Successfully Start Tomato Seeds With The Help Of A Clever TikTok Hack

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When you're growing any kind of plant, it can be tempting to treat seeds the same as adult plants. This means offering your seeds plenty of sun and water in hopes of watching them grow. However, while water and warmth is needed for successful germination, the same can't be said about light — at least not in every case. Some plants, like tomatoes, need darkness to germinate, which means it's best to skip light altogether until they sprout. However, once they do sprout, you'll want to introduce light to prevent unhealthy, leggy seedlings that fail to produce delicious summer tomatoes.

One of the best ways to ensure your tomatoes have enough darkness to germinate is by planting them deeply enough. If you struggle with getting the right depth and size cells to sow your tomato seeds in, a pencil eraser hack can help speed up the planting process. However, for the best chance at success, you can take your germination journey one step further by using this handy TikTok hack: Adding an opaque layer over your tomato seeds to block light.

As outlined in the video, one option is completely covering tomato seeds with newspaper after sowing, then spraying it with water. While there are many things that you can use to block out light, newspaper is a solid choice because it provides ample darkness while allowing water to reach your seeds. If you are using newspaper, consider covering the whole thing with a plastic humidity dome as well. This locks in moisture and heat, promoting healthy growth for your tomato seedlings. Some starter trays come with domes, like the three-set starter tray with 5-inch humidity domes from Soligt.

Darkness and water are only two parts of the equation for successful tomato seedlings. As much as tomatoes need these two elements, they also need heat. Tomatoes grow best in temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. If you're starting your seeds indoors and prefer to keep your house a little chilly, you may want to take some extra steps. Depending on your home's temperature, this may look like hours spent in a sunny window or even a seedling heat mat from BN-Link or other company, designed specifically for seed starting trays.

Once your seeds germinate, you'll need to change up your routine. Tomatoes need an abundance of sunlight, around 6 to 8 hours each day. When the weather outside warms up and you've hardened off your seedlings, you're free to transplant your tomato plants outside to a sunny spot. Overall, tomatoes are fairly hardy and do well when transplanting, but you can create a DIY biodegradable seed starting pot to make this process even easier.