How to Start Your Own Tomato Plants from Seed

I give you a step by step demonstration on how I start my tomatoes from seed. I show you what kind of soil and container I use. You will see what tomato seeds look like, how to plant them by hand and with a seeder, and how I get them to sprout and germinate. Plus, I name off some of my family's favorite tomato varieties. (magiclandfarms.com) If you have any gardening questions about tomatoes or gardening in general, please leave a comment.

In a future video I will show you how I take care of my tomato seedlings. But for now, let me quickly share a few tips.
1. As soon as the tomatoes begin to pop through the soil, remove the plastic cover.
2. Keep the light a couple inches from plants and continue to raise it as they grow.
3. If it is warm and sunny during the day it would be a good idea to take them outside.
4. Don't let your plants dry-out and don't over-water them. Normally every three days I water them, but it depends on the humidity in the room.
5. Keep your plants warm. If you are comfortable with just a t-shirt then that is a good temp for your tomatoes.
6. When your tomatoes grow their third leaf (true leaf) you can begin to fertilize them every 1-2 weeks with 20-20-20 liquid fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro.
7. Time to transplant into individual containers when they are about 5 inches tall. If you don't have enough room to do this, then keep them growing in the flat until you are ready to plant them outside.
8. Drip tape or a soaker hose is something that I highly recommend for tomatoes. Overhead irrigation/sprinkle system invites disease and you will find your tomatoes dead before you know it, so I always use drip tape.

Intro Music Credits:
"Rhapsody" by Tom Cusack (freemusicforvideos.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
freemusicforvideos.com/how-it-works

Background Music Credits:
"Summer Day" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/faq.html

Introduction Credits:
Rose Graphic created by Paul Klep (youtube.com/NLPaulus1) and custom made for me using my original photos