Tomato Sprout Help!!

[giraffic]

Long story short, a tomato i was using to cook with had began sprouting (the seeds) I saved a couple and put them on a wet sponge. They are growing but I know nothing of tomato care, especally from sprouts. Has anyone got any advice like when to plant them or general tomato care in general?

Thanks ahead of time!
~Giraffic

 

[charron]

all (I think) I know of tomatoes is: start early, four weeks before last frost. (you've got that part licked lol)  Transplant to 4" pots when two sets of 'true leaves' show.  When transplanting, bury the plant up to the bottom of the first leaves; the stem will put out extra roots if it is buried.

Transplant to the garden after last frost, again making sure to plant as deep as the first leaves.   They like calcium, so it helps if you put a ring of crushed egg shells around the base after you transplant.  (Seems nasty critters also wont crawl across the sharp shells to eat your delicate plant)  Don't over water.

This is all regurgitated info I have learned after flailing in my tomato garden last year.  Hopefully I have not led you astray.  Good luck!

 

[kyheirloomer]

You were going to eat a tomato in which seeds were sprouting in situ? Sorry, but I shudder to think what it's condition was. Certainly long past the point of palatability.

But I digress. I'm going to take a guess on this, because I've never heard of anyone using chitted tomato seed. But if it's just starting to sprout, I would plant it, root end down, in seed-starting media. You can, btw, start a multitude of them in a 4" pot, rather than setting them individually in cells.

Other than that, Charron gave you the gist. Bump them at least once, after true leaves appear (true leaves will be the second set). Don't know where you are, but if last frost is sometime out, and the seedlings are getting away from you, bump them again, in a taller pot. Won't hurt anything, and, in fact, will build a stronger root structure.

However, before going through any of that, what was the source of the tomato? If store bought it was likely a hybrid, which means it will not breed true to type. You will get a cross-section reflecting the genetic make-up of the parents. Sometimes there are happy surprises from that. But most of the time the results are disappointing.