Potting on/ The next step

scarepanda

Hey!

This is my first time to grow anything, so i'm pretty clueless!

I'm just wondering what type of compost I should use when potting on? I have some Tomato plants which I think are ready to be taken from the seed module trays. Their about 1/1.5 inches tall now and have additional leaves (apart from the two they started off with (Not sure what you call them!)) and there up about 3 weeks or so now.

I also have some Rocket and Basil. I planted the Rocket last week and its all up and looking healthy. The Basil is older (In the same module tray as the tomatoes). I'm not sure what i'm to do with them next. How long do I leave them in the modules for once its up? Is it to early to plant the Rocket out now? If I plant it out this week say, do I need to cover it with a fleece? The garden is south facing with a 4 or 5 foot wall sheltering it to the North and East. Iv read that Basil doesn't do so well outdoors in Ireland. I was planning on planting it in a walk-in tunnel like this http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7201998/Trail/searchtext%3EGREEN+HOUSE.htm when I get it. Will it be OK to pot it on now and plant it in this after a few weeks?

Sorry for all the questions!

mp22

Just potter on my toms this morning 3 inch pots filled with the contents of a aldi grow bag.Pot up the basil in the same way it will do fine in the plastic green house.

Supercell

Thats a great idea mp22!, my local Aldi has a bunch of those grow bags left and I never thought about using the soil for that, makes good sense - the soil should be packed with goodness in theory.

rgiller

mp22 wrote: »

Just potter on my toms this morning 3 inch pots filled with the contents of a aldi grow bag.Pot up the basil in the same way it will do fine in the plastic green house.

Will the tomatoes stay in those 3" pots for the rest of the year then, or will they have to potted to a larger one again later on. I'm in the same boat as the OP, with the seedlings bursting out of their seed tray. Have a plastic greenhouse, ~5 foot high. Will tomatoes need the full height of this eventually?

redser7

You will need 10 - 12 inch pots finally. Depending on the type you have they could grow to eight feet and more. It is up to you to take the top,off to stop it growing. Do a google and read up general instructions for growing toms. Tons of stuff out there

scarepanda

Thanks guys for all the advice.

I got 2 grow bags in my local Aldi during the week and potted on whatever was ready. Most went into 6 inch pots that I found for cheap and the remaining Rocket and Basil went into peat pots.

The Tomatoes and Rocket seem to be doing well, but the Basil seems to be struggling, although its growth rate had slowed down a lot in the last week or so before T.P. I planted way to much of them anyways, so not overly worried... yet!

One last question! Originally I was planning on digging the ground underneath the greenhouse I bought (Which I might add wasn't quite as good quality as I had hoped). However we changed our mind because I couldn't decide on the best place to put it. So now its on a graveled area and everything will have to go into pots. Redser7 has said that the Tomatoes will have to go into 10-12 inch pots eventually, but what size will the Basil need?

Cheers!

redser7

If basil is in the ground it can grow into a fair sized bush. But you can keep small in a 5 or 6 pot if you like. Just keep harvesting the leaves regularly. It can be gard to raise from seed and is very tender so keep it nice and warm. If it fails, buy a small potted one in the supermarket and pot it up to a larger pot. You could even splt it into 2 pots.

scarepanda

Cheers redser7!!

Iv come to the realisation since I sowed it and then started reading about it that it was a bit finiky! Sure ill know for next time!!

Cheers!

looksee

I found it better to open up those plastic greenhouses when the weather was warm - with the sun on them you tend to end up with cooked tomatoes! Oh, and do throw a rope over the top with a block at each side to hold it down, even with the plastic tied to the frame they tend to want to do an impression of a balloon.

mp22

looksee wrote: »

I found it better to open up those plastic greenhouses when the weather was warm - with the sun on them you tend to end up with cooked tomatoes! Oh, and do throw a rope over the top with a block at each side to hold it down, even with the plastic tied to the frame they tend to want to do an impression of a balloon.

To be honest you need to ventilate any green house when the sun is shinning,today in my glass house it got to 85 deg F (in a sunny spell)