Starting the seeds (how to start tomato seeds)

 Mid February and it is that time again.  I had to go through my stash of saved seeds from the last few years and figure out what to get started, and what I may need to replenish.  It was disheartening to realize that with the horribly wet conditions we had last summer I will have to replace quite a few of the breeds I had in my seed storage because the plants did not produce so there was no good seed to save.  My good old standby tomato breed that I make all my sauces from was still available to me through the last few years of seed saving, so that is where I will start.  

So, why the desire to try again with tomatoes?  I just denounced that a few posts ago since growing tomato seeds without a greenhouse is about one of the most difficult gardening tasks I have tried.  Well, I made a friend who invited me to use a small space in her greenhouse to grow my tomatoes.  I was thrilled!  I wanted to share my potting ratio and my starts, a few more pics in the coming weeks to share the progress too!  Here is where I start, I use a plain old potting soil, a bag of vermiculite and a bag of perlite.   These were mediums suggested to me a few years ago when I was so frustrated with the soil compaction that was occurring in my seed cells.

I am using a 4-1-1 ratio of 4 parts potting soil, 1 part perlite and 1 part vermiculite.  I also bleached out my seed cell containers from last year as this will kill any pathogens or bacteria left over from previous plantings.

​Here is the mix and I just swirl around by hand. (I am using an old lego tub but any plastic container would work)

I filled up the seed cells, being careful not to compact the soil, and then added 2 seeds per cell.  I do this as insurance in case one of the seeds doesn't germinate, but I do admit that it is hard to pull the less healthy looking of the two seedlings if both emerge.

I have starts here for 50 amish past tomato plants.  These are seeds that I originally purchased 3 years ago and have just been keeping the seeds from year to year to have in the garden.  This is why I am so in favor of heirloom variety non-GMO seeds.  With hybrid and GMO seeds, you cannot save seed from the plant and get the same plant.  I figure this way I just need to save the seeds from year to year but don't have to purchase all my seeds all over again every year, this is a tremendous cost savings for me.

So, now it is the waiting game.  I expect to see little seedlings emerging in the next 7 days.  I will put these in my friend's greenhouse when I get the emergence and we shall see if I have solved the tomato problem!