouse. It's the same as hardening off....up to 1/2 hr per day for the first few days, then slowly increase the exposure. If you neglect this part, they'll dry right out and shrivel, which you don't want. With the coming warmth they'll perk up a lot as toms are tropical plants. When you're not actively hardening off the plants, put them in a shadier area to recover.

[Parsnip]

I planted tomato seeds about two months ago in paper pots I made and they are just struggling to get going. We have had them in the house until last weekend when my oh decided she wanted her living room back and so they are in the plastic greenhouse thingy. Any tips to get them moving? They are about two and a half inches high and very straggly things. As you can see I am a novice with tomato seeds......Thanks in advance...
When is that sun going to come out?

Sounds to me like they've gone like mine did Mark if the are tall and straggly..ie leggy..

Have you got any true leaves on them yet? I rescued  some of mine by potting them on, into bigger pots and putting compost right up to  right up to the leaves ( there's a proper name for it ), put them into my plastic greenhouse and they are going great!!

It is my first year growing form seed, I've learnt loads about what I've been doing wrong..

[Oliver]

Sounds to me like they've gone ...  leggy..

It's quite surprising how resiliant tomato plants are - just put then each into a 9F pot (3.5"), keep them moist, but not sogged, and not too hot, and talk to them nicely and they will reward you in due course.  Plastic greenhouses can be very warm indeed so keep an eye on the ventilation - if the soil is too moist and gets too hot you end up cooking the roots!
Oliver

[whippersnapper]

Mine are in a plastic jobby, south facing. I have to leave the front zip open otherwise I've noticed the temp can reach around 35-40c!!!

Very pleased though this week as they've added a good inch or two.

[mad mark]

Will try to repot them in deeper soil. Some of them I have in 3inch pots but they look poorly. Need a bit of warmth I reckon as it has been so cold here in Derbyshire and wet. Lets hope the sun shines today and they might perk up abit.
 

[Oliver]

Will try to repot them in deeper soil. Some of them I have in 3inch pots but they look poorly. Need a bit of warmth I reckon as it has been so cold here in Derbyshire and wet. Lets hope the sun shines today and they might perk up abit.
 

I found a plastic biscuit tray, about 30cm deep FULL of 'yellow tomatoes' on my doorstep one day (a few years ago now). The tomatoes were about 10" high, with a few struggling leaves on top and the roots all entangled. I was about to add them to the compost heap but, I thought no, the poor critters have struggled to get this big, so I planted them out on the plot with a bamboo cane as support.  They turned out to be something which looked very like Golden Sunrise - I had to keep typing them up and added extra support because they had loads of fruit which was very tasty indeed. I saved some seed and have had 'yellow tomatoes' ever since.

I sow about 20 seeds every year and grow 3 plants in the poly and 3 outside. The rest I give to the local flower club plant sale. The only thing to watch outside is blight - any tomato will cop it in a bad year and last year was not very good.

They look and behave just like this: http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds1/product/279/1.html (this is also one of the tomatoes described on this site by John our Master)

So despair not, o friend, just give them some TLC and post up your results in due course.
Oliver-looking-forward-to-going-on-the-roof-today-its-nice-and-warm