How Many Tomato Seeds Per Hole Is Ideal?

Starting your own tomato from seeds at home can be a good way to save money. After all, most people would love to eat fresh fruits and vegetables made in the comfort of our homes. But do you know how to go about growing tomatoes from seeds? Is tomato easy to grow from seeds? How many tomato seeds per hole are ideal to be planted? We shall answer these questions and more here.

Tomatoes are juicy and delicious and they are used in different cooking. Tomatoes are easy to grow but when it comes to sowing their seeds, you need to plant their seeds correctly. This is where the question of how many tomato seeds should be planted in each hole.

Let’s look into planting tomato seeds. How many tomato seeds per hole will be discussed here and other related things so let’s begin.

How Many Tomato Seeds Per Hole?

It may be fine to put one seed of tomato per hole. However, putting an extra seed or even up to three can serve as a backup plan in case one of the seeds doesn’t sprout successfully. This maximizes the chance of your seed emerging. Looking at the seed germination rate we can understand the reason why more than one seed is advised to be sown.

• Seed Germination Rate

Seed germination rates are the probabilities that a particular seed will emerge and grow into a plant. Different plant species have various germination rates. This implies that you should consider seed germination rate when you’re growing any seed.

Tomatoes for instance have a germination rate to be 75% which is fairly high. Therefore, if plant about 50 seeds, you should have about 37 of them germinate successfully. So, looking at this rate, it means that there is a one in four chance or 25% chance that the seed can fail to germinate.

Other growing factors such as the age of seed, temperature, and so on, can affect the rate at which the seeds germinate successfully.

Read more about How Long For Seeds To Germinate?

Why More Than One Seed Is Recommended Per Hole

Because each tomato seed has about 25% chance of failing, adding an extra seed can reduce the chance of both failing. So, with two tomato seeds, you have about 6.25% chance of both failings. This means you’ve further increased the germination rate.

So, when you sow three tomato seeds per hole, you’ve drastically reduced the chances of the seed failing to 1.56%.

However, we advise you don’t overcrowd the hole if you’re planting bigger varieties of tomatoes. Then if you’re short of tomato seeds, then two seeds should be fine.

If after sowing two seeds and both germinate, just pluck out the weak or shorter one and leave the strong one.

How Deep Should Tomato Seed Be Sown?

How many tomato seeds per hole have been answered. Now, we would like to know how deep tomato seeds should be sown.

Tomato seeds grown in containers should be sown half an inch deep into the soil. Make sure you don’t sow the seed deeper than this because it can make it hard for the seed to sprout successfully.

Watering Requirements For Tomato Seeds

Moisture is a crucial factor for the growth of tomato seeds together with nutrients. However, you need to avoid over-watering the seeds. Over-watering can cause the water to drain down the soil‘s nutrients. This can cause the germination rate to diminish.

The soil only needs to be moist for seed germination and you can make use of sprinkler to wet the soil. Water in the morning and before evening. But during the cold season, water only once then you can increase watering if the soil surface is dry.

Where Can Tomato Seeds Be Grown?

Tomato seeds need to be grown where they can get full or maximum sun exposure. Growing tomato seed in a container is a good idea depending on your climate. However, if your region is in the colder part, you should position the container with the tomato seeds on a windowsill for it to receive maximum sun exposure.

The container seed needs to be moist at all times and ensure the container has an adequate drainage hole to take out excess water. Also, ensure you provide the proper warm growing temperature for the seeds.

Coast of Maine OMRI Listed Tomato and Vegetable Plant Potting Soil Compost Blend

So, after the seeds have emerged into seedlings and the seedlings have attained at least 3 inches, they can be transplanted. You can transplant them into a bigger container or just transplant them outdoors in your backyard.

Once you’ve successfully transplanted the tomato seedlings in your backyard, it’s recommended to give them some support with a wooden stick alongside the plant. Alternatively, you can build iron or wooden mesh to support your plant. Doing this can further help prevent the end rot of tomatoes.

If you reside in a cold region, you need to protect your plant by covering them with polytunnel so that the growth of the tomato plan won’t be affected in an adverse way.

When To Plant Tomato Seeds

How Many Tomato Seeds Per Hole? We recommend you sow your tomato seeds around late February to middle March if you will be growing them indoors or in a greenhouse. Then if you wish to sow tomato seeds outdoors, you should sow them around late March to early April.

However, if you find yourself sowing tomato seeds indoors in the earlier part of the year, you need to ensure the plants are lined up against a window that is facing south.

Final Word

To boost the chance of your tomato seed germinating, you need to sow more than one seed per hole. How many tomato seeds per hole need to be gotten right and we have established that sowing at least two seeds can help your plant emerge successfully.

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