Your tomato seeds have sprouted, but what happens next? As soon as the first seedlings appear, an important phase of growing begins.

Place the seed tray or seed tray directly in a spot with as much direct sunlight as possible. A bright south-facing windowsill is ideal. To prevent the young tomato plants If your plants grow too quickly and become 'lanky' (long and thin), a temperature of around 16 degrees is perfect.

Once about half of the tomato seeds Once the seeds have germinated, remove the glass plate or transparent film. From this point on, you must monitor the soil moisture closely: the seed mix should never dry out completely.

Also read: How to sow tomatoes?

With a seed tray: Carefully push the soil plug out of the tray from below and place it in the new pot. If multiple plants are growing in one plug, remove the weakest ones so that only one strong tomato plant remains in each pot.

With a seed tray: Use a stick or knife to gently loosen the soil around the roots. Then, very gently pull on the plant (preferably by the leaves, not the fragile stem). Make a hole in the new potting mix with your finger, place the plant in it, and lightly press the soil all around.

Don't forget to immediately place a nameplate and water the plants well.

Then keep the young tomato plants in a light, cool place (16˚C) with plenty of direct sunlight.

The young plants will now grow faster.

During this phase, it's important to keep the tomato plants on the dry side. They shouldn't droop, of course, but let them use up as much of the moisture in the soil as possible before watering again.

This inhibits growth and ensures beautiful, compact, and sturdy plants. If plants absorb water too easily, they become tall, thin, and weak.

Ensure strong and healthy young tomato plants, as this will make the transition to the greenhouse or outdoors much easier later on.

Also read: How to water tomatoes?

Although good potting soil is often already plant food Tomatoes are real "heavy consumers." It's therefore wise to add a small amount of liquid fertilizer with each watering.

NPK value: NPK stands for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). An ideal ratio for tomatoes, for example, is NPK 6-4-6. Do you have something else in your garden? That's fine, as long as the nitrogen (N) content isn't higher than 6. That will make the plants grow too fast. We want strong plants, not enormous tomato plants.

Once the tomato plants are 15 to 20 cm tall, it's time to stake them. Due to the limited light in spring, the stems can sometimes be weak and fall over. Use a crimp ring or loose wire to securely fasten the plant to the stake.

Find here:Bamboo sticks and pinch rings.

When the plants are 30 to 40 cm tall, they can go into the greenhouse or vegetable garden.

Pay close attention to the weather forecast; only do this if the forecast for the coming week is good. The transition from a 16-degree room to outside is significant, especially when it's windy, rainy, or cold.

To ease the transition, it's wise to harden off your tomato plants. This can be done by letting them acclimate to the temperature in a cold greenhouse between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius for a week.

Don't have a greenhouse? Place them outside during the day (in dry weather) and bring them back inside in the evening when it cools down.

After this week they will be ready for their final place.Then give them lots of love and attention, and in a few months you can harvest delicious tomatoes! 😋

Also read: How to fertilize tomatoes?

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How and where to plant tomatoes?

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Growing tomatoes in 12 steps

Does sowing tomatoes seem like too much hassle? We at Farmzy love sowing tomatoes and are happy to do it for you. 😊 You can easily order young tomato plants and vegetable seedlings online in our webshop!