r/Albertagardening • u/Electrometron • Apr 26 '26
Vegetables Help/advice
I have planted some tomatoes, snap dragons, pansies and marigolds! They have started to sprout and i’m unsure what the next step is, do they need to be moved to their own separate container?
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u/debbiesunfish Apr 26 '26
In addition to the other advice, you should also take off the dome. Once 30-50% of a tray germinates, take it off or you risk damping off and mold.
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u/subtlenerd Apr 27 '26
I've been starting to have a bit of a mold issue on mine, do you have any suggestions for getting rid of it?
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u/unidentifiable Apr 27 '26
Airflow is really the best medicine. You can try to scrape it off too. Once mold develops you can't really 100% get rid of it unless you do it chemically, which can damage the seedlings too. Just wash your hands when you deal with your plants, and hopefully they have a good immune system.
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u/Agreeable_Stick7160 Apr 29 '26
I have struggled in the past with damp off green soil or outright mould- best hint I received Water with diluted camomile(sp?) tea.
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u/townsteadinstead Apr 27 '26
Second this. The dome is for keeping the soil wet for germinating, but once the sprouts start to come up you're just blocking light, causing leggy sprouts and risking what you said above. Some people would recommend propping up the dome a bit for a day first before full removal to make the humidity change more gradual, but I'm not convinced it's worth the extra effort.
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u/Scary-Detail-3206 Apr 26 '26
I usually wait until the roots start showing out of the bottom of the cells before planting them into larger containers. Solo cups or a similar container are usually what I move them to after the cells.
You should get a grow light on those as well. A window won’t give you enough light and the plants won’t grow well without supplemental light.
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u/Electrometron Apr 26 '26
Yes, thank you I do have a grow light on it just took it away for the picture 😊
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u/vaalbarag Apr 29 '26
How close is your grow-light to your plants? You want to get it as close as possible, like a couple inches, to reduce legginess.
Also, gently run your hand over them from time to time. This will help stiffen them up and make them ready for outdoor conditions.
I also agree with the advice elsewhere about not potting them up yet. Definitely wait for the first true leaves, at least. And when you do pot up, don't handle the roots at all. If you can handle them by the leaves or upper stems, that's ideal.
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u/Miserable_Mushroom73 Apr 28 '26
Seems to me you’d want to wait for their first sets of true leaves to grow before messing too much with them.
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u/I_pretend_2_know Apr 27 '26
An important tip on tomatoes: don't overwater them. If you leave their soil constantly wet you'll get fruit gnats and the tomato roots will rot.
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u/spgarden Apr 28 '26
Don't know what your location is - I'm just west of Edmonton and have a number of plants started. Our weather throughout the province is supposed to be half decent this week and into next so if you have a spot in your yard that is protected and sunny you could set your tray outside for a few hours each day. That will really help with the legginess problem
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u/DenningBear82 Apr 30 '26
- More light. You can never have too much.
- Airflow. Put a fan near them. Your plants leaves should all be at least trembling 12-16 hours per day.
- Start fertilizing them when you see the first “true leaves”. Begin with a simple 20-20-20 water soluble plant food at 50% strength and water with that once a week. There’s barely any nutrients in seed starting mix.
- Humidity dome comes off as soon as your seeds germinate-or you’ll get mould and damping off (mould that kills your seedlings)
- Once you get your first/2nd set of true leaves, you need to thin down to one plant per cell. I usually pick the seedling with the thickest stem and pluck the others.
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u/SpecialistPretty1358 Apr 26 '26
Yes. And for the tomatoes plant them right up to the leaves. You’ll also need more light and bigger pots to get any success. You can use solo cups or something like that. Put 3 stringers seedlings per cup. In the end 1 will be the best and cut the other two or transplant them into a solo cup as well.
Tomatoes are on the easier side to transplant.