Tomato help!

Holly 3

Hi, This year I am starting a new garden from scratch and I am doing it on a budget with seeds etc as we have just moved in.

I am a seed 'noob' and chose tomato 'Tigerella' for my first ever veg plot!

I planted 2 trays worth as I expected them all to die knowing my luck. Well a month on and they are potted on and about 30-50cm high and growing so well that I noticed today the roots are coming out the bottom of the cardboard pots I have and attatching to the cardboard that they are sat in!

I dont own a greenhouse and I heard you cant put them outside until Mayish time.
As I have no space left in my house or a conservatory can I put them in a raised bed with a fleece hoop over them? I have too many now (about 2 trays full) to put them in one of those grow bags in a plastic greenhouse.

It would seem I am a victim of my own success ha ha 

Not to mention I have about 300 other seeds that have sprouted and 

AuntyRach

Congratulations on your success so far @Holly 3
I have this no greenhouse issue too. I usually put them out at the end of April, after a second potting-on and if they are looking robust, but protect them by putting the pots against the house and keeping an eye on forecast etc. (and start thinking about slug protection and staking etc).
I have often found that all the seedlings will grow but, sad as it seems, you should just keep the strong ones and expect not to grow them all. I often pot-on once then give some away to friends and family. How many plants do you wish to grow to maturity?  I find even just two or three plants soon become large and will yield plenty of tomatoes. Many times I have spent time looking after the plants, which look very healthy, only for the crop to get blight at the final hurdle! This is one of the risks with growing outside. 
Good luck with them, and your other seeds! It's a great hobby. 

Kitty 2

Congratulations on your success Holly 😃
Commiserations on your lack of space 😲

Running out of windowsills is a constant problem for us seedaholics. I think it's still too early to risk putting them outside, even with a fleece. But if you're prepared to lose a few plants to a potential cold snap, you could plant some out and keep some indoors as backup.

Trying to think of alternative solutions, do you have one of those small plastic greenhouses? You could put it up indoors maybe, near a big window or patio doors for extra shelf space.  

You could always give some away to friends & family to reduce your number of plants.

Holly 3

Ha ha thanks :-) I gave 6 away today to family and now have about 20ish left


Here is a pic of just half the plants ants I am juggling big u guys were closer I’d give u some too ha ha

i think this amount still won’t be enough to fill my new garden
it’s so overwhelming on juggling the windowsill lol sadly my husband won’t let me do shelves inside, he already hates me using the sills
svss 

BLT

I think you have done too well lol.. I had this happen last year so I passed my spare plants  to my neighbours and to friends who swopped for other veg plants.. I have potted up agood few myself..

Fire

They look fabulous. Is the outside space your garden?

Holly 3

Yeah ha ha!
maybe I should befriend a group upthe local allotments or something 
the outside space is my new garden yes, I can’t eben measure it the tape measure doesn’t go that far!
gw goes on about small gardens but I want them to do planning advice on big gardens too 

Dovefromabove

I think you'll find that your garden is still classified as small ... probably about the same as mine ... when GW talks about big gardens they're talking 'acreage' 

https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/4522/garden-size 

Lyn

When you become more experienced you will learn how many seeds are in a packet and sow small amounts. I have about 100 different lots at the moment. You can then plant out in groups serveral different kinds. I do sow some in trays that I know I will need 100’s of, Lobelia, Nemesia, and Bacopa.  But most like this.

ladygardener2

Holly 3 said:

Ha ha thanks :-) I gave 6 away today to family and now have about 20ish left


Here is a pic of just half the plants ants I am juggling big u guys were closer I’d give u some too ha ha

i think this amount still won’t be enough to fill my new garden
it’s so overwhelming on juggling the windowsill lol sadly my husband won’t let me do shelves inside, he already hates me using the sills
svss 

It looks like you have a right good production line going there well done, you've made a great start. If you have perennials or hardy annuals there, you can start hardening them off any time after this cold spell. That'll give you a bit of space.
 Your garden is a good size but not large by tv and magazine standards but it's bigger than some. It's wonderful to have such a blank space and good to make a plan.
As to your original question about your tomatoes, then as has been suggested. I'd buy one of those plastic greenhouses in any of the garden or diy shops and get your tomatoes out into it in a month or so, other seedlings can go straight in but check if they're very tender. I've grown tomatoes like this for years but if we have another very cold spell they may suffer. 

Holly 3

Cool thanks everyone :-)

I will look at potting some on and Ive got a plastic greenhouse now I can use in a few weeks or so 

Ive just joined a site to trade some of the tomatoes too. Cant wait for summer!

Sods law the first year I try full on gardening I get the beast from the east